The Coach and Win-Win Partnerships: Why you should read these
Coaching Books
The role of leadership is changing because of technological
advances, increased competition (both domestic and
international), and the desire of employees to be more involved
in managing their own work. Now and in the future, leaders deal
with a more educated, talented group of employees who have
definite interests and aspirations. People can have the greatest
influence on productivity, excellence, and quality, but only if
leaders can empower employees and give them more autonomy while
maintaining effective accountability. This means a substantial
change in the role of the traditional leader and in his/her
skills to interact on a one-to-one basis. The new job of the
leader will be to coach, develop train, delegate, facilitate and
run interference rather than doing all the planning, organizing,
and directing from an authoritative base.
Leaders will need to instill a new competitive spirit in
employees to streamline work, reduce errors, respond to customer
needs, and solve challenging problems. Leaders and employees
will become more like partners whose common cause will be to
accomplish the job in the best way possible. Leaders will be
required to learn how to convert employees into allies, not
adversaries, without sacrificing standards of quality and
productivity. Because organizations have defined resources and
because actions that can be undertaken are limited, leaders and
employees will need to develop a common vision of the mission or
work to be done. These leaders will need to coach, monitor, and
help employees realize the organization's vision and purpose. In
fact, the main reasons we advocate coaching is because
it enables us to more adequately respond to the demands of
customers, to maintain standards, and to fulfill the purpose of
existing in the organization.
Some leaders may find the new approach described in these coaching books as a
challenge because their own bosses may not have been the best
models to follow. In the past, we have looked at employees as
children needing a benevolent parent rather than entrepreneurial
partners. More and more employees now want to be included, to
contribute, and to be treated as necessary, not like just extra
pairs of hands or pack mules. The new attitude will test the
patience, skills and knowledge of leaders.
These coaching
books are about your beliefs as a leader regarding your
employees and how they should be managed and directed in a very
positive way. Our promise to you is that if you will seriously
ponder the message in the books, put into practice the
behaviors, and assimilate the values advocated, you will
definitely succeed in winning the cooperation and support of
your employees. It won't come overnight, and you will find some
employees who defy the recommendations that we suggest. These
exceptions will require a different and perhaps tradition
management style. However, others will appreciate the refreshing
difference in your approach and will reward you with
incomparable levels of performance. We also ensure that the
reading and search for solutions interesting and to the point.
So there you have it. There are many leadership and coaching books.
Choose one or both of these books if you want to concentrate on
specific skills related to positive leadership and coaching
interaction. We believe coaching is a constructive game for
leaders to learn, a lot of games can be learned, some good, some
not. Why not learn the art of a good one?