The importance of coaching your team

Every great sports figure has at least one coach. And a good business leader recognises the need for coaching in order to improve the performance of his staff. He understands that great coaching is not only about teaching particular techniques or skills, but about teaching how to learn to coach themselves.

Tim Gallwey, a former sports coach and the author of The Inner Game of Work, says this: “Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own potential. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.”

A terrific business coach helps an employee to objectively view his own performance, so that he can recognise his strengths and weaknesses. The coach needs to act as a critical video camera, reflecting back to the employee all of the thoughts and behaviours that are acting as barriers, that are preventing him from achieving the level of performance he seeks.

This third-party objective feedback is immensely helpful to an employee, especially one where it may be difficult to garner honest reviews from subordinates or peers.

Additionally, the coach can help the employee articulate his performance goals, when such goals might not be clearly defined. The coach can help the employee move from a vague goal like “improve my sales figures” to articulating something that is actionable and measurable, which is much more achievable.

A great coach should help with the following performance-related tasks:

1. Establishing the goal. Your may have many. A great coach will help narrowand focus on the ones that are the most important.

2. Defining the goal. You can't ever tell if you've reached your goal if you don't have a measurable definition.

3. Setting boundaries. Parameters and milestones may be helpful in tracking your progress toward the ultimate goal.

4. Motivating. The coach will provide knowledge and teach skills and techniques, and encourage you to do your best.

5. Rewarding/Disciplining. A good coach will hold you accountable, and will reward you for reaching milestones or demand extra effort if you are falling behind.

6. Achieving success and moving on to the next goal. Once you have reached one, there's no point in stopping!

At Wealth Enhancers, we strive to provide regular feedback to our team, not just during performance reviews but on an ongoing basis. We also hold weekly training meetings during which we cover a variety of essential business and interpersonal skills.

Our team is also encouraged to come to us with issues and problems, and we address many of those items in our monthly coaching sessions. We try to cover anything they request, in the course of providing them with all of the tools and techniques they need to succeed.

The goal of coaching is to help your employees reach their peak performance. With the right coach guiding and encouraging them, you can be sure they will.

About Finn Kelly

Finn Kelly is the CEO and co-founder of Melbourne-based advice firm Wealth Enhancers.

He heads the portfolio management arm of the business, and has developed unique client education and staff training programs.

In his former career, Finn spent seven years as an Army Officer in the Australian Defence Force - an experience he attributes much of his leadership ability and business acumen to.

Along with his life and business partner Sarah Riegelhuth, Finn will be representing Australia at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit in Russia in June 2013.