_Today I see so many manager and coaches sitting behind their desk, Creating spread sheets and sending out emails that never get read.

Get out from behind your desk and wandered around your department or organization and just talk with the members of your department or organization? There is a term for this activity – MBWA, management by walking around.

Presence Among Your Employees is Important The benefits of getting to know your people and letting them know you care about them will go a long way toward improving morale, communication, and employee performance. Time spent with them will have dramatic, indirect, positive rewards for you as a manager.

You don’t have time? You have too much on your plate already? Excuses, excuses! If you are stuck every day in meetings, conferences, research, doing paperwork, reading email its time to get you S#@t together, Review your priorities and make some commitments to work towards yours and the organizations goals.

You can’t manage and coach your staff from behind your desk. You can only coach, train, inspect, lead, and direct when you are in the presence of your employees.

Being visible to your employees allows you to:

1. Catch people doing things right and recognize them.
2. Catch people doing things wrong and modify behaviour through coaching.
3. Keep in touch with the reality of your department or organization.
4. Be available for questions, concerns, or needs of your employees.
5. Find new creative ways to run your department.
6. Be a sounding board for your employees.
7. Send the message to your employees that you care and are interested in them and their jobs.
8. Fix things before they break.
9. Break things that need to be broken.
10. Determine common perceptions that people have about the business, their jobs, customers, and so on.

Effective Managers and coaches are In Tune with Their Organization The most effective managers and leaders get to know their people. They know their frustrations, concerns, questions, beliefs, problems, dreams, goals, strengths, and weaknesses. You can’t know any of this if you are barricaded behind piles of reports, non-stop meetings, and a heavy workload. The job of a manager is to manage it, not do it. The job of a coach is to coach not sit from a far and question.

It is critical that managers be in tune with their organization’s culture, perceptions, employee attitudes and frustrations, and not wait for these to filter up through the ranks as rumours or hearsay.

Negative things are happening in your organization right now, and the sooner you identify them, the sooner you can reduce, eliminate, or neutralize them. If you just act as if everything is just fine, prepare for the consequences. Get your head around what your role and responsibilities are.

Leadership, management and coaching are not easy, it’s not sexy its hard work. Its repetitive, doing the same thing day in day out, setting expectations, measuring result and adjusting with effective feedback. Coaching is ongoing, working with individuals to achieve there goals and the organizations expectations. Now get going. Get out from behind that computer and start talking to your people… Now!!

_How many times have you trained a colleague in a task, only to have that person come knocking on your door every five minutes with a question?

People learn by watching others, so instead of telling people how to solve a problem, show them. Take them through each step, explaining the reasons behind each. Then allow them to ask as many questions as needed. This will not only give them the foundation they need to do the task, but will prompt you to master the task more deeply as you provide a justification for each step.

_Social media is the buzz word, everyone want's to get into it but unfortunately it can be daunting for many businesses who have never entered this area before.

The purists will contend that everybody should do their own social media because of the “authenticity” value. Certainly that is an ideal, but I’m also a realist. If people want to out-source their social media and there is a buck to made, it will certainly happen somewhere.   I also think there is some value to a consultant or agency helping people along for some period of time.  When you first got your driver’s license somebody still had to sit beside you and teach you how to drive, right?

In my job as a consultant, I see many approaches to social media management. In general, here are some broad trends in social media management:

Mega brands – I have had a chance to witness some AMAZING and sophisticated social media marketing programs. These companies are beginning to make correlations between “share of voice” and true marketshare, using listening platforms to track micro-trends and the “cool kids,” and taking location-based marketing to a whole new level.

These companies have the resources to hire the biggest agencies and best minds in the world to help them navigate social media labyrinths and determine a strategy, but generally, they are organizing and resourcing to respond to the new opportunities. One brand has renamed part of their marketing department “Customer Connections.”

Medium-sized companies. In my opinion, unless you are an elite brand, I believe at least 95 percent of the companies I see are desperately confused about what to do about social media.  I think they would just like for it to go away so they can return to having a trade booth and shop front.

They probably don’t have a corporate culture that can easily adapt to the transformation needed to “listen” instead of “broadcast” and they simply want to check a box to do SOMETHING. You, know … I actually think there is some value in that.  A company that is at least thinking through the platforms, attempting to listen on the new channels and dipping their toe into content marketing is taking a step in the right direction.  Most of these companies at least have the vision and budget to hire an agency to get them started on social media marketing.

Small businesses.  I think social media can provide an advantage to most small businesses, but that doesn’t mean it actually does unless they are working on it!   Why isn’t it happening?

1. They’re overwhelmed by the concept and don’t know where to start.
2. They started a Facebook page and nobody “liked” them so they quit.
3. They understand the concept but don’t have the time or resources to do anything consistent and meaningful.
4. Their marketing budget is tied up in local newspaper, Yellow Pages, Google and TV ads and they don’t have anything left for something new.
5. When you bring it up, they stare you down and tell you they “Don’t need the Facebox or the Tweeter."
   

Unless customer falls into Category 5, they are probably looking for help in managing their social media program.  I see the following business models emerging:

Local support.  The new category of social media gurus are trying to teach best practices and perhaps do some hands-on social media management.  My take is that most of these efforts eventually fail because you are communicating for somebody else, which is probably not sustainable, and the labor cost to actually do this stuff is so high –and the results so undefinable in the short-term — that customers lose interest. People with a limited budget need this to work NOW.

Cookie cutter.  I am seeing a ton of people and small agencies offering social media packages — “our gold package features two tweets per day, a Facebook update, and one blog post per week!”  This is handing your social media campaign to someone who has no idea about your business. This is fine to get you started but the company acting on your behalf needs to get to know your business as if they actually work with you each week. You should insist on weekly meetings (phone meetings are fine) where you get a chance to coach the person managing your campaign on what changing in your industry and guide them to the style of speak you want to see within your campaign. If you don't take a hands-on role in your social media campaign I feel that it will fail because at some point, you are going to wonder when all the new sales are going to start coming in from these two tweets per day you are paying for.

Overseas.  Kind of a hybrid. Let’s solve the labor cost problem by hiring low-cost virtual assistants in Vietnam or The Philippines to do the tweets and blogs for you.  There are a multitude of problems associated with this approach but it at least addresses the labor issue.

Coaching.  I think the only viable long-term solution for most small businesses is to get some coaching.  start out with the cookie cutter method but stay actively involved with the campaigns. Each week while you are coaching the Campaign manager on your business, take the time to better understand how the campaign is working, the objective of the campaign and the reasons for some of the posts. Buy additional time for further education and coaching each week. Methodically work on a step-by-step plan to eventually create a culture, an organization, and an actionable strategy appropriate for the company resources and budget.

It is not fast (and a lot of people hate that! ) but it does slowly integrate these practices into the fabric of the company, get real employees involved, and become a natural extension of their sales and marketing strategy.

_ I think it’s fair to say that most managers like to do good things for the people who work for them, to make them feel more appreciated, productive and fulfilled. Unfortunately, many of them don’t seem to know what their employees really want or need, and so they end up relying on the same traditional things: training classes, monetary bonuses, small office perks.

Now, employees aren’t going to turn down a bonus or a perk, and in many cases, they’ll be glad to attend a training class, but those things don’t have the transformational affect on people that managers would like. And because they cost real money, they’re not always available for managers to use, especially during difficult times.

I have an idea about how a manager can meaningfully impact an employee’s sense of esteem, enthusiasm and importance. It is completely free, and turns out to be almost as beneficial for managers as it is for the people who work for them. But it’s a little counter-intuitive. Let me explain.

Instead of doing something for the people who work for you, find a way to let them do something for you. I told you it was counter-intuitive. But it actually makes sense, and isn’t at all selfish.

The best way to endear yourself to someone is not to offer to do something for them, but rather to ask them to do something for you. The underlying logic is that people actually feel better about themselves and about someone else when they are in the position of being a helper, rather than a helpee.

That’s because helpers receive a sense of contribution and confidence, while helpees often feel dependent and in debt to someone. As a college wants said to me, if you want a girl to like you, don’t ask her if she wants help with her homework, ask her to help you with yours. Who would have thought?

I realize that this might sound manipulative, and indeed, if used insincerely, it can be. But with the right intentions, with a genuine interest in helping employees grow in confidence and self-esteem, it can be transformational.

Here’s how it might work. Sit down and think about each of the people who work for you. Identify something about them that you admire, that you genuinely believe they do better than you. That shouldn’t be hard, because every employee has skills or talents that exceed those of their bosses.

Once you’ve identified those skills or talents, take a moment to tell each employee why you admire them. If you mean it – and that is absolutely essential – it will blow them away. Be sure to be specific about what you admire about them and state the fact you would like to learn from them. It doesn’t have to be right then, and it doesn’t have to come in one fell swoop. Over time, you’d like them to coach you in that area.

This does not diminished your authority as their leader at work, but rather made it abundantly clear that they have as much to offer me as I do them, in spite of the hierarchy at work.

Now, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that this is sometimes difficult for me, and probably for any manager, to do this. There are times when I don’t want to acknowledge another person’s superiority, and I know that, in my weaker moments, I’ve downplayed the talents of others out of pride. But overcoming that pride, and allowing my staff members to shine, is something that is good and right and liberating, and it will probably have a more lasting impact than any bonus, perk or training class ever could.

During this Christmas season, as you remember that “it is better to give than to receive,’ think about letting your people give you something. What you’ll be giving them is the gift of admiration and importance. Of course, you might want to buy them something too so they don’t just think you’re being cheap.

Have a Merry Christmas.

_

•  Leaders require seasoning to be effective. If you continually invest in your leadership development, the inevitable is growth over time.
  
  
•  The relationship between growth and leadership: It’s the capacity to develop and improve one’s skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.
  
  
•  Successful leaders are learners. And the learning process is ongoing, a result of self-discipline and perseverance.
  
  
•  The Phases of Leadership Growth
  
  Phase 1: I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know – few think of themselves as leaders and as long as a person doesn’t know the importance of leadership he isn’t going to grow. D1
  
  Phase 2: I Know That I Need to Know – at some point we discover we need to learn how to lead. D2
  
  Phase 3: I Know What I Don’t Know – if we don’t get better at leadership, our careers will eventually get bogged down. In this phase you develop a plan for personal growth on areas you need improvement. D2
  
  Phase 4: I Know and Grow and It Starts to Show – when you recognize your lack of skill and begin the daily discipline of personal growth, exciting things start to happen. You start becoming an effective leader but you have to think about every move you make. D3
  
  Phase 5: I Simply Go Because of What I Know – your ability to lead becomes almost automatic. You develop great instincts which results in incredible payoffs. But the only way to get there is to obey the Law of Process and pay the price. D4
  
  
•  Benjamin Disraeli asserted, “The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his time when it comes.”
  
  
•  There is an old saying: champions don’t become champions in the ring – they are merely recognized there. That’s true. If you want to see where someone develops into a champion, look at his daily routine.
  
  

Jack Welch, respected business leader and writer is quoted as proposing these fundamental leadership principles (notably these principles are expanded in his 2001 book 'Jack: Straight From The Gut'):

1. There is only one way - the straight way. It sets the tone of the organisation.
2. Be open to the best of what everyone, everywhere, has to offer; transfer learning across your organisation.
3. Get the right people in the right jobs - it is more important than developing a strategy.
4. An informal atmosphere is a competitive advantage.
5. Make sure everybody counts and everybody knows they count.
6. Legitimate self-confidence is a winner - the true test of self-confidence is the courage to be open.
7. Business has to be fun - celebrations energise and organisation.
8. Never underestimate the other guy.
9. Understand where real value is added and put your best people there.
10. Know when to meddle and when to let go - this is pure instinct.

As a leader, your main priority is to get the job done, whatever the job is. Leaders make things happen by:

• knowing your objectives and having a plan how to achieve them
• building a team committed to achieving the objectives
• helping each team member to give their best efforts

As a leader you must know yourself. Know your own strengths and weaknesses, so that you can build the best team around you.

However - always remember the philosophical platform - this ethical platform is not a technique or a process - it's the foundation on which all the techniques and methodologies are based.

Plan carefully, with your people where appropriate, how you will achieve your aims. You may have to redefine or develop your own new aims and priorities. Leadership can be daunting for many people simply because no-one else is issuing the aims - leadership often means you have to create your own from a blank sheet of paper. Set and agree clear standards. Keep the right balance between 'doing' yourself and managing others 'to do'.

Build teams. Ensure you look after people and that communications and relationships are good. Select good people and help them to develop. Develop people via training and experience, particularly by agreeing objectives and responsibilities that will interest and stretch them, and always support people while they strive to improve and take on extra tasks. Follow the rules about delegation closely - this process is crucial. Ensure that your managers are applying the same principles. Good leadership principles must cascade down through the whole organisation. This means that if you are leading a large organisation you must check that the processes for managing, communicating and developing people are in place and working properly.

Communication is critical. Listen, consult, involve, explain why as well as what needs to be done.

Some leaders lead by example and are very 'hands on'; others are more distanced and let their people do it. Whatever - your example is paramount - the way you work and conduct yourself will be the most you can possibly expect from your people. If you set low standards you are to blame for low standards in your people.

"... Praise loudly, blame softly." (Catherine the Great). Follow this maxim.

If you seek one singlemost important behaviour that will rapidly earn you respect and trust among your people, this is it: Always give your people the credit for your achievements and successes. Never take the credit yourself - even if it's all down to you, which would be unlikely anyway. You must however take the blame and accept responsibility for any failings or mistakes that your people make. Never never never publicly blame another person for a failing. Their failing is your responsibility - true leadership offers is no hiding place for a true leader.

Take time to listen to and really understand people. Walk the job. Ask and learn about what people do and think, and how they think improvements can be made.

Accentuate the positive. Express things in terms of what should be done, not what should not be done. If you accentuate the negative, people are more likely to veer towards it. Like the mother who left her five-year-old for a minute unsupervised in the kitchen, saying as she left the room, "...don't you go putting those beans up your nose..."

Have faith in people to do great things - given space and air and time, everyone can achieve more than they hope for. Provide people with relevant interesting opportunities, with proper measures and rewards and they will more than repay your faith.

Take difficult decisions bravely, and be truthful and sensitive when you implement them.

Constantly seek to learn from the people around you - they will teach you more about yourself than anything else. They will also tell you 90% of what you need to know to achieve your business goals.

Embrace change, but not for change's sake. Begin to plan your own succession as soon as you take up your new post, and in this regard, ensure that the only promises you ever make are those that you can guarantee to deliver.

It hard to motivate others if you don't talk with them.

Managers who's teams are not performing well stop doing the right things and look for the quick fix.

Their time is consumed with non effective activities rather than stopping and deciding "what is the right thing to do".

Teams need to be lead from the front. Start regular One on One's, Coaching and feedback. Communicate to your people regularly about performance and give feedback around effective behaviors, coach for better performance and measure the steps.

What gets measured gets done!..

Creating great relationships is how careers, business and great teams are built.
One of the best ways to motivate others is to give them interesting things to do, especially things that free up your time.

The foundations for success is in one on one's, coaching, feedback and delegation.. "Know, Grow, Empower and Guide you people"

The art of coaching is about helping people discover their own potential and resolve their own issues. its not about telling them what to do or solving their problems for them.

As a coach you have a range of possible actions:

• instructing, telling and solving problems;
  
• giving advice and guidance, and suggesting idea’s;
  
• giving feedback to people;
  
• asking questions to understand the context
  
• looking for options;
  
• listening, summarizing and reflecting.

The idea of successful and collaborative coaching is to us the bottom points over the first few.

The more you solve peoples problems, the more problems they will bring to you. Allow your staff to develop with guidance and support and encouragement from you.

Effective coaching takes time and can be extremely frustrating. The time invested in helping the other person discover the answer pays big dividends in the future.

In recent years, coaching has become fashionable in many organizations and has captured the hearts and minds of those who see coaching as a revolutionary approach to management and leadership. At its best, coaching is not simply a new buzzword for describing a more "people centered" style of management. Rather, coaching is a distinct and different paradigm for working with people and accomplishing results. 

The historical culture of management is rooted in a commitment to predict or forecast the future and then control human behaviour and processes to achieve that culture's aims. 

By contrast, a coaching culture is grounded in a commitment to create or invent the future and then empower the authentic commitment and actions of those being coached. In effect, this is a shift in the locus of power and responsibility from the manager to those they manage. 

COACHING HAPPENS IN A CONTEXT OF TRUST

Coaching by its nature is very personal and is based on a unique and profound level of trust between the coach and those being coached. While coaching is not therapy, the quality of the relationship is similar and the consequences, whether positive or negative, can be just as profound. 


THEORY AND PROFESSIONAL COACHING 

According to an ancient Chinese expression, "Theory without practice is foolish; practice without theory is dangerous".