Be the Coach not the Manager

Employees want to help. One thing that couldn’t have been more apparent in my experiences in management was that employees inherently want to do better. They want to be a part of a team working towards a common goal. Accomplish a project and acommplish in a better manner than it has been done in the past. While you may not believe it they often time have the skill and the know how to do just that.

You have to have faith, you have to be encouraging. While reamaining as the figure head of the group you have to let your employees know that they are here to work with you not for you. (There is a huge difference there)

It is when an employee starts to feel that they are robots in a grand plan, when they start to become disconnected from the sense of team that they become disenchanted and unmotivated. Sure they are going to show up everyday and do the work that is asked of them, that’s it. Shortly a feeling will start to creep in, a feeling that they could do it better. That someone else would be more likely to listen and allow them to have more control over the project. That is when you will begin to notice that you have an employee who is on his/her way out. That’s when you start to loose your most valuable assets.

In my experience it makes a lot more sense to play the coach than it does to play the traditional manager. You are there to facilitate the forward motion, develop the common goal and facilitate the improvement.

Happy employees who feel useful want to keep up the good work and constantly improve the work. They are motivated to come to work everyday. They feel a part of something.

Motivated employees are productive employees who in turn make you the boss a better looking guy in the grand scheme of things.

It makes a lot more sense when people want to work for you not have to work for you.

Think about it.