Management Coaching: A Step Beyond The Classroom
Corporate managers are not under-trained --
They are UNDERCOACHED!
Learning how to manage subordinates is one thing --- applying that know-ledge is something quite different. The implementation of management principles is the key to people-management success. Training departments, universities and seminar providers have done a fine job of teaching managers the concepts and methods of effective people-management.
However, the measure of effectiveness is not the knowledge or presentation skills of the trainer or the number of new ideas generated or even the amount of information retained. The only meaningful measure of effectiveness is behavior changed in the workplace.
Ask a "management expert" how an executive should deal with a subordinate whose performance is less than desirable --- the answer should reflect a sound application of management principles and be easily understood by the questioner.
HOWEVER --- allow the "management expert" to get to know the specific executive, the subordinate and the company in which they work-- and the answer is most likely to be quite different and much more useful. This is the essence of management coaching.
A management coach provides a one-on-one confidential resource on how to manage people effectively. Because the coach knows the personalities involved, the corporate culture, long- and short-term company history as well as the future goals of the company, the specific suggested actions and strategies tend to be more effective. Role-playing allows the manager to "practice" the intervention.
Finally, regular follow-up insures that the learnings that take place become a permanent part of the manager's behavior.
The management psychologists at Human Resource Development, Inc. have been doing management coaching in a wide variety of corporate settings since 1972.