In business, the term "coaching" typically refers to methods of helping others to improve, develop and learn new skills in order to find personal success and achieve goals. Ultimately, coaching helps people learn to manage change and overcome personal challenges. Coaching commonly addresses attitudes, behaviors and knowledge, as well as skills, and can also focus on physical and spiritual development.
Coaching is a form of training or teaching, normally involving one-to-one support. The goal is to help a person improve, often in a very practical sense. In this respect, coaching differs from the training and teaching of groups focused on amassing knowledge and theories. Coaching is action-oriented and deals with real-life situations.
According to Patricia Clason, Director of the Center for Creative Learning and Registered Corporate Coach (RCC), coaching consists of different stages. Each stage may require the Business Coach to assume different roles but blends into the next. To determine which role the Business Coach should take with an individual, a few specific questions need to be answered. Put into the context of network marketing, the questions would be something like these:
Based on the answers, the coach can determine which of the four main stages of coaching the team member should be placed in:
Stage 1 is Prescriptive: The IBO has little or no experience in owning and operating a business. Therefore, detailed step-by-step coaching is required.
Stage 2 is Persuasive: The IBO has some experience but needs firm direction. The coach pushes new strategies and wants the team member to be independent and possibly take some risks. The coach’s role is to persuade the IBO to find answers and seek challenges on his/her own.
Stage 3 is Collaborative: The IBO has enough experience and ability to work with the coach jointly to solve business-related issues and to develop and implement new strategies. The coach will encourage the IBO to work more independently and is there to support only when needed.
Stage 4 is Confirmative: The IBO has lots of experience already and has mastered principles and techniques for being a successful business builder. The coach therefore helps to define future goals, objectives and the direction of the business. The coach is largely a sounding board and listener, champion and cheerleader.
In network marketing, being a coach to your team members is often a necessity for your own success. Business coaching is about helping your downline become more effective while involving the entire organization in the process. Coaching influences your business's adaptability, productivity and retention.
Being a coach means that you see and approach the role of upline and sponsor as a leader. You are one who challenges and develops your team members' skills and abilities to achieve the best performance results. Ultimately, you coach your team members to function as self-sufficiently as possible and to duplicate your efforts with their own group. In other words, if you manage as a coach, your team members learn, grow, and work hard, too. As you seek to get the best out of their performance, you also have to work very hard.
As a coach, you develop and possess various skills and efforts that are aimed at guiding team members to achieve high productivity and positive results. The more you coach, the easier it will be to inspire and motivate your team! Go Team LifePharm!