The Corporate Coach: Mentor, Motivator, Manager

by Mark S. Fulton

British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli once observed, “The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.”

In the bustling world of modern business, sharing the richness of your management wisdom and expertise often seems to be the most efficient approach to employee orientation and training. Two methods are typically employed: the brain dump and the manual assault.

The brain dump approach to employee orientation usually involves walking a new employee or an employee with new responsibilities through a job description and delivering a verbal barrage of information and directives. The employee is expected to absorb this fusillade of facts and begin applying them without delay. Most targets of this orientation tactic are too dazed to admit they are still working on finding the restroom.

The manual assault method of employee indoctrination isn’t much better. Newly hired or promoted staff members are hit with the departmental bible and told that all workplace wisdom resides therein. Given a reasonable amount of time (i.e. when the boss decides they should know it), employees are expected to be up to speed on all things procedural. It doesn’t take long for the average employee to realize that few co-workers are intimately acquainted with the manual and are instead engaged in a more “creative” approach to doing their job.

If Disraeli were alive today and working as a management consultant, he’d probably suggest that effectively equipping employees to reach their full potential requires a combination of management know-how, written procedures and something else—a relationship-based internal advisory system that takes into account the employee’s work experience, knowledge base, skill sets and common sense.

Let’s call this relationship-based internal advisory system that utilizes existing management a corporate coaching program.

The goal of a corporate coach is really the same as that of any manager: getting the best performance out of the people under the coach’s supervision. What’s different is the methodology a coach uses to reach that goal.

Coaching works best when the coach adopts a new mindset toward his or her subject. Protégé, apprentice, trainee—none of these terms capture the true nature of the coach’s relationship with the subject of coaching. That’s why I suggest using the term “client.” The best corporate coaches understand the chief characteristic of their relationship with their clients is service.

There are three distinct roles for the corporate coach:

Mentor - The corporate coach serves as a source of information not found in the company handbook. Insights into the corporate culture, guidance toward the most efficient paths for getting things done and advice for making sound decisions are just a few of the mentoring services rendered by the corporate coach. Naturally, some coaches may be highly skilled in a specific area and serve as a technical advisor to their novice clients.

Motivator - The corporate coach is a catalyst for making things happen. The coach is often called upon to be an encourager, who helps the client through a change in duties, and a partner, who assists the client in maintaining momentum during challenging moments. Coaches motivate their clients to accept responsibility and perform effectively in their corporate roles. The best coaches inspire employees to think for themselves and find new ways to serve the corporate mission.

Manager - The corporate coach is a planner, who provides his clients with a structure and a strategy for success. By helping an employee to set goals and create a plan for reaching them, the coach facilitates the employees climb up the ladder of success. The coach is an organizer, helping clients to prioritize tasks, and an evaluator, providing valuable performance feedback. Ultimately, the coach serves as an agent of accountability, prompting employees to deliver results that support company objectives.

Corporate coaches don’t simply spring forth spontaneously from the company ranks like mushrooms on a mulch pile, they must be selected for their personal and professional qualifications and they should receive appropriate training in the skills they need in order to be effective—skills such as:

• Goal Setting
• Active listening
• Performance feedback
• Emotional intelligence
• Brainstorming
• Problem solving
• Assertiveness
• Familiarity with behavior styles

When I was a rosy-cheeked college freshman reporting for my Orientation Week experience, I was pleased and relieved that I had been assigned an upperclassman whose job was to help me navigate the unfamiliar waters of campus life. Yes, my professors would impart the knowledge I would need to launch my career. Yes, my student handbook explained the intricacies of using the library. But my student advisor was invaluable for obtaining vital intelligence, such as where to find the best fraternity parties.

Corporate America should do no less for new employees and employees who are assigned new responsibilities. Sure, neophytes may do okay without a corporate coach to advise them. They might muddle through until they’ve made enough mistakes to catch on to the way things are done. But why not strengthen the orientation process and build employee gratitude and loyalty by providing novices with a coach?

Who knows? They may even stick around long enough to be a coach for someone else.

Copyright 2001 © Mark S. Fulton