Want to Boost Team Performance? Here’s How to Coach Better!

Episode 135: Are you a finance leader eager to enhance your team's performance? This episode dives deep into the essential coaching techniques that can elevate your leadership game. We explore the vital distinction between coaching and teaching, emphasizing that coaching is not about providing answers but rather about listening and facilitating self-reflection.

Building trust is a crucial element discussed, as it lays the foundation for open communication and collaboration. We share actionable strategies for fostering an environment where team members feel supported and confident in sharing their challenges. Key coaching techniques, such as asking open-ended questions and practicing active listening, can lead to powerful insights and improvements in performance.

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For more resources, please visit Finance Leader Academy:  financeleaderacademy.com.

Transcript

Stephen McLain: 0:05

One of the four fundamental finance leader responsibilities is making the people around you better, and we do that through coaching your team members on performance, goal setting and the potential for greater responsibility. How many times is a team manager or a senior finance leader that you have doubts on your ability to help your team members become better at their jobs? It might be often, and this issue really depends on the composition of your team. Is your team proactive, just comfortable or barely getting things done? It's probably a combination, so let's be actively engaged in developing our people so they have greater opportunities to excel. Please enjoy the episode. Welcome to the Finance Leader Podcast, where leadership is bigger than the numbers. I am your host, Stephen McLain. This is the podcast for developing leaders in finance and accounting. Please consider following me on Twitter, facebook, instagram and LinkedIn accounting. Please consider following me on Twitter, facebook, instagram and LinkedIn. My usernames and the links are in this episode's show notes. You can also follow Finance Leader Academy on LinkedIn. Thank you, this is episode number 135, and I'll be sharing a few professional coaching tips you can use to help your team members.

Stephen McLain: 1:21

Author and speaker John Maxwell said Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself. It's about advancing your team, a primary responsibility we have as finance leaders is to help others around us to become better. A leader seeks to find out why something is not happening according to expectations and to the high standard we have established. Your first and most important focus area when it comes to improving your team or making positive change is that you must be always building trust. You will never move the needle with your team and with their cooperation if they don't trust you. Building trust always starts with you setting the right example for behavior, work ethic, time management, respect, productivity, doing what you say, proper communication, taking care of your team and so much more. Now, last week, in episode 134, become a Proactive Leader with Situational Awareness, I talked about the importance of knowing and understanding what is happening around you, whether you are in a meeting, talking with your team and looking at industry variables for coming changes. If you missed that episode, please go back and listen Now.

Stephen McLain: 2:38

Coaching is not teaching. It's listening. It's probing what is stopping the individual from achieving the next level or overcoming fear and getting out of their comfort zone. Teaching and training are different from coaching. Teaching is where you do most of the talking. Coaching is where you do most of the listening. The key to coaching, to excellence, is asking high quality, prompting questions so the person being coached can deep dive their own performance, and then you sit back to listen and ask them to dive even further when there is a stoppage or when you hear an excuse or an obstacle or a problem. Now let's briefly review the steps and tips to better personal performance coaching.

Stephen McLain: 3:25

Number one build trust, just like I mentioned a few moments ago, and I want you to go one step further Check your bias for each of your team members. We all have some type of bias. Know yourself and ensure you keep your bias in check as you coach and in every leadership duty you have. Number two become an active listener. Coaching is listening with very little talking. Don't interrupt when they are in a sequence of self-discovery. Help them to keep talking.

Stephen McLain: 3:58

Number three use a prompt question. Try to avoid yes or no questions. The best prompt question that I really like comes from the book the Coaching Habit by Michael Stanier, and it is what is on your mind. It's a great open-ended question that can get people started. Number four don't interrupt while they are talking. 5. Pay attention to obstacles or excuses. Zero in on that. Use a follow-up question and continue to ask, to go further until you find the real problem. 6. To find that moment of epiphany may take several sessions. Through open questions, you help them to determine and own their solution. 7. Agree on a plan that fits what was found in the session or follow-up sessions. Number eight do follow-ups as necessary. Ensure you are documenting performance so you can review and follow-up sessions. And number nine be encouraging going forward in your normal leadership duties.

Stephen McLain: 5:05

Now I love coaching. There are a lot of possibilities when it comes to helping your team overcome an obstacle and building a plan of excellence. It is fun watching your team members achieve the impossible, be prepared for greater responsibility and then get promoted into a higher role. Now for action today. My best suggestion for today is to perfect your listening skills and the natural desire to interrupt. Let your team members talk and then talk some more. Let them open up so you know how to help them improve, achieve more and to accomplish their goals. Now. Today I talked very briefly about professional coaching tips you can use to help your team members. Helping our team members to improve is just one of our primary responsibilities as finance leaders. I list out the others on financeleaderacademycom.

Stephen McLain: 5:59

I hope you enjoyed the Finance Leader Podcast. You can find this episode wherever you listen to podcasts. If this episode helped you today, please share with a colleague Until next time. You can find this episode wherever you listen to podcasts. If this episode helped you today, please share with a colleague. Until next time. You can check out more resources at financeleaderacademycom and sign up for my weekly updates so you don't miss an episode of the podcast. And now go lead your team and I'll see you next time. Thank you.