Five Reasons to Create a Coaching Culture in your Business
By Cori Freeman
In business circles you will hear many owners and leaders talk about “working with their teams.” What exactly does that mean? There might be a video shown to employees about work ethics, or there could be one-on-one meetings with a supervisor who gives the employee helpful feedback, which sometimes will feel like criticism in many situations. The team member leaves the video session and goes back to work and nothing seems to change; the employee leaves after getting “feedback” on their performance and feels defeated.
Marshall Goldsmith, a well-known leadership coach, came up with an idea of FeedForward, where the focus is on improving the future and letting go of the past. The reason it is such a successful tool is because at its core is the heart of coaching: listening without judging, being compassionate, acknowledging people, and supporting them with accountability when needed.
These areas are also the core of the DSWA Coach Excellence School, and that is why the lessons taught there are so impactful for those who attend. The DSWA is actually training coaches how to coach and empower business professionals, whether they are in the direct selling marketplace or elsewhere. They have been influential in changing the culture of businesses around the world for the good by using coaching.
Create A Coaching Culture
Here are five reasons you’ll want to create a coaching culture in your business:
- Personal Growth and Behavioral Change:
People truly want to change; they want to grow. We all have flaws and we know it deep down inside. We know there’s room for improvement. When coaching is done correctly, there is room for complete honesty because the coachee feels safe to open up and share their areas of concern. Because the coach is listening from their heart, the focus is 100% on the interests of the coachee. True behavioral change is possible because areas are explored and ideas are discussed to allow the coachee to move forward in ways they never knew were possible. - Transparency within the Organization:
Whether working with a direct selling team of 25 or with a corporation with 2500 employees, true change usually comes about when more transparency is present. The owner and/or leader are given more respect from their employees/team due to their honesty about their challenges. There is compassion shown to the leader/owner since they are being more ‘real’ in owning up to what needs to be worked on as an organization. - Team Culture:
A “we are all in this together” mentality starts to develop over time with coaching. When individuals are all receiving coaching and they are experiencing personal growth and development, they tend to be more open to teamwork and working together on projects. They seem to get more compassionate toward their coworkers and view things from their vantage point as well as their own.
Also, entire departments are able to unite on tasks that once created chaos. The reason? The individuals were feeling more listened to, felt they had been heard, and are willing to listen to others more readily. - Business Growth:
Productivity is able to skyrocket within a coaching culture. Most top CEOs of major organizations work with business coaches. Steve Jobs had a coach in John Mattone, and the CEOs of Pepsi and Ford also have coaches, as a few examples. They know what they’re doing by getting that support. When productivity increases, profitability naturally will follow. The DSWA has seen some attendees have drastic increases in their commission checks after the attendee implemented the coaching methodology taught in their schools. - Increasing Clarity, Focus, and Vision:
When the individuals in a business, as well as the CEOs, are able to get laser-like focus and clarity on where they are and where they want to go by working with their coaches, they are able to better implement new ideas into their businesses. Because coaching is all about intently listening, more creativity is allowed to take place, and new visions can come into focus. Clarity is one of the top attributes of a high performer, according to Brendon Burchard who is the author of the recent bestseller High Performance Habits. “Where there is no vision, the people perish,” according to Proverbs, and I couldn’t agree more.
So are you and your business ready to get started?
There has never been a better time to embrace a coaching culture within yourself, your team, and your business organization. The benefits are too vast to list, but just like coaching, it all starts with an intention of wanting to move forward in your business and your life. Take yourself from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow. Today’s the day to make that important choice.
Cori Freeman – DSWA Trained Coach
Cori Freeman, a DSWA trained coach and is the owner of Cori Freeman, Strategic Business Coaching that offers business and personal coaching as well as Breakthrough workshops for organizations.
She can be reached at coach@corifreeman.com
http://www.corifreeman.com
She’s on Instagram @coachcori1 as well.