Tag Archives: teams

Tips for Team Coaching

As a leader in your organization, you are tasked with bringing out the best of your employees for the productivity of your company. Sounds easy but it’s tougher than it looks especially in these economic times when everyone feels stretched. But it can be done both with your direct individual reports but also your project teams or department staff.

Lifting Together Makes the Difference 

Here’s how . . . use a strengths based coaching approach with powerful questions. One piece of the executive coaching program that I offer is an intensive hands-on training and practice on how to use basic coaching skills to engage and motivate employees.  We start with individual one-on-one practice with employees doing their annual reviews or wanting to take their careers to that next level within the company.  Coaching may also be appropriate for employees struggling with performance expectations, communication problems or interpersonal conflicts with their colleagues.

With this practice behind them, leaders move to a more complicated coaching challenge – working with their designated teams around specific outcomes.  There are more moving parts including difference in personalities and communication styles that can make leading a team successfully much more challenging.

You Don’t Have to Do All the Work 

But here’s the trick . . . know and use the same coaching philosophy, collaborative approach and basic powerful questions that work so well with individuals and just expand them for the larger group.  Listen closely and concentrate on giving your team the space and support to contribute their ideas and strengths.

You don’t have to say much in the beginning – just get out of their way and let them do what you hired them to do.  Acknowledge their wisdom with the result that you may be pleasantly surprised that with a coaching approach you’ve opened up a wealth of possibilities, creative thinking and some excellent options. And you didn’t have to do all the work!

It’s a very fast paced competitive work world. Just like this great picture of the Army moving the Red Cross tent in the pouring rain.  Everyone needs to contribute their best strength, lift together and move forward to the designated goal or vision. It can work really well with the right kind of leadership – do you have what it takes?

 

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Using “We” For Sense of Ownership

It’s such a simple word “We”.  It’s easy to forget the emotional connection this simple word has the power to create.

Savvy leaders know this and they wisely use “we” in their communication with their functional and project teams.  They know that this word shifts people’s mindset from an “I” or “me” mentality to a shared vision and commitment.

Suddenly, there is a sense of ownership.  It’s subtle but the feeling is that we are in this all together – sink or swim – we are connected together and will all share in the success or failure of our efforts.

That’s very powerful.  And it’s simply a shift in language.  But it must be authentic.  The leader must be genuine in their belief that the synergy of highly motivated and committed people is through a sense of ownership.  As we know it truly “takes a village”.

 

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Are You a “Go-To” Person?

What a great question!  And if the answer is yes (and I hope it is) then the logical follow-up question is “What do people go to you for?  You may never have thought about it.  The answer may only be one word.  For example, people tell me that they come to me for “energy” or “inspiration”.  Maybe people come to you for your “wisdom” or for your “guidance” in challenging situations.  Or maybe you are in the inside loop and are known for some unique “knowledge” or “expertise/experience”.  It’s different for everyone and you may not even know for certain.

Your “Go-To” Reputation is Part of Your Brand

It’s a important question . . . what do others come to you for?  I always ask this question when working with people around building their career performance and long-term success.  And if they like the answer (which is very important) then we weave it into their personal and career brand so they own it – take control of it. It means that we are being seen as a resource – a valuable resource. We have something to offer relatively quickly and without a great deal of hassle.  We are approachable, easy to get in contact with and can be trusted to listen and provide some help. Now that is a great reputation to have.

Remember!  It doesn’t mean you have all the answers or that you’re going to take on all or even part of the work.  In fact, it’s very important that you don’t see yourself in that role but rather that you have the contacts and the willingness to help connect others with resources. It means that you are a connector – a person in the know.  That is an excellent reputation to have!

Learning from Sheila Leslie, Nevada State Senator

Just yesterday, I had the chance to listen to a wonderful member of the Nevada State Legislature, Sheila Leslie, State Senator, speak about her role in the legislature. In response to a question from the audience, Leslie shared how she mentors and advises newly elected legislators.  And she knows what she’s talking about . . . Leslie has served Northern Nevada since 1998 first as a State Assemblywoman and now as a State Senator. She is very well-respected and best known for her expertise and experience in the health and human services.

So it was no surprise that Leslie’s advice to young legislators is to become a “go-to” person in an area you are interested in; you have some expertise and you are willing to help others.  And that’s exactly what Leslie has done for years. Right out of graduate school, she served in the poorest areas of the Dominican Republic with the Peace Corp; started the first Food Bank in Nevada and worked for years establishing a network of child protective community services. Out of these personal experiences and passion, Leslie has become the valuable “go-to” person on these issues. This is her reputation and a very powerful influential brand. She’s an inspiration to all of us!

 

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The Pony Express – Riding as One

They ride as one. Horse and rider committed to the speedy and safe delivery of the U.S mail working in harmony each doing what they do best.

Here’s what we can learn from watching this amazing teamwork. When we have a burning passion and an unflinching commitment to accomplish something beyond ourselves we must ride as one unit.  We can’t do it alone. Together we are strong and resilient.  And the Pony Express annual Re-Ride demonstrates exactly that.

Watching the 2012 Pony Express Re-Ride come through Northern Nevada in June was an incredible experience.  I had never seen it personally so when our Beer Club friend, Petra Keller, invited us to come watch her ride a portion of this famous trail I had to push the “yes” button.

And it gave me goose bumps to watch these beautiful and hardy horses carry their dedicated riders (from teens to80 years old) across miles and miles of Nevada desert. Each rider and horse takes a segment of the route which began this year in Sacramento on Wednesday, June 13th and ended in Saint Joseph, Missouri on Saturday, June 23rd.  They travel over the original Pony Express route (1966 miles) going through eight states.  600 volunteers coordinate the logistics and support for the horses and riders including the setup of an impressive communications system.

And where’s the mail?  That was interesting . . . the horse carries a 100 lb. leather mail bag called a “mochila”. The mochila has 4 compartments and lifts up and over the saddle to be as balanced as possible.  Transferring it from one horse to the next is much like watching the Olympic Torch being handed off from runner to runner.  But it’s even better because you are watching two horses and two riders working closely together to help each other accomplish this tricky but quick and efficient transfer.

So think about this . . . if there is something really important to you that you are passionate about accomplishing resist the temptation to be the Lone Ranger.  Instead, look for a solid team mate that will put in the hard work, the long miles and the serious sweat to deliver the goal.  Or in the case of the Pony Express to deliver the mail!

 

 

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Rocks, Sand & Your Time

I’m delighted that Les Murray from the New England Chocolate Company, Salisbury, MA sent me the following time management tip this week.  Les is a regular reader of my blog “Conversations with Kit” and along with his wife, Jayne Murray, are chocolate extraordinaire entrepreneurs at www.newenglandchocolatecompany.com.

I’ve used this time management visual in my past training classes and totally agree with Les that this is a wonderful way to think about prioritizing your time and energy.  You may have even seen it done in a time management class – it’s been around for awhile.  I like visuals like this because we remember them better over the years and this truly is one of the best.

Here’s how it goes . . . the class instructor starts with asking you to think about what “Big Roles” you fulfill at this time in your personal and professional life.  These may be as a mother/father; spouse; son/daughter; business owner; employee; student; community volunteer etc.  Next, list for yourself several smaller things that also fill up your daily life but are not considered “big”.  Examples may be time you spend paying bills, doing household chores, doing errands, sorting paper clips etc.

The class instructor then takes out a big jar, some sand and some rocks.  He explains that the small things are represented by the sand and he then pours the sand in the jar.  It fills up quickly.  Now he asks the class participants to assign their big roles to each one of the rocks.  After that is done, he tries to put the rocks in the jar.  But there is no room – the sand has taken up all the space.  What to do?  The class discusses this and quickly decides to take the sand out and then put the rocks in to the now empty jar.  The rocks go in first – the big roles that each class participant identified that they most cared about.  Now the instructor pours in the sand and you guessed it, the sand fits quite  easily around the rocks.

And in Les’ words . . . “the moral to the story is that each one of us only has 24 hours/day, 7 days per week.  We sleep 8, we work 8 and there are 8 hours that we have for ourselves.  If we allow the “sand”  to fill our lives then we never have any time for our larger roles, those that we care most about.” Les goes on to remind us again to plan our time and energy carefully so that we are doing what is really important to us in this chapter of our lives – like  eating wonderful Belgium chocolates from the New England Chocolate Company!

 

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