Supervisor Development—High Return on Investment for Those Willing to Dig In

9-Part Series Gives an Opportunity to Work with Other Supervisors Each Week to Sharpen Your Coaching Edge

I was working with a group of new supervisors last month reviewing coaching as a key supervisory tool. Class participants were asked to reflect on their willingness to dig in to the coaching role. Two things became very clear very fast. One, there was a great deal of reluctance to take on the coaching role. Two, many held the misconception that the primary activities in coaching had something to do with hovering and scolding.

How many of us, challenged with being effective workplace coaches, actually wanted this role—actually asked for it? Many of us have been invited into the supervisor’s role because we were competent in a specific area and others thought we should be “promoted.” Next thing we know we are dealing with human beings which can be one of the most rewarding or frustrating endeavors we will ever experience.

The reluctance we see from supervisors is usually based in concerns about awkward moments, resistance or defensiveness, being too busy, uncertainty about conveying a negative message, and distaste for delivering bad news. These are not small hurdles to overcome. Most of us need some coaching ourselves to resolve some of these concerns.

You might say, with all these challenges and impediments, “Why bother?” Well, all this investment happens to really pay huge dividends! Where we see effective and caring supervision, we see much higher employee commitment scores, improved retention, and productivity. Leaders who are in the 90^th percentile for coaching effectiveness had employee commitment scores in the 88^th percentile. It doesn’t take a financial analyst to total up the kind of impact good coaching is going to have on the bottom line.

So how do you better understand and embrace this role? 9-part series with people just like yourself, figuring this supervisory thing out one interaction at a time.

Just two hours each week, here are the topics that we explore to refine our workplace leaders:

• Foundations of Leadership
• The Basic Principles for a Collaborative Workplace
• Coaching—Bring Out the Best in Others
• Business Communication
• Giving Recognition
• Managing Your Priorities/Business Planning
• Personal Strategies for Navigating Change
• Moving from Conflict to Collaboration
• Addressing Poor Performance

Each week we explore a best-practice model, discuss practical application, and exercise the skill set with a supportive team.

Come join us for one, some or (best case) ALL of our 9-part series.