Thought I was a Good Coach

Coaching is difficult. I can remember my old Boss and mentor saying “I learn something new about coaching everyday!” I always thought, “Wow, you’ve been in business for thirty years, you must be a slow learner.” The tables have turned.

We have this fantastic crew chief. Let’s call her Jackie. Jackie is a star in every sense of the word. Jackie has been with Wolfgang for three years, she produces quality work on or under budget, she provides fantastic customer service and most importantly she possesses a phenomenal attitude.

Over the years I have had many opportunities to coach Jackie. A lot of our coaching events involved problem solving around productivity and maximizing Jackie’s profit share. After all, every employee is motivated by money, right?

After our coaching events I would check in with Jackie and ask “what are you taking away from our time together” Jackie would generally respond to my questions with intelligent answers. Amazingly, Jackie’s answers were always the ones that I was hoping to hear.

I often thought to myself, “what a great job I am doing with Jackie! She is doing a wonderful job for us and she is satisfied with her job. I wish we had more people like Jackie!”

Imagine my surprise when my newly hired Operations Manager informed me that Jackie has been frustrated for a long time. Jackie was annoyed that every time we worked together the conversation centered on productivity and profit share. Moreover, Jackie revealed that she is not motivated by productivity and bonus; she simply wants to produce quality work and to be seen as a key member of the Wolfgang Team. How many entrepreneurs have dreamed of hearing those words from their employees?

So, what did I learn? First, my new Operations Manager is a better listener than I. Second, not all our employees are motivated the same way. In Jackie’s case she is motivated by producing quality work and being a leader on a great team. Third, as her coach, it is my job to recognize Jackie’s needs and to coach her accordingly. Good thing my new Operations Manager is her new coach.

Everyone in our company is motivated for different reasons. That doesn’t mean that we are not aligned. On the contrary it means that we have an open and strong corporate culture.

I learn something new about coaching every day!