Reading Notes | "Coach"'s trillion-dollar management class~The way of coaching to achieve life

Aug 8, 2022

To be a good manager and leader, you must first be a good coach. In the past 20 years of management experience, I have encountered numerous problems related to people, communication, and team operation, and I also faced the situation that I could not push, drag, or pull up and move towards a common goal. This "Coaching" has provided me with some guidance, and because of this, I will also learn to move from coaching management to coaching leadership and become a professional coach. Whether it is one-on-one or a business coach, we are constantly working towards the goal of serving and helping others grow.

Who can make Apple's Jobs, Tim Cook, Google's Brin & Page, Sundar Pichai, Facebook's Mark Elliot Zuckerberg & Sheryl Sandberg? What about the people who are willing to listen to many of today's top entrepreneurs, CEOs, and executives?

A football coach who was an American football coach in the first half of his life. He didn't quit his coaching job until he was nearly forty years old. By fate, he entered the business world and entered Silicon Valley at the age of forty-three. character, he's Bill Campbell.

He himself rarely appears in the mainstream media. According to Fortune Star's description in the report: Campbell is willing to let the people around him become the focus of the spotlight, while he is low-key hidden behind the scenes. In Silicon Valley, everyone called him "coach."

Any team or athlete will have a coach. Now, for fitness and sculpting, there are coaches to assist you. So as a manager, leader, or even a corporate organization and team, do you need a coach?

And are you in a department or project management position, facing personnel and communication problems, and troubled by not being able to effectively promote the work?

This "Coaching" provides you with some directions to solve the problems you are facing now.

After reading this book, Ziqian believes that the whole book is to let management and leaders treat talents with the essence of human nature as the core, and the coaching leadership style connects talents and teams through mutual trust.

Talent is always the most important. Managers need to build a team with community power, lead and trust the team and talents in a coaching manner, and achieve the common goals of personal career and enterprise.

🎯 Talent

People are the most important!
The number one priority of managers is to ensure that the people they lead are happy and successful.

Every company will emphasize that talent is the most important, and the company that actually shows it and can make employees feel the same way is consistent with its words and deeds.

Our managers should be committed to creating an environment that assists subordinates to complete their work in an efficient manner, so that there are outstanding talents in the team who want to achieve good results, providing them with substantial support , and giving them respect and trust , so that they will grow and thrive.

support:
Provide the necessary resources, tools, training, and guidance needed to improve their skills and continue to improve.

respect:
Understand their career goals, understand their life choices, and help them achieve and accommodate the needs of the company.

trust:
Let go and let people make decisions and make decisions. You believe they want to perform well and you believe they will do it

🎯Trust is the cornerstone of all relationships

Trust is a key element in all relationships, no matter what kind of relationship, from friendship, love, family or co-workers, to robes. That's why I've linked the red arrows representing trust from leadership to individuals in the graphic above.

The academic definition of "trust": "A willingness to accept the possibility of injury based on positive expectations of others' behavior."

We've all experienced or seen a game of "trust down", especially when it comes to building trust among members of a team. The back of us is the place where we feel the most vulnerable. Because we can't see our back, we think we need protection the most. Once we can't predict what will happen, we will feel the most fear, so when you are willing to give your back to the other party, Being willing to trust that the other person will help you and not let you fall on the ground (or water) means that you have started to build trust.

Coach Bill, for the meaning of "trust" is: keeping promises, loyalty, competence, integrity and confidentiality.

You know they want to perform and you believe they will. How can we build trust? Here are a few key elements:

Disagreement is okay, but not hostile.
Only teach those who are willing to be taught. One of the coach's responsibilities is to make everyone better, but only if the other person is willing to accept coaching. There is no way to teach someone who thinks he is smart.

The Bill coach defines "buildables" as follows: buildables who are willing to accept coaching, need to have five characteristics, honesty, humility, hard work, perseverance, and openness to learning from afar. Attitude.

A coach tells you what you don't want to hear, asks you to see things you don't want to see, and finally lets you achieve what you want to achieve.

Part of a coach's job is to further enhance the other person's self-knowledge and help them see their own shortcomings. It is human nature to not like to talk about their own shortcomings. Therefore, honesty and humility are particularly important. He also made the following key points on how to build trust:

Listen in all directions.
Be honest, but don't embarrass yourself. Be forthright, but don't embarrass yourself and add caring.
Don't push your opinion into other people's ears. Sincerity and candor are the keys to effective coaching, and a good coach doesn't hide things in his heart just because he encounters things that are hard to say. But don't force people to understand you, don't dictate what people should do, maybe tell a story, and guide others to make the best decision for themselves.
Be a communicator of courage. Spread courage, not fear. Be someone who can give energy to others, instead of consuming them all the time, trust them, and push them to come up with courage.
Accept who you are, no need to pretend. Like all people who show their full self, when you are sincere and show your full self at work, your colleagues will respect you more, and you will know how to appreciate such people.

And Bill's coaching approach: first, listen carefully, don't get distracted; then, he doesn't tell you what to do, but shares stories; and finally, he lets you draw your own conclusions.

🎯The power of quality team and community

A complete person should include professional, private, family and emotional aspects. The operation of the team should not just show the side of professionalism and work attitude. So this coach Bill, to all those who worked with him, sincerely and actively expressed his love for others, understanding of each other's family, and private life. When an organization is filled with the partnership love shown by Bill, the team is more likely to demonstrate teamwork, higher employee satisfaction, and better team performance.

When people get to know each other well, a place, a team, becomes stronger.

And if you want to get acquainted, start with caring, but if you want to care about others, you must first know how to care for people. Ask them about their lives outside of work and get to know their families. Reach out to help when others are in trouble. Committed to building community and building deep connections with people. Once the members of the community have deep connections with each other, the community will become stronger.

Always keep the mindset that I want to help

At this point, Ling Ziqian remembered that he wrote an article about Changshan Snake. Once the team members have Changshan Snake's mentality and substantive actions, it will be difficult for the team to be excellent!

💢Extended reading: Workplace Talk｜The Biography of Changshan Snake

Solve team problems first, other problems will naturally be solved

Anyone who has ever been a soldier knows that in front of the army, no one can stand in the way, and the priority of the team is higher than anything else. When this coach of Bill encountered a problem, he did not start directly with the problem, but with the team; instead of rushing to analyze the problem itself, he discussed whether the team members have the ability to solve the problem, staffing, and whether there are enough resources to solve the problem.

This reminded Ziqian that when he joined the army, when he was the maintenance officer of the army, the logistics commander at that time came to inspect and told him to provide the necessary resources, but the resources could not be done well, and that was my problem.

Usually managers tend to focus on the problem itself, and are often given the task of solving the problem, what is the current situation? What are the countermeasures? Risk assessment, what are the advantages and disadvantages?...etc. And coaching leadership is about leading a team, who is responsible for solving the problem? Are there better people to solve the problem? Do they have the resources needed to solve the problem?

How to find the right person

The team must be made up of people. Since the ultimate problem is still people, how to find the right person? Coach Bill offered his opinion:

You have to be smart, not academically , but to be able to quickly learn and work while switching between different fields, and at the same time build relationships.
Must work hard.
Must be honest and reliable.
To have perseverance , that is, after being knocked down, have the ability to stand up with enthusiasm and perseverance, and charge again.

Once you think you've found the right person, how do you make sure you've found the right person'?

Willing to make a commitment to go all out and prioritize the interests of the team, not just your own success. In addition, it is possible to observe whether a person is willing to give in and feel happy for the success of others.
When a decision is made, someone must give up some interests or rights, and carefully observe whether the other party is willing to make concessions for the overall situation, and the degree of concession.

💢Extended reading: Workplace Talk｜Remove that invisible hand

A good life is built on good relationships

 If you want to care about others, you must first know how to care for people. Ask members about their lives and interests outside of work, get to know their family members, and lend a hand to help others when they are in trouble. --"coach"

When encountering a problem, the first thing is to examine the team, not to solve the problem in the first place, but to find the biggest problem first, and ignore those difficult problems that everyone turns a blind eye to, whether it is appearance or those problems The problem behind it, and bring it to the table, put it in front of everyone, and make sure that these problems can be solved as a priority.

🎯Coaching management and leadership

Whether you can become a leader depends on the approval of others, not on you. If you are a good manager, your subordinates will make you a leader.
-- Bill. Bill Campbell

Google conducted an Oxygen Project in 2008, using algorithms to analyze the performance evaluations, questionnaires, backgrounds of award-winning executives and other data of all executives in the company, and summed up the eight most important characteristics of a good executive. :

1. Be a good coach.
2. Decentralize the team and do not have to be hands-on.
3. Make employees feel that their supervisor genuinely cares about their success and happiness.
4. Be productive and results-oriented.
5. Good at communication and willing to listen to employees' ideas.
6. Willing to help employees and develop their careers.
7. Must have a very clear vision and strategy, and ensure that the team is on the same page.
8. Possess key technical abilities and can advise the team.

The study also analyzed the three worst behaviors of a supervisor:

1. Inability to understand and lead teams.
2. Inconsistent metrics and planning.
3. Spend too little time on communication and leadership.

We all know that before all kinds of sports and competitions, we all need to warm up to relieve muscles and tension, and avoid injuries, and meetings in the workplace also need to be warmed up, but how to start? Let’s start with small talk . (But I guess some corporate cultures don't necessarily apply, e.g. Netflex, Amazon)

For example, start by talking about what you did this weekend, or other topics that also help strengthen your relationship. Its purpose is twofold:

First, let team members know the human side of each other.
Second, the seemingly relaxed and interesting opening actually attracts the participants to concentrate on the meeting. The big and small things in life are always more attractive than the hard work, and they can also listen to what others have to say next.

To be a good manager, you must know how to be a coach. After all, the higher one's position, the more your success month depends on being able to succeed.

The leader finally speaks

Even if you already have the verdict or the answer in mind, maybe it's right, but when you blurt it out, you rob the team of the opportunity to come together. In the event that the best solution cannot be reached after sufficient discussion, managers need to facilitate a resolution or make a decision.

A manager's job is to break the ice and help people do better work. Once a decision is made in the meeting, make everyone commit to doing their best and not hold back after the fact. -- Bill. Bill Campbell

Leading a team based on first principles

 "First principles" In any situation, there are always some unchanging truths that everyone can agree with.

Solve difficult problems according to "first principles". When you encounter difficult problems and problems, define "first principles" that everyone can accept for the problem, which will form the foundation of the company or product and will not change fact. Then use this principle to guide you to make an informed decision.

We often hear that don’t raise a cow for drinking milk. However, Musk of Tesla, at the beginning of the development of electric vehicles, reverse-engineered the disassembled battery with the highest cost, analyzed the cost from raw materials to the process, and finally decided To set up your own battery manufacturing plant is to apply the concept of first principles.

In the workplace, there are often disputes over some jobs because of the need to defend the rights and interests of one's own department. Even if the current proposal is the best for the overall consideration, it will resist because of the need to defend one's own rights and interests. At this time, find the first Principles are very important, and managers need to have the ability to identify and find first-principles facts.

🎯 What kind of life do you want to live

What you demand of yourself does not mean that you can demand others in the same way, even if you think it's for the other person's good, even if you think everyone is capable. For a long time, managers have been accustomed to leading the team by means of guidance, and subordinates are also accustomed to obeying orders. Over time, their ability to think independently has been weakened. When encountering problems, they want to seek advice from their supervisors, and follow instructions before implementing them.

All along, I believe that everyone has potential, can be cultivated, trained, and then can make substantial contributions to the team. Therefore, they will follow the good guidance, implement education and training, and instill all their own experience into them without reservation. Although there are still successful cases, there are still some ineffective results. Because of this, he dared not let go, or kept an eye on the details at all times, for fear of accidentally causing a catastrophe. All kinds of phenomena are caused by lack of trust.

But gradually, I'll ask them to first come up with a risk assessment, with the reasons or evidence on which it is based, and then after a comprehensive consideration, submit a final recommendation for a supervisor's decision.

As a coach, I still believe that everyone has potential, but this potential is through the coach's all-round listening, asking efficient questions, so that the other party can perceive the real problem, and then let the other party solve the problem by himself.

When Ziqian was serving in the military, he once helped a non-commissioned officer with one sentence, soothing his depressed mood; with a small action, he prevented a possible vehicle accident; he also gave a voice to a blind friend in a civil society; When serving in the society, we have trained several talents, some of them have developed better, and some have become intermediate cadres and continue to serve in the company.

I have found that...helping others is not a slogan. Whenever someone solves a problem, gains something and grows because of my assistance in some way, in addition to being happy for them, it also makes me feel happy inside.

In Buddhism, there is a Nagarjuna Bodhisattva's explanation for "compassion":

"Merciful" means "giving pleasure", and "compassion" means "removing suffering".

That is, if we can "bring happiness to others, share joy with others, and remove suffering for others", then we are a compassionate person.

I hope to make this "compassion" even more sublime. First of all, I have to keep learning and transform myself from the current coaching manager to a coaching leader. Only when I improve my ability can I have more opportunities to help others. Therefore, Ziqian is about to participate in the coaching training of the International Coaching Federation (ICF, International Coaching Federation) in late August. He hopes to become a professional coach in the near future. With "compassion as the center and altruism as the radius, help one after another Set out one perfect life after another." As a lifelong career.

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