#Coaching Part 1 - What Type Of #Coach Are You?

Coaching  is an invaluable tool in developing teams and high performance in the workplace.  There is no right or wrong style. The key thing as a people manager is to actively develop your teams, by whatever means works best.

Accelerate Your Growth Through Coaching

Following on from our recent blog posts on self assessment and coaching versus mentoring I thought it would be helpful to explore some different coaching styles.    

• Are you an accomplished coach? If so, what type of coaching style do you adopt? Do you flex this style according to the individual?
• Do you want to gain coaching skills and experience? What style do you aspire to?

Coaching Styles:

Key Influencer – a dominant figure who leads by example and who inspires others. This coaching style is typical of someone with influence, persona and charisma.

Visionary – this can be the most frustrating of coaching styles for recipients. The coach sees the big picture and enthusiastically talks about their vision - to them it is all crystal clear! However often the result is that recipients lack specific direction, as they have failed to understand the vision or keep up with the pace. This style is most effective when the vision is communicated, but time is taken to check team or individual understanding.

Hands On – common in the workplace, coaching on how to actually complete the specifics of a task e.g. step by step.

Hands Off – sometimes called “coaching on the run” e.g. telling someone where to find the information but then leaving them to figure it out themselves. A hands off coach is happy to help, after the individual or team has first tried the task themselves.

 

Formal and Structured – more “tell” in nature commonly used when there is little time to get the message across or in safety situations e.g. police, military.

Relaxed and Informal - being available when support and guidance is required. The coach understands individual or team strengths and plays an active role and ownership remains with the individual.

Collaborative – an group or team come together to support each other and set goals. Individuals feel "obliged" to follow through and deliver for the sake of the group so as not to lose credibility.

Following soon some coaching models that you might find helpful in developing others

Maximise Your #PersonalBrand Part 1 – Start With #SelfAwareness

Be mindful of how others see you

Light Bulb Moment - Time For Self Reflection

 

Never underestimate how important your personal brand is in the job seeking process, or as part of your career management strategy.  First impressions, either on paper or face to face, are crucial to success.

You may quite naturally assume that what you say has the biggest influence on others. What we say is important - however we create impressions in lots of different ways, sometimes without even realising.

Typically when communicating face to face we make impressions on others:

• With our body language (50%) 
• With our tone (40%) 
•  With our words (10%)

Bear this in mind and consider what assumptions and stereotyping others might make about you based on your body language, your tone and what you say.

	Give Consideration to:	Try to Avoid:
Body Language	Posture  Smile   Eye contact  Handshakes  Expressions  Gestures  Mannerisms  Positivity	Don’t get caught out – ensure your body language mirrors your tone and words.  Not maintaining eye contact – it builds trust.  Fidgeting  Appearing disinterested  Being dishevelled Negativity  Nerves
Tone	Sincerity Steady  Calm  Warm Pitch  Be authentic	Monotone  Bland  Dull  Mumbling  Appearing irritated  Emotional or angry communications
Words	Introductions  Address others by their names  Active listening  Use of appropriate language  Succinct  Relevant	Speaking over others   Inappropriate language Using jargon  Being dismissive of others  Waffling

Navigate the #Job Application Pathway - with the aid of the #Resume Rhyme

The job application and recruitment process is a highly competitive one. Make use of the “Resume Rhyme” to navigate through each stage of the job hunting process, with a view to securing that new job.  

 

Navigate the recruitment pathway - shine light on what is required

 

Upfront Research	R	Research the company, its markets and the job.
	E	Evaluate what’s required to ensure you stand out from the mob.
Application & Interview Preparation	S	Summarise and sell your skills to best effect.
	U	Understand the job requirements and then reflect.
Interview	M	Memorise likely interview examples, without faking.
	E	Employment is then yours for the taking!

How to Start Formulating Your #Career Strategy

Part 2 of our series on career management. 

  
We have been exploring what is career management, with a view to helping individuals devise their own career management strategies.

Previously we identified the elements of career management as:

The First Step Is To Define The Elements Of Your Career Strategy

 The Next Steps:

In the spirit of owning and shaping your personal career strategy it is necessary to do some preparation work up front. This helps to ensure that you get the most effective career management strategy possible. Give some thought to the first things you will need in order to begin to define your career strategy. I would suggest the following:

• Interests
• Values
• Goals
• Drivers
• Vision/Career Direction 

Break Down The Components of Your Career Strategy

Below are some ideas to get you started, it is not an exhaustive list. Do ask yourself the questions and answer them honestly - you may surprise yourself by getting different answers than you expected!


Interests:

• Does the content of any job need to be aligned to your own interests?
• Are you already interested in a particular sector/industry?
• Will the job/career you are considering allow you to follow/continue to follow your own interests?

Values:

• What is important to you in general - what makes you tick?
• What values are you seeking in an employer?
• When considering an employer is a particular brand or market position important?
• Is being able to make a difference important to you?
• Do you need to feel valued through pay and benefits?
• Do you value family and work-life balance? Is flexible working essential?

Goals:

• What is important to you right now?
• What is your most important priority?
• Where do you want to be in x time?
• What outcome are you seeking in this situation?

Drivers:

• Do you need autonomy?
• Are you a decision maker?
• Are you motivated by recognition for having specialist expertise?
• Do you want to be a people manager?
• Are you highly creative?
• Are you highly competitive and thrive on a challenge?

Vision/Career Direction:

• Are you ambitious? What career progression do you want or need?
• Do you want to work towards a management or more senior management position?
• What size company do you want to work for?
• Are you risk taker or do you seek job security?
• What about geographic location?
• What personal/career development do you want or need?
• Do you see yourself swapping careers at any point?
• Do you want to run your own business?

Still unsure about a career strategy? How about discussing some of the above with friends and family? They know us so well, so are often great at helping shape some ideas. 

Hopefully that's given you a few ideas for a starting point. In Part 3 we will be discussing skills, experience and growth and the role they have to play in a personal career strategy.

Good luck with developing your personal career strategy. If you require any help and advice we can be contacted at Help With Formulating a Career Strategy