To Coach, To Lead, To Mentor, or...To Manage

To Coach, To Lead, To Mentor, or...To Manage

Have you ever been in the position where you know you have employees that are committed to your mission, have the independent desire to be successful, and are internally satisfied from the part they play in the success of your business? Whether you have employees that meet all or some of that criteria it will behoove you reflect on the method you use to interact with them. Your interaction will pay you great dividends in the long run when it is strategic.

First let’s define each of these interactions you could inspire with your employees:

• Coaching: Occurs when an employee is aided in development for new competencies, qualities and the manner to which they enhance the team.

• Leading: An employee is provided inspiration and encouragement guiding them toward the overall vision of the team that exemplifies new possibilities.

• Mentoring: An expert that provides employees advice and guidance. The mentor will take the employee under their wing in an effort to inspire them and in effect become their role model.

• Managing: Establishes clear, concise directives, outcome focused, with deliberate deliverables and due dates as the expectation.

Even though each of these interactions may and will overlap each other as your employees grow, each is uniquely effective when correctly utilized. A characteristic of Coaching that measures its effectiveness is the self-correction factor. One observable outcome of a well-coached employee is when they have been taught their tasks well enough to be able to recognize an error and appropriately self correct an error. The function of the leader is to provide a vision for the optimal product/service. The competencies for achievement are not the role of the leader, merely the vision for the result.

The Mentor in an organization is viewed as the expert and as such is typically the one all employees look to for the answers. They are the company trainer and they educate everyone in the organization about virtually all aspects of the company because they often make it their personal mission to understand the company inside and out. Whereas the Manager is where the proverbial buck stops. The Manager is a necessary function of an organizations success as they ensure the accountability of all the metrics of the day-to-day operations are met.

When these roles are utilized purposefully they will enhance the quality, insightfulness and professionalism of your employees. The challenge lies in the application of each of the aforementioned disciplines as a natural and comfortable style of supervision. In addition to applying the disciplines recognizing the circumstance that best suits each discipline is also a critical component of effective delivery.

Are you ready to challenge your supervision into productive interaction with your employees? The Merit Group is eager to team together with you to get the results you desire. Visit our website at www.themeritgroupindy.com or call 317-805-4896 today!