When evaluating all of the characteristics of effective managers, there are two telling traits—personal character development and a commitment to developing employees. While many leaders’ rise through the ranks is evidence of their acute personal and professional development, 
many lack the skills to effectively coach others. In fact, when employees were surveyed about this topic, a whopping 93% of them said their managers need training on how to coach employees.
Here are four reasons why investing time into learning how to effectively coach employees is critical to an organization’s success.
1. Coaching is an essential tool for achieving business goals. Effective leaders don’t coach because they happen to be nice; rather they consider themselves personally accountable for the development of talent and view coaching as an essential requirement for business success. Many managers say they don’t have time to coach, however they don’t consider the bigger picture. First, extremely talented employees are difficult to find and recruit. Managers who are known for coaching employees to success find that top talent naturally gravitates to them. Secondly, organizations cannot be successful over the long-term on the backs of a few shining stars—solid, strong employees are equally important. Coaching helps good employees become great, which fortifies the organization overall.
2. Pulling, rather than pushing employees, provides better payout. A good manager is not necessarily a good leader. Managers of yesteryear used to direct, dictate and ultimately push employees to perform. Today’s business leaders help employees reach their goals by motivating and inspiring them which can be accomplished with effective coaching. Dale Carnegie’s 3rd Human Relations principle, ‘Arouse in the other person an eager want’ underscores that the employee must want to perform to her ultimate potential. A leader can’t force someone to perform well, but they can certainly coach until the employee has mastered the skill(s) to perform well.
3. Meaningful connections are a by-product of coaching. It’s natural for leaders to show empathy while coaching because they have to put themselves in their employees’ shoes. They essentially, ‘Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view,’ which is Mr. Carnegie’s 17th principle. This demonstration of empathy enables the coaching manager to understand each employee’s needs and adjust the coaching style accordingly. As a result, not only are solid relationships built, but the overall efficiency of the department increases.
4. Coaching enables leaders to extend their reach. A cascading effect can be realized with effective coaching. Essentially, the more people an effective manager develops, the greater the opportunity for those employees to serve and model what was learned during coaching in other areas within the organization. Dale Carnegie’s 19th principle, ‘Appeal to nobler motives,’ means that managers should consider the positive impact their employees can have beyond their lone department. When direct employees ‘follow the leader’ by applying what they learned during coaching, there is no limit to the number of employees that can be positively impacted.
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