Zenger Folkman's Self Assessment Identifies Coaching Behaviors

SALT LAKE CITY, June 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- What kind of coach are you?  Do you behave collaboratively or dictatorially? Are you prone to giving advice or do you enable others to discover answers for themselves? How frequently do you exert your expertise or do you treat everyone as equals? These are a few of the qualities executives and leaders can discover through Zenger Folkman's new coaching self-assessment, available at no charge, featured on Harvard Business Review's blog forum.

In recent years there has been a strong push to improve managers' coaching abilities in organizations. Jack Zenger, CEO of Zenger Folkman explained, "Employee surveys we've conducted over the past decade show that subordinates want coaching. Our own empirical evidence echoes a myriad of studies finding that effective coaching raises employee commitment, productivity, retention rates, customer loyalty, and subordinates' perception of the strength of upper-level leadership."

Many companies have seen first hand what good coaching can do for their organization. When individuals are promoted to be a manager it doesn't imbue them with the skills to be an effective coach. Additionally, poor coaching can cause significant harm.

Jack Zenger explains: "Before they can be taught coaching skills, leaders need to possess some fundamental attributes, many of which are not common managerial strengths.."

These behaviors include the following:

• Being directive versus being collaborative.  We have found that great coaches and effective managers strive to be selective about giving direction. They understand the balance between collaborating with others and not always telling employees what to do.
• A desire to give advice or to aid in discovery.  A manager receives daily questions about how things should be done. It is no surprise that most will quickly answer the questions instead of taking the time to help the employee discover the solutions within themselves.
• An inclination to act as the expert or as an equal. A great manager knows the balance between using their own technical expertise and allowing others to use theirs.  

"Even though we've found a strong correlation between certain traits you may not already possess and the ability to be an effective coach, we have found that people can learn to acquire them, if they are willing to work at it," said Joe Folkman, President of Zenger Folkman. "What it takes is a willingness to step outside your comfort zone and behave in ways that may not be familiar."

To learn about our approach to coaching attend our webinar, Do You Have What it Takes To Be A Good Coach?, on Wednesday Jun. 25, 2014. Register at: http://leadership.zengerfolkman.com/acton/form/10129/0003:d-0001/0/index.htm.  For more information on these findings, and how to incorporate them into a leadership development plan, visit www.zengerfolkman.com.

About:
Zenger Folkman is the authority in strengths-based leadership development. Their award-winning programs employ research-based methods that improve organizations and turn good managers into extraordinary leaders.

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SOURCE Zenger Folkman