Monday, August 11, 2008

What coaching teaches us about ourselves

The Wall Street Journal has an "In the Lead" column that I read from time to time. Today's column opens with this (revised for a coaching context):

"The hardest part of [coaching] isn't learning how to get along with your [players], but rather coming to grips with what you learn about yourself as you relate to [them]."

According to the columnist:

"The most effective [leaders] review their own performance at least as frequently and as thoroughly as they review the work of their employees. They also constantly adapt their management styles to meet different challenges and to motivates different employees."

The author concludes that management, like coaching, is "more of an art than a science, highly dependent on relationships."