Leading as Coaching

The most important assets businesses have are the people. It’s not the intellectual property, the corner lot, or the accounts receivable that make a business succeed. It’s the people.

This is also what makes business difficult.

People are cranky. We have good days and bad. We’re fickle, myopic and prone to inertia. We make and take shortcuts.

This is what makes leadership important.

The most famous leadership guide in Silicon Valley was Bill Campbell. But his clients called him “Coach”. Before leading technology executives he led middle school boys as a football coach.

Part of Campbell’s coaching mindset that spread through Silicon Valley and beyond was how he (and others) conducted one-on-one evaluations. Instead of the boss leading, Campbell thought, let the employee lead.

To accomplish this flip, Campbell encouraged his clients to do two things. First, adopt their own coaching mindset. What targeted skills does the employee need to improve? Identify that and “coach them up.”

Second, adopt a learning mindset. Employees are closer to the customer and gather different information. What do employees note that is important to the business? Identify that and use it appropriately.

Mindsets matter because they affect our actions. Think like a coach and see how many wins you can add.