The secrets of good coaching

“Our business in life is not to get ahead of others but to get ahead of ourselves - to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterdays by our today, to do our work with more force than ever before.” 
                    - Stewart B. Johnson, British artist

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We are all creatures of habit. We walk along, doing the same things day after day, unconsciously repeating the many behaviours we have adapted to fit our lifestyles. These walking habits become liabilities for self-growth, for becoming better performers, and for enjoying the rewards of achievement and success in our work environments.

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Habits are hard to change. Our brains are wired to minimize interference with what seems to be working for us. We are conserving energy and minimally using only those parts of our brain that are needed to maintain the status quo.

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We are also not able to use our inner eye to notice our lack of spark, nor our inner voice to tell us that change is needed for the better. We sometimes are unaware that we are inattentive or unfocused on the important elements of our jobs. We get distracted. 

This is especially notable in the operation of machinery or in other areas of safety. We need an outside observer and outside listener – as well as teacher and confidante – to show us the way to change. We need a coach.

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The good coach learns what we like to do

The good coach knows what we need to develop and how to go about it. He or she sees our behaviour and compares it with the ideal. This evaluation creates a benchmark against which our growth will be compared.

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One of the best tools for creating this benchmark is a behaviour analytical tool based on neuroscience called PRISM, which provides an online, interactive questionnaire assessing the inventory of innate preferences and adapted behaviours we have learned on the job. 

Neuroscience tells us that the topography and neuron pathways of our brains indicate our intellectual and emotional strengths and weaknesses. PRISM is used to create a map of those behaviour indicators.

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If there is a big difference between the activities we like to do and the activities we are asked to do, there will be an equally big amount of dissatisfaction and probably ineffectiveness which can be corrected with good coaching, using the behaviour information uncovered with PRISM.

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The good coach looks for energy levels

Using PRISM, the coach studies the energy levels being exerted for preferred behaviours because those behaviours are the ones that make the employee happiest and most productive. The coach also looks at how the employee has adapted his or her behaviours to fit the requirements of the current job.  If the energy level expended is too low, there is room for improvement through coaching.

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But it is also true that the energy level shown might be too high, meaning the employee is over-managing, over-coordinating, or over-executing, probably at the expense of efficiencies in other activities. An example of this behaviour is often called “micro-managing” in which a manager is overly concerned with too many details of a project rather than delegating more responsibility to his team.  This condition of “wasted energy” can also be corrected through coaching based on PRISM information.

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Individual coaching leads to job satisfaction

Once the employee preferences are identified, it may become immediately clear which other positions within the company would be ideal for this particular person and his or her personality and set of skills. If it is possible to transfer the employee to that other position, the coach will explore that with the employee and company management.

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If, on the other hand, the company has higher level positions available, perhaps in senior operational levels or in management, it would benefit from identifying the best candidates to be promoted to those positions. A coach can use PRISM to work with individuals who show the potential behavioural strengths to fill those positions.

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If a person likes what he or she is doing, but is having some difficulties doing it well, coaching can help here, too, by improving self-awareness and establishing a plan of activity which will close the gap between current and ideal behaviours.

Team benefits include better project outcomes

Teams comprise individuals with different responsibilities. The team leader provides the goal and general direction, and team members interact with each other to cooperatively move the project forward. Each team member contributes to the ideal solution being sought. And each team member demonstrates his or her own personal talent and thought process.

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The abilities to interact, offer suggestions, accept ideas from others, be cooperative and supportive, be goal-oriented, and make final decisions are all traits which can be measured and strengthened through coaching. Helping each team member grow ultimately helps the team become more effective. And matching the team leader personality to the team composition further improves this effectiveness.

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Good coaching benefits the company most of all

With good coaching done using PRISM analysis, a company benefits in many ways: making employees happier, more attentive, effective, and responsible; facilitating the creation of stronger teams; helping managers become better evaluators and decision-makers; creating channels for promotions and succession-planning.

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The good coach needs good tools to work with and a good understanding of the person being coached. PRISM is a great way to assess the individual’s centres of brain activity – the realistic, idealistic, processing and decisive strengths which make that person truly unique.  In measuring the energies being expended in all job-related functions, PRISM provides a guide to the realization of individual potential.

The realization of potential is what coaching is all about.