Managers often wish their team members were more coachable.
What’s the best way to make that happen?
Be more coachable ourselves.
Why?
First, it’s good role modelling. Second, demonstrating this will attract more coachable people to our teams.
Here are two ways to demonstrate greater coachability:
- Whenever you receive coaching advice from your boss (either because you asked for it or they offered it), transparently share that advice with your team and explain to them what actions you’re taking to address it
- Seek coaching advice from your team. And then tell them how you’re going to address it
In either case, it’s an opportunity to:
- Normalise the giving and receiving of, and acting on, coaching advice
- Show gratitude for the coaching advice, making clear that it’s an investment in your own capability
- Demonstrate an action-oriented approach, where you turn the feedback into actions
Asking for or sharing coaching advice that you’ve received also demonstrates vulnerability. This will build trust in your team, which is a foundational requirement for high performance.
The main objective is to show that being coached isn’t a sign of failure. It’s nothing to be scared of. It’s an opportunity to
