From Manager to Coach: The Guide to Improving Performance

Coaching others and being coachable can be cheat codes professionally and personally.

When part of what you do for a living is executive coaching, you are passionate about the topic and have a desire to deliver results for clients. This week, I concluded our 1-1 Leadership Coaching Program with an executive, and we made progress, but the growth jumps weren’t as significant as the company desired. It was a soul-searching moment as a coach, knowing you can’t claim the change for anyone else but also looking in the mirror for what you could do better.

I tell you this because you aren’t alone in looking for new and better ways to help others meet their potential. Take pride in knowing you are in a community that cares about pursuing excellence.

If you want to improve your coaching skills, this week is for you.

What it means:

Coaching is a form of development. The first use of the term "coach" in connection with an instructor or trainer arose around 1830 in Oxford University slang for a tutor who "carried" a student through an exam. It was popularized in sports in 1875 when Harvard played Yale in football. Yale hired a coach, but Harvard did not. Over the next three decades, Harvard only won four times and subsequently hired a coach.

The word "coaching" thus identified a process used to transport people from where they are to where they want to be. Coaching is about creating a culture of continuous growth. It focuses on developing skills or virtues that lead to achieving higher levels of excellence.

We all need a coach, and that means your team members do as well.

What it means:

You must believe you are the kind of person who can help someone get where they are today to where they want or need to be. While this might seem trivial, it is not. 

The reason is simple: effective coaching requires a transfer of belief. 

If you are asking someone to do something they have never done or haven’t done consistently, they have to believe it's possible. Often, they need to borrow belief from someone, and that person is you. 

What it means:

This morning, I was working out with my trainer. So I asked him, “What is the most important thing coaches need to remember to help people improve?” His answer surprised me. “Consistency creates progress, but not how you are thinking. Yes, my students need to be consistent but so do I. It’s easy to cut corners or take the easy road out when you are tired or busy. As a coach, you must be consistent with things that help create continuous improvement.”

Your job isn’t to coach when it’s convenient; your job is to coach consistently. Don’t reschedule those 1-1’s. Stop ignoring your high performers, they need coaching too.

Reject convenience and embrace consistency.

Give them hell today,

John Eades | CEO LearnLoft

From Manager to Coach: The Guide to Improving Performance (Blog)

1 Minute Leadership Principle (Video)

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The 64-Day Excellence Planner

The odds are that you started this year with all the right intentions, goals, and maybe even a plan, but you have not executed well on that to date. While no planner can do the work for you, the 64-Day Excellence Planner will help.

Now is the time to turn your focus and productivity around. Introducing the 64-Day Excellence Planner, meticulously crafted to mirror the strategies of high performers. Select the planner or program that best fits your needs and use the code “newsletter” to get 20% off.

1. 64-Day Excellence Planner (Digital only $19.99 this month)

2. 64-Day Excellence Planner Wirebound

3. 64-Day Excellence Program

Today’s Leadership Poll - Provide Insight and Win

Last week, 21% of you said interruptions were the #1 challenge of effective time management. Take that as a prompt to empathetically say, “Not Now.”

Provide your insight into today’s poll and be entered to win a free digital copy of the 64-Day Excellence Planner. July’s winner will be announced next week.

Here are some ways we could work together:

Roll out the Accelerate Leadership System - Only 15% of new managers receive training, and 60% of leaders fail within 18 months. Instead of hoping your most talented people figure out how to be leaders, now is the time to show them how. Introducing the Accelerate Leadership System: Provide your managers with the foundation to be successful with tailored examples, tools, and stories to fit your company culture. Ideal for managers, supervisors, and executives in groups of 8+.

Skill Mastery Workshops - Provide 2-hour virtual or in-person skill mastery workshops to groups of 8+. Focus on skills like Accountability, Coaching, Relationship Building, Strategic Decision Making, Time Management, Team Execution, Retention, Recruiting, Leadership Fundamentals, or Change Management.

1:1 Executive Leadership Coaching—Get 1:1 coaching to improve performance. Coaching programs are six months long and include a LearnLoft-certified coach. They are perfect for one executive or a group of executives who aren’t meeting their potential.

Speaking - We’re now booking keynotes for Q3 & Q4. Reply to this note or fill out the form here, and our team will be in touch to discuss topics, availability, and pricing.

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