Leadership with Coaching & Counseling

There is so much discussion about coaching in the corporate world, and little about counseling. One is associated with developing skills, and the other tends to be related to adjusted attitudes and dysfunctional behaviors. Both interventions require skillfulness and experience. We don’t have answers to everything we seek, including staff’s problems. We can only be part of the collaborative approach to moving forward and making progress.

Perhaps it is time to move away from bestseller approaches and redefine what these two processes mean to you. Define then refine methodologies and approaches. Merge fitness with finesse. Let us move towards results drawn from productive conversations, purposeful dialogue, real interest in people, and shared experiences of worth.

We can teach skills and monitor learning and competencies; however shifting attitudes and beliefs is harder. Yet, we can influence by action and conversation so that we promote better and useful things. Emotional issues can be affected by other emotions, shared values, and behaviors of value and substance.

Having said all this, the two processes of coaching and counseling can be applied and attended to with some basic guidelines.

1)    Be in rapport with your staff. Always demonstrate respect.

2)    Stay connected throughout the process.

3)    Engage the person and be engaging.

4)    Ask and tell. Direct and facilitate.

5)    Use evidence and observations of behaviors you would like to start, continue or stop.

6)    Be professional, never personal.

7)    Marry motive with motivation. Good intention gets lost in being intentional.

8)    Be open-minded, honest and straightforward when giving feedback.

9)    Request that your staff also offer options, and create choices together.