Why All This Talk of Coaching Employees Rather Than Managing?

For years, there have been managers. Why now the change to a coach? The two main reasons are:

* Global Competition
* Technology

Issues cannot continue to be passed up the ladder, sometimes taking days for a decision. Decisions need to be made quickly because the consumer today is more demanding.

Thanks to technology information is now easily available to us, and there is lots of it. With all the information available today, the manager can no longer be expected to have all the answers. On the other hand, in a coaching role, you are not expected to have all the answers. In a coaching role, you ask the questions and rely on your staff, who become the experts, to provide the information.

The result of global competition and the increased information is that managers now must become coaches.

A job description of a manager…
"controls, directs and supervises the day to day operations."

A job description of a coach would be…
"to lead, motivate, create a vision, and teach staff the skills needed to empower them to help make us a successful and profitable company."

A real difference in the two descriptions!

You cannot manage men into battle.

You manage things; you lead people."

--Grace Murray Hopper

What happens if managers and companies do not change? They will not survive. They will not attract the talent they need as employees no longer will conform to complying with the orders issued by managers. Today's employees are more educated and need to see the whole picture and more importantly feel as if they have an impact on the whole.