Association Leadership - March/April 2008 - (Page 25)

Coaching: succession planning Enhanced communication leads to better working environment A Walk in the Park interruptions. It is a face-to-face discussion, with the coach doing most of the listening and the employee doing most of the talking. Coaching is not dictation. Coaching is giving direction. The best coaching starts with a good foundation. Both the coach and employee must understand the job position and any changes that have taken place since the last meeting. Coaching then provides review of past performances and goal achievements from both perspectives. From this baseline, the coaching session moves to the present, discussing current concerns and activities, helping both supervisor and employee raise bars and remove hurdles to goal accomplishment. Here expectations become reality, with both parties gaining a clear vision on current projects. From a solid foundation and understanding, the coaching session moves into the future. Here the team members explore their aspirations in personal and professional business goals. This is a time of careful listening and documenting, for from this portion of a coaching session come the future plans to execute and future goals to accomplish. This session time builds great understanding between the employee and supervisor on what the team would like to accomplish and what the team must accomplish. It sets into motion the next steps of the organization and the necessary training, resources, skills and tools needed to complete the mission. Coaching is a wonderful opportunity for team members to move the organization forward, and to instill pride and clarity in performance. ◆ I By Richard (Dick) L. Ensweiler President and CEO, Texas Credit Union League remember my first position working for an association. It was fulﬁlling and enjoyable. After a year on the job, I was called into the boss’ ofﬁce, told I was doing a good job and given a generous increase in salary. I thanked him, and then proudly told my wife of the recognition for all the hours and energy I’d spent on behalf of the association. After that meeting and while still enjoying my work, I was suddenly feeling unfulﬁlled. I realized I had no idea what I was doing well, what was to determine if I did well next year and where the organization felt I could improve. The “evaluation” I received did nothing to guide me or help me. That feeling left an indelible impression on me, and I vowed to ensure that no one who worked for me would have the same experience. I remembered my passion for baseball and what great Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda said, “No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are, you’re going to win one-third of your games. It’s the other third that makes the difference.” You win the other third by great coaching. Coaching creates an environment where employees thrive, where people are focused on mutually established goals and priorities and where communications ﬂow throughout the organization. People know what is going on, what is expected and what to do next. Coaching clears the mystery on how well you are doing and how well you are accomplishing the organization’s goals. Good coaching involves reviewing past and current goals, establishing priorities of future goals and deﬁning the tools and resources needed to accomplish those goals. Good goals are result-oriented, understandable, speciﬁc, challenging, meaningful, achievable, appropriate, time-speciﬁc and, most importantly, measurable. Coaching is performed in the right environment. Sometimes this is on the third-base line yelling “Run home! Run home!” In business, it is performed in a quiet location without March/April 2008 | Association LEADERSHIP 25

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Association Leadership - March/April 2008

Association Leadership - March/April 2008 Contents Chairman's Column Homepage 60-Second Solutions Southwest Showcase Highlights Feature: Succession Plans Interim Executives Job Documentation Coaching: A Walk in the Park Perspectives Technology Column Association Case Study Government Affairs: Focus On Electronic Resources New Members Community Spotlight Houston Index to Advertisers Advertiser.com Board of Directors

Association Leadership - March/April 2008

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