Coaching Café is back this week and we are looking forward to continuing the momentum of focussing on the top 10 practices of the world’s best coaches from What Makes a Great Coach?
This week we focus on the practice of Purpose.
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Understanding the ‘why?’
Much of our coaching centres around helping our clients discover and stay on purpose. Whatever goals we’re trying to achieve with our teams in the workplace. We have to start with the purpose. Call it the mission statement, vision, or any other term; it is fundamentally the ‘Why are we here?’ question.
Most importantly, our team members need to understand this to be high performing in the workplace. Indeed, there is nothing more demotivating than them questioning, ‘What’s the point?’ and ‘Why are we doing this?’ and not getting any solid answers.
We know that without a purpose and direction, the team really is rudderless. In addition, we know that people learn better when it makes sense. And it is clear to them ‘why’ they are doing the task and ‘what’s in it for them’. Therefore, it’s up to us a leader to engage team in the purpose. In addition, as a coach to identify the individual’s purpose. Furthermore, that purpose links to the overall team purpose to enable high performance.
Therefore, setting the purpose and helping your team understand the ‘why’ is a critical leadership skill.
Unlocking the purpose
Great coaches not only know the purpose behind their bigger picture goals. But the purpose of each individual activity. Most importantly, they take the time to unlock the purpose within the individual that they’re coaching. You can do this in the workplace by asking questions such as:
- What is your purpose?
- How do you walk your talk?
- How does what you’re doing relate to the purpose?
- What is the purpose behind this project?
Importantly these types of conversations lead to increased engagement, motivation, and performance.
The experts agree
Peter McCraw, is expert in world-class athlete development and world-renowned development coach of former WTA World No.1’s Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic. On the topic of purpose, he said: ‘Everything I do has a purpose and a plan. No stone is left unturned.’
The research is clear that what makes a great coach is being able to help identify your team members’ purpose. And then to ensure that their day-to-day tasks or interactions are connected to that purpose.
Indeed, many of the world’s best coaches agree, including: high performance tennis coach Jim Harp; passionate tennis player and founder of Tennis Congress PJ Simmons; motivational speaker and corporate coach Carol Fox.
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