3 tips to improve your coaching skills

You may not be preparing your team for the Sugar Bowl (Jan 1st at 8:45pm on ESPN), but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to sharpen up your coaching skills from time to time. Helping employees grow and develop into all-stars is an important part of being a manager. Here are 3 tips to improve your coaching skills.

Look for strengths as much as weaknesses: As a leader, you want your employees to excel. As a coach, you need to find what each employee is a good at, so you can put them in the right position to succeed. While you can spend some time helping an employee work on their weaknesses, focus on those strengths and let employees work in an area where they can be highly successful.

Don’t just tell them what to do: You don’t want to have to tell your employees what to do all the time. The best coaches allow their teams to figure things out on their own. Instead of barking directions, have discussions with your team, ask them situational questions, and let them figure out what to do. You can really build confidence in an employee when they realize that they have to power to solve problems on their own.

Always be positive: A great coach never brings negativity into the huddle. When the going gets tough, be optimistic. While things don’t go your way 100 percent of the time, you’ll be more likely to overcome adversity if you can stay positive.