When You Coach, You Show You Care

Leaders who coach are leaders who care. When you see someone getting in their own way or performing in an ineffective manner, you want to help them improve if you care about their success. Yet too many in leader roles shy away from providing feedback and coaching because these conversations can be unpleasant or difficult. They would rather ignore the situation and hope things improve on their own.

Consider setting clear expectations with your direct reports about when and how you give feedback and coaching. Explain that it is inevitable that in working together, there will be times when things don't go as planned or when problems occur. Also, explain that it is natural and necessary to raise and work through these difficulties rather than sweeping them under the rug and pretending there is no problem.

Commit to others that you will lead with total candor and total caring, which means that when you see issues, you will bring them up and offer feedback and coaching as needed. Let them know how you will approach these situations and what you will say to signal that a conversation is needed to address a concern.

You can go even further by inviting your team members to approach you openly with their questions or concerns, and let them know the best way to approach you and what to say so that you know they want to have a candid conversation with you. You can set the tone in your team for a feedback rich culture that will pay tremendous dividends in high trust and high performance.