Coach

Why coach? Out of selfishness as much as philanthropy.

Investing ten minutes in coaching will save an hour.

A coach is responsible for identifying and inducing productive discomfort

—Kent Beck

A coach aims to:

• enhance the performance and learning ability of others;
• help people to help themselves;
• build trust in the coaching relationship—a powerful way to do this is to disclose something of your own strengths, weaknesses and experiences;
• give feedback;
• include techniques such as motivation and effective questioning;
• recognize the coachee’s readiness to undertake a particular task, in terms of their location in the skill will matrix for a leader coach.

As a great coach, you:

• create more time for yourself and others—working the skill will matrix with your people, you will in the position to delegate more;
• enjoy the fun of working with a band of colleagues who actually relish working with you;
• achieve better results with your stable team more quickly;
• build your interpersonal skills more broadly—which often means you interact and relate better with those around you: family, friends, customers, vendors; and
• ‘groove’ coaching skills and habits into your daily lives.

Are you a great coach? Assess yourself using the coaching self-assessment.

Also see mentor.

Facts:

1. the number of enlightened leaders seems to be much greater than people normally think;
2. many people have found these techniques also help them talk better with their customers—not just with their own teams; and
3. the coaching tool kit seems to be relevant well beyond the mere corporate world.

A coaching leader takes coaching a step further.

Person being coached by a coach. Closely related to mentor.

Kanban Coach

David J. Anderson expects every kanban coach to be able to answer these questions or you’d better get a better #kanban advisor.

1. If someone says, "We are doing #kanban", try asking them why a kanban system with deferred commitment was appropriate for their circumstances?
2. When would you choose a kanban system for scheduling work as opposed to some other scheduling system? What is your current system in use?
3. What other elements do you need to add to kanban to create an adequate scheduling system for your context? What risks are you mitigating?

Sources

• The Tao of Coaching by Max Landsberg
• University of Tasmania » Coaching conversations for change (part 1)
• HBR » Jack Zenger, Joseph Folkman » Finding the Balance Between Coaching and Managing
• HBR » Joseph R. Weintraub, James M. Hunt » 4 Reasons Managers Should Spend More Time on Coaching
• https://hbr.org/2015/08/6-ways-to-turn-managers-into-coaches-again
• Portia Tung on Executive Coaching and Habits of Effective Agile Coaches

See also

• category:coach
• Change
• Culture
• agile coach