Managing for now, and the future
This week, you can watch the 58 sec. video and/or read the entire piece below. And happy Friday!!
Managing for now, and the future
This week, I had the privilege of being a guest speaker at a training event with sixty or so construction leaders from a national company, the topic being Coaching Leadership Culture. The leaders demonstrated high engagement, honest self-appraisal, and eagerness to learn, and at the heart of it, was a heart for their people. Admirable.
One of the leadership styles that captures the essence of coaching is the manager-coach style, which holds weight in many of the management situations we find ourselves in.
It balances two parts. 1) Manager: the functions of “planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling”1 and 2) Coach: “the explicit and implicit intention of helping individuals to improve their performance…to enhance their personal effectiveness, personal development, and personal growth” 2
I am a big fan of Chris Fagan, the Brisbane Lions AFL coach, and have read most of his interviews in recent years. He makes the hard calls; frames failure as the journey to success through windows of optimism; believes in his players even when the media (and probably the players themselves) don’t believe. He positions them according to their strengths and seems to experiment with players to find other sweet spots. He has harnessed a bunch of individual talents into a powerful team. Humble yet assertive, directive while supportive, his team speaks highly of him. Chris, in my mind, embodies much of this manager-coach style we can learn a lot from.
While traditional management has typically emphasised the directive style, the coaching component adds the active supportive element. Managing directs people's current abilities, but with the addition of coaching, it empowers them to develop potential abilities. And it’s from coaching that people move from where they currently are to where they can be.
Manager-coach. A great combination for now, and the future.
If you’d like to discuss developing this management style in your organisation, please call me on +61 403 341 105, or reply to this email.
Ray
I always value comment and thoughts on these pieces as they often help me see things from a fresh perspective. And, if this was helpful, please let me know by clicking the heart.
+61 403 341 105; ray@rayhodge.com.au; www.rayhodge.com.au
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Up in the air - where I will be
Toowoomba - Brisbane: Sept 25 - 28
Melbourne: Sept 29 - Oct 6
Adelaide: from Oct 9
Perth, Sydney, and Cairns: TBA
On the air
This week, I was interviewed by Fresh FM about the workplace and some of the associated challenges. My 4-minute section starts at 7:10 sec.
General and Industrial Management. Henri Fayol
Hamlin, R. G., Ellinger, A. E., & Beattie, R. S. (2008). The emergent “coaching industry”: A wake-up call for HRD professionals. Human Resource Development International, 11, 287-305. doi:10.1080/13678860802102534