Last week I held the last session of a 6-month coaching for a customer service manager. As I was  driving back home, I thought about the definition coaching – “a form of development in which an experienced person (coach) supports a client in achieving a specific professional goals.“ Then I came to the conclusion that managers wanting to take full advantage of coaching need it in different forms compared to the traditional approach.

Why managers need coaching

Before diving into ad hoc coaching methods let me tell stress this matter of fact. Like it or not, today as a manager you have a new key challenge: staying relevant within your organization, despite your competences and experience that you have matured. The reason why? As you and your team are going to carry out different tasks in the next 12-24 months, you’d better be ready- Otherwise you’re bound to become obsolete way quicker than you may ever think. You can say ‘thanks to’ or blame genAI, but that’s irrelevant since I such a shift is already taking place in many companies I have conversations with. And most of the times, I observe a common thread – changes are radical and abrupt.

How can it be successful? 

With such arising needs, traditional coaching approaches do not fit. In fact especially customer service managers, need different formulas. Meaning to re-adapt the pillars of coaching in terms of:

1. Goals – matching your current situation with next challenges. E.g. “what are my skill-gaps as customer service manager?” That’s the first step where a good coach helps you gain a clear full picture, cutting of the noise and any wrong assumption.
2. What – accordingly “what key areas/topics do I have work on?” “what specific skills do I need to acquire/strengthen?” Answering these questions in a in-depth way allows you to focus on your specific needs.
3. When – start timely. Otherwise, if you wait too much before beginning your coaching path, you may end up in doubling investments and efforts. Consequently, with an excessive pressure on time and results that would not definitely be the ideal scenario for you as a manager.
4. How often – “how can the coach can help me optimize time and efforts?” I know that you as a manager are super busy, so you need to save time as well as an hands-on approach in very step of the coaching. And I feel you!
5. Results – “how can I see/track my up-skilling progresses?” An effective coaching path shall let you know in advance what will you learn and how your new skills will improve your performance. E.g. as a leader managing you team, or implementing/monitoring/interpreting new AI-related KPIs.

Over to you

If you want to take full advantage of coaching, take into account all above pillars. On top them, whether sessions take place in person or online, rubbing shoulders with a mutually open and trustworthy approach is essential. That’s the icing on the cake, so make sure to get it when evaluating your next path.

💡 Here’s a sneak peek of my 1-to-1 coaching method and benefits.

Have great conversations.

P.S. Stay in the loop.

Credit image: Unsplash.com.