Coaching for PerformanceCategory: Jobs & Careers
Article posted by: oscar tshifure
The business of sport is worth billions and is one of the biggest income generators worldwide. The sporting fraternity has some of the best marketing campaigns, highest customer satisfaction scores, passionate supporters and highly paid players, coaches and managers. Yet in a sense sports operate in isolation, with few business people taking notice of the successes in sport as a business.
Most business achievers look at sport as an enjoyable thing to do, something to watch or discuss in a relaxed mood while with friends. Yet these highly successful individuals seldom see the correlation between how their favourite sports team is managed for performance, and how they manage people within their own organisation.
Stuart Woolmington, of thewinwingroup, believes that success in sport is built on the principles of a good team and a good coach, and the relationship between them. This relationship is fundamental to the success and achievements of the team. Woolmington argues that businesses should learn from these principles and practices, and the subsequent change in behaviour will result in improved performances.
In modern sport the top teams have specialised coaches focussing on specific aspects of the game, such as a kicking coach and a fitness coach. The focus is on the behaviour that is linked to the desired outcome �" for example, kicking the ball over the posts to score points. The outcome comes automatically if the correct behaviour is in place.
Managers should adopt a methodology for developing people and improving their performance by applying the principles of coaching. Instead of continuously sending employees on training courses, management should look at coaching as a tool for improving performance. This is an economically viable option, since it happens in-house and employees don’t have to spend time out of the office to go on training courses.
Although training courses still have a role to play, organisations need to look at the development of their employees in a holistic manner by combining coaching and training.
Coaching enables organisations to look at the future with a certain goal in mind. It’s a two-way and continuous process, which challenges the traditional management style of managers telling the employees what to do and creating mindless followers. Everybody within an organisation can be a coach if they have the desire and the passion to learn the methodology to coach. Just as rugby players are being coached five days a week, so are employees coached on a daily basis and therein lies the secret. It’s not a stop�"start process, like other performance enhancement tools. It’s an ongoing process with the ability to improve on a daily basis. It is embedded within the job the employee is performing and is specifically tailored to each individual. The success of coaching is largely dependent on the relationship between the coach and the individual (coachee).
The principles of coaching can be applied to small, medium and large organisations. Just as a golfer has a putting coach, an entrepreneur can have a coach to ensure performance is improved.
Thewinwingroup doesn’t suggest that everybody is going to be number one after adopting the principles of coaching. They will, however, be encouraged to perform better thus improving on their previous results.
Traditionally, executive coaching was reserved for top and middle management, but thewinwingroup is of the opinion that coaching should be made available to all staff members. Coaching has the ability to inspire leaders in organisations, from the shop floor to senior management, equipping them to use the coaching process to consistently improve their team’s performance. This will ensure a culture which focuses on behaviour and not just results, a methodology which is fundamental to success in sports.
Sales people often don’t deliver the results, simply because the wrong methodology is being used to help them succeed, and a lot of emphasis is placed on them being number one. However, the outcome of the sales team can change if the coaching methodology is applied and they are encouraged by their ‘coach’ to change their behaviour, thereby improving their performance.
It is a pity that business generally doesn’t generate the same level of enthusiasm found in sport, but if companies start to implement principles similar to those used by coaches in sport, they might escalate performance dramatically.
Posted By: oscar tshifure
Web: http://www.vumacom.co.za
Contact: e-mail
| About the Author: |
| Stuart Woolmington, Managing Director & Brand Specialist at thewinwingroup, South Africa
Stuart has over a decade of training in people development and brand management. His personal motto “All men die, but not all men live” is a visible quality in all of his projects. His passion for brand, culture and service is driven into his local and international clientele. |
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