COACHING STEPS: The following are five (5) steps a coach can take to change behavior and performance. The goal of this process is to create the context for the person being coached towards one in which excellence becomes the norm. 1. Observe the action/behavior you want to change. 2. Describe the situation/action you saw. 3. Ask the employees what they saw, their perspective/point of view. 4. Tell the person how you saw the behavior, then 5. Describe what needs to happen instead and why - if appropriate.

A GOOD COACH: -- Communicates regularly/frequently. -- Is direct and honest. --Accepts people where they are and goes from there!

ABOUT COACHING: What's exciting about the possibility coaching presents is that it continually demands from you the commitment to perform beyond the levels you've reached in the past. It demands the willingness to treat each situation as brand new and to treat people with compassion. Above all, being a great coach demands that you be coachable yourself. Your coach could be anyone, and to the extent that you let people coach you, your own coaching will be empowered.

BEING A GREAT COACH: -- Coaching is the art/skill of putting yourself in the other person's shoes; imagining yourself in the situation, and asking yourself what your interpretation would be. -- Coaching means being straight with people and accepting people as they are. -- A good coach relates to people as the people they can be, not as the mistakes they made in the past. -- Good coaching practices will provide an example for others and set the tone for better communication in the workplace. Keep your mind open to new suggestions and give your employees room and encouragement to participate more fully, and productivity and well as morale will be changed.

LEARN FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE: You can look at a project you've completed as a success or a failure. Either way, it's the same project. But the context you hold it in can empower you or dis-empower you when you do your next project. It is said that Thomas Edison invented the storage battery only after thousands of tries. By thinking of each unsuccessful try as a step along the way to eventual success by holding each unsuccessful attempt in the "context of success," he was able to keep working until he finally succeeded.

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CEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates, Boston, MA., a comprehensive organization which offers over 40 skills based management training programs. Mr. Schwartz conducts over 150 programs annually for clients in industry, research, technology, government, Fortune 100/500 companies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. He is often found at conferences as a key note presenter and/or facilitator. His style is fast-paced, participatory, practical, and humorous. He has authored over 65 books and products, and taught/lectured at over a dozen colleges and universities throughout the United States.