My Thoughts Exactly, October 2013
Management/Coaching Tips for
High Performing Associates
Author Mr.Gary Tilkin
CEO, Author and Founder of
Gary Tilkin Consultants, Inc.
Those of you who know me personally, know that I have an English Bulldog named Cooper. I have had many dogs over the course of my 56 years, but for some reason, Cooper is extremely special. However, as cute, smart, and friendly as he is, he has developed some really bad habits. So, I made an appointment with a Dog Trainer/Coach/Behaviorialist in Niceville, Florida. I not only wanted Cooper’s bad habits broken, I wanted him to establish some good habits as well.
My wife, Tami, joined-in on the developmental coaching session with Cooper. We became his “coaching team.” This was certainly an interesting dynamic. My wife, like many of the manager/coaches I have worked with in the past, is extremely organized, focused, strategic, and passionate about whatever endeavor she enters. After the initial session, she read the documents and the book that was given to us. We had a brief “coaching meeting” during which we discussed what we learned, as well as a checklist she developed of our job responsibilities as they pertained to Cooper. Basically, this is the same action taken by many manager/coaches after a training session that focuses on developing their associates to a higher levels of performance as well as correcting business behavioral behaviors.
Let’s look at Coopers training in three stages: what we learned; what we did; and what progress we have made. Please note how the following clearly relates to your business associates. For the fun of it, substitute the name Cooper for your associates’ name.
What We Learned
Dogs, in general, need consistency when we ask them to do the “Right Things” (Proper Business Behaviors). We need to ask them to do something only once (Delegate), observe that they completed the task as well as the quality of the action accomplished (Watch the Execution), and then reward them with a treat (Praise from the Coach). Our approached is to do the asking with the same words, body language, and emphasis every single time to create consistency. Especially with an English Bulldog (an associate who developed improper business behaviors) which is one stubborn creature in the dog world. Sound familiar?
Associates need to be developed the same way. We need to ask them to execute a task or concept once. Our words, tone, and emphasis must be consistent every time. We can only ask them to do what we have “Practiced, Drilled, and Rehearsed” in our consistent training sessions. This is very similar to a football coach calling a play for his offence or defense. We rate the execution of that play by doing the assignments as practiced plus the yardage gained or given from the play; both equally important. So not only execution also results or end-game from actions completed. Sound familiar?
What We Did
With Cooper, we prepared and outlined our approach in great detail. We had a need to correct his bad behavior – not just because it was wrong, also because it was a matter of his safety. So again, we prepared by study, training, and checklists to ensure we would have a great strategic plan. Sound familiar?
With our business associates we take the same approach. For example, we need our sales associate to do a better job at “Telephone Skills” and “Personal Marketing Activities.” Without these skills, the associate will not be able to survive in the highly competitive world that we live in. So we gain knowledge (Training), apply it to our situations (Make Processes and Procedures), and create tools like checklists to ensure we, as their coaches, create habits that lead consistent execution of our pre-developed plays. Sound familiar?
What Progress We Made
On many levels, our experience with Cooper produced a mixed-bag of results. With all the reading, training and research we did to create the perfect process for our goals, as coaches we did not hit a grand slam. My wife Tami got busy with other of life’s challenges. Life goes on even though you have a new goal of training your stubborn Bulldog. So her involvement gradually reduced over the course of a few days. Now I have to be honest here. My focus and consistency also reduced after day one. More importantly, there have been many times that my wife’s focus on important tasks stayed strong and I stopped doing what a list or plan said. The key is – there is no fault here.
I had an opportunity to put myself in a unique environment. I had to develop some business curriculum and needed a “Man Cave” to do it in. So for a few days while my wife had friends over, I lived at my apartment in my Training Center with Cooper. When I got bored with writing curriculum, I took a break and worked with Cooper from the list that Tami gave me. We worked three times a day: consistent on command, observation, and reward. We did one task at a time – doing a little, not a lot. Slowly but surely Cooper responded consistently because I was becoming consistent with my coaching approach. Sound familiar?
In the past, our associates have often heard that we were going to change a process. They wait it out for a week or so and then things revert back to the way there were very quickly. This means no change in process and procedure leading to no change in the associate’s business behavior. Just like Cooper, if the approach is inconsistent, it fails.
“A bad process done consistently will provide improved results where as a great process done inconsistently will create inconsistent results.
” So it is not the fancy new process we are looking for, it is the consistent coaching that gets the results we desire. If one manager focuses on the management/coaching of a task and the other manager/coach stops or is inconsistent, results suffer. All that work and money spent with no real reward. Sound Familiar?
In Conclusion
It is not the dog that needs training and development; it is and had always been the human. It is not the associate that needs the process and procedure, it is the manager’s ability to coach, teach, observe, and reward the proper business behavior. Stop complaining about your dog that is misbehaving and become the leader of the pack. You are the human alpha dog with everyone’s success in mind. If they don’t like what you are asking them to do, just be consistent, fair and eventually they will follow your command.
“Don’t be the Buddy, Be the Boss.”