Free Essay Example. When the Coach Is You: Reflection

Every human being no matter how great requires someone to hold them when weak, support them when vulnerable and guide them when lost. This is the basic tenet of coaching, as it involves the close guiding and monitoring of the activities that individuals undertake. Coaching has been lately embraced and adopted as an activity that enhances the employee's abilities and skill set. Coaching aims at motivating, training, team building, problem-solving, relationship building, as well as staff development. Coaching involves a variety of processes and procedures, and one of the most critical steps is preparing the employee for coaching.

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Question one

The workplace is continuously faced with changes from the technical, technological, social, economic, cultural, and political among other facets of dynamics, and this hence requires that employees are at par with such changes. Nobody wins these changes without their coach; without someone to guide and advise them through the process. Preparing the employee for a coaching experience is the first and yet most crucial part of coaching. This can be supported prima facie by the analogy of two workers aiming at cutting down a tree in a stipulated time of three hours. One takes two of the three hours sharpening his tools and one hour cutting down the tree, and the other takes one hour preparing his tools and finally fails to meet the deadline. Coaching is a more advanced form of training, and hence, the process of training aligns closely with coaching. The workforce is often dominated by employees of diversified cultures, beliefs, and attitudes. There are those who are resilient to change, and there are those who are flexible. Therefore, the underlying attitudes of employees can negatively affect the effectiveness of coaching (Yan & Ming). Preparing them hence includes altering these attitudes, empathizing with them, and changing their mindset in preparation for the coaching process. Preparing them involves getting to their levels of thought and belief and attempting to get them to one's own. A coach can also outline the expectations of the coaching process and organize the resources that might be needed.

Question two

Coaching is, no doubt a distinct process from dictating procedures to employees. It involves getting to them, learning of their challenges and assisting them in overcoming the challenges as a way of working towards the general goals of the organization. The video When the Coach Is You has been diversely informative concerning the processes and expectations of a coaching process. While many leaders and managers often appreciate the existence of cultural diversity within the workplace, most of them usually take this lightly, and hence insist on the general organizational culture as the ultimate culture. However, from the video, it is clear that the cultures, attitudes, and values that employees hold can affect the effectiveness and success of coaching as well as production. Accepting the autonomy of employees is therefore critical before commencing any coaching. This provides a starting point towards the coaching process. Coaching should be an indulging process rather than a lecture session that has the coach dictate what needs to be done while denying the employee a chance to demonstrate what they have learned. Allowing them to be active participants also boost their confidence.

These are the points I have taken from the video that has changed my perception of coaching. Coaching might seem like a basic and easy task, but many people often do not have all it takes to become coaches, while others are resistant to be coached. It is undeniable that coaching is valuable, but unless it is done well, it is insignificant.

References

When The Coach Is You. Retrieved from https://v1.oblearn.com/ketteringcollege/whenthecoachisyou/542581/video/

Yan C. L. & Ming L. W. An Investigation of Employee Attitudes towards Training Effectiveness. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/835f/1ea1fc7c5fcb1c34b3851486fd34f0358ca0.pdf