When managers explain to me the reasons they don't coach, I hear comments like: "It takes too much time" or "I don't know if my investment in coaching brings meaningful results." You may have had similar thoughts; after all, you're busy and are held accountable for producing results.

Every day I observe the results produced by managers who coach and develop people. The purpose of this article is to encourage you to coach more frequently and to look for daily opportunities to help people grow. The following are five benefits you will gain as a direct result of coaching.

1. Impact on the bottom-line
   In your first management course the professor asked, "What is the purpose of any business? You of course answered, "To make a profit." You have been trained and educated that anything you do at work should add to the bottom line. Coaching, as a management activity, should be no different. What does the research show about the bottom-line value of coaching? In the February 19, 2001 issue of Fortune Magazine, the following study was reported. The article described an average return on coaching provided to executives of more than $100,000, or about six times what coaching costs companies. In this study, almost three in ten (28%) claimed they had learned enough to boost quantifiable job performance between $500,000 to one million dollars.

   Although you may not be coaching executives, think of how your one-on-one coaching could pay off for your organization. How many product recalls or contract penalties could have been avoided if the responsible managers had stayed closer to the action through coaching

2. Retain the best and the brightest
   Daniel Goleman states in his best selling book, Primal Leadership - Realizing The Power of Emotional Intelligence (Harvard Business School Press), "In a time when more and more companies are finding it difficult to retain the most talented and promising employees, those companies that provide their people with nourishing development experiences are more successful in creating loyal employees. In short, the coaching style may not scream, 'Bottom-line results,' but in a surprisingly indirect way, it delivers them." Behavioral science research clearly indicates that high achievers crave feedback on their performance. The average or below average employee will never knock down your door seeking comments on his or her performance. Top talent, on the other hand, wants and needs this type of dialogue with managers.

   The absence of ongoing discussions regarding performance and career issues, at best, can be demoralizing and, in the worst case, will drive these individuals out of the company. Who are your top performers? When was the last time you had a substantive discussion about them, their careers not their projects?

3. Replenishes human capital
   John Fish, President and CEO of Suffolk Construction used the phrase "replenish human capital" in our recent telephone interview. He was referring to the value of coaching, and in particular, to the executive coaching received by members of his staff. If I ask you, "How do you renew the people who work for you?" How would you answer? If they are not exposed to renewal, than how do they maintain their competitive edge? Don't wait for your company to install a formal renewal or leadership program. Start coaching now and reap the benefits. Schedule monthly one-on-one meetings. Ask questions, explore options, recommend helpful resources and listen, listen, listen.
4. Costly mistakes are reduced
   In my interview with Paul Fanning, VP Human Resources for Invensys Process Systems in Foxboro, Massachusetts, he explained that managers who coach by sharing their experience and stories, provide tremendous insight into problem solving for employees. Too many of us learned our craft or profession the expensive way, through trial and error. One manager recently explained to me," I hire good people, point them in the right direction and then get out of the way." This is a great approach if you have all senior people working for you, which is rarely the case. Walk the floor, visit the cubicles, tour the job site and ask people to tell you about their work. You will learn a great deal and, on occasion, coach someone through a difficult problem saving significant time and money.
5. Prepares leaders of the future
   Larry Bossiday, former Chairman and CEO, Honeywell International, writes in his book, Execution - The Discipline of Getting Things Done (Crown Business Publishing), "As a leader, you've acquired a lot of knowledge and experience, even wisdom, along the way. One of the most important parts of your job is passing it on to the next generation of leaders. This is how you expand the capabilities of everyone in your organization, individually and collectively. It's how you will get results today and leave a legacy that you can take pride in when you move on."

   Your investment in future leaders will pay huge dividends. You will avoid the expensive process of having to recruit for key positions from outside the organization. The "start-up" costs associated with the new leader learning curve will be minimized. Most of all, you will give top talent another strong reason to stay with the company.

Let's get very selfish. What's in this for your career advancement? How valuable are coaching skills in the eyes of the movers and shakers of the business world? In the April 2001 issue of FastCompany.com, top CEO headhunter, Tom Neff of Spencer Stuart, talks about what companies are looking for in a CEO. When doing references Neff asks the following question, "Was the candidate the first to congratulate you when you first did something, or was his door always shut? Chief executives have to keep employees together, to put an arm around them. Employees have to understand what's mission-critical, and they need to be motivated and reassured."

I hope I have convinced you that coaching can help you become a successful manager. To paraphrase the motivational speaker, Zig Zigler's slogan, "You can get anything you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want." I believe that "if you coach enough employees, you will achieve managerial success."

Recommended Reading:

Difficult Conversations - How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen, Penguin Group, 1999. Is there an important conversation you should be having with your manager, colleague or someone who reports to you? This book is packed with information to make that conversation a successful reality. It is based on fifteen years of research at the Harvard Negotiation Project. Roger Fisher, coauthor of Getting To Yes, writes the forward.