“The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality.” John Quincy Adams.
Everyone you teach or nurture carries a small piece of you with them through their lives, just as you carry memories of teachers and mentors who helped you in life. Like ripples on a pond, the effects of helping others spread and touch other lives as well. We are privileged to work in one of the most caring professions, and we have the opportunity and the responsibility for training and helping others. It behooves us to make the most of that opportunity throughout our careers.
Coaching is one of the most noble and important things we do in the course of our work. Understanding and helping people is an essential part of what makes us feel good about ourselves and our careers, and the better job we do at it, the better we will feel.
Coaching Best Practices
Coaching is an action-oriented approach to managing employee performance. Your goal is long-term satisfied employees. That goal takes work and effort, just like all worthwhile activities.
Trainers should be coaches and must find what strengths to build upon for each person. A plan should be developed for each individual to teach them what they need to know for their particular function.
This plan should be preceded by caring. What are you trying to accomplish? What do you want to learn? How can I help you get there?
Mentees should be made accountable for specific outcomes that they have developed, creating pride in their achievements.
Coaches must be coachable and request feedback. We all learn by doing – including the coach, trainer or manager.
A good coach continually raises the bar. People rise to the level of our expectations. Children who are treated as if they are smart do better in school. Children who are told they are stupid think they are, and do poorly. Help your trainee or mentee to achieve more, do more, learn more. Don’t settle for second best.
Good employees motivate themselves. Your job is to refrain from de-motivating them.
Employees own their job performance and their goals. Your job is to steer them along a good path but where they want to go and how quickly they will get there is up to them.
Lead by example – people learn more from what you don’t say than from what you do. Do not expect people you are training to behave in ways that you yourself don’t, and be careful that you don’t send the wrong messages.
Delegate – people learn by thinking for themselves and making their own mistakes. If it’s not critical – no pet’s life or client satisfaction is hanging in the balance – let your trainee gain the experience that making their own decisions matters.
Listen to and communicate with your team members – sitting down and catching up should happen on a regular, preferably scheduled and organized, basis.
Treat your employees like individuals with distinct personalities and unique competencies – because they are. The best managers are flexible, just as the best dog trainers or teachers are. We know that not everyone responds the same way, learns the same way, or feels the same way.
Educate yourself – the more you know and understand about human behavior, psychology, and learning, the better coach you will be. Utilize the books and resources of the hospital to gain a better understanding of what makes people tick.
Good leaders are both coaches and coachable. As a leader in my hospital, I know that I need to model being a teacher. I need to coach my associate veterinarians and my entire team to learn new information and utilize it in their work. They in turn need to coach and teach each other.
