Last time we talked about hiring a coach to improve performance. One critical skill of a coach is that they can help you develop your self-awareness and your ability to self-coach in any given situation.
Let’s explore this more today as we talk about handling a management or leadership role.
Being a manager has many challenges, which is probably why leadership and management training is one of the biggest growth sectors globally.
Most of us don’t appreciate that stepping up into a management or leadership role will be as hard as it is until we experience those first few months where we suddenly wonder if we made the right move!
While managing is certainly demanding, this is experienced in a totally different way from what many of us would consider the general expectation of the role we have taken on.
Let me explain.
Fact Versus Reality: Your First Management or Leadership Role
There are, in theory, a broad set of skills most of us would consider ideal to have as a manager; here are a few you might recognise.
- Being decisive.
- An ability to communicate complex information clearly both in the written and spoken word.
- Capability to handle spreadsheets and deal with budgets.
- A level of understanding of the field with some depth of experience and knowledge.
However, a few additional elements are missing from this straightforward tick list.
First, consider that you will be performing different tasks that will consistently push you outside of your comfort zone as you stretch and grow.
Then layer over this the fact that you are now a leader and manager of people, not just an individual who powers through their personal performance objectives.
Suddenly life becomes more complex as you manage the different styles of the individuals in your team.
It is no wonder that some less self-aware managers become manic, manifesting as micromanaging.
Surprisingly, the opposite can happen too when managers panic, resulting in their abdication as they avoid handling what is happening in their team.
So, what is the solution?
As a first start, it is time to develop our self-awareness with some self-coaching.
Self-Coaching Yourself to Success
We all have the ability to self-coach and ‘advise’ ourselves on the right path to take as we experience events in our lives.
You may not be an accredited coach or trainer, and yet you have been coaching yourself at some level for years.
Think about the time you fell off your bike and then got back on, or how you coached yourself to see sense when Mr or Mrs Right dumped you.
Your self-coaching stems from your ability to harness your inner wisdom and experiences as you manage your thoughts to produce the results you want.
Remember, we are all a work in progress on a continual journey towards improving ourselves through our self-development.
Life throws a series of different events at us, which we then need to handle. The challenge is we have over 60,000 thoughts daily, most of which are negative.
Annoying, isn’t it?
This is where developing our ability to coach ourselves is pivotal to thriving.
The Ups and Downs of Our Fascinating Brain
As human beings, we have a lot going for us; being on planet earth at this point in history is one of them.
We also have a brain that enables us to achieve amazing things.
However, our brain also has some downsides.
I won’t dive too much into brain physiology, and it is recognised that two important parts of the brain help us process information: our conscious and unconscious brain.
The conscious part is all about decision making planning our future. This is the aspect of our mental processing that we can think and talk about rationally.
The unconscious brain is often called the Monkey brain. If you haven’t read Prof Steve Peters’ Chimp Paradox, it is well worth downloading. The unconscious looks after us. It keeps our breathing going, our heart beating and regulates multiple actions to keep us alive.
That is its job; unfortunately, because it wants to keep us safe, it tends to bring up unhelpful thoughts that are no longer required in the decade we now inhabit.
All designed to keep us safe.
The challenge is we experience events in our lives, and our unconscious brain provides a thought which we think is real.
Let’s use an example.
As a manager, one of your team does or says something you hadn’t expected. Your unconscious brain signals that you are in danger.
Your thoughts lead you to feel threatened, and you overreact to the situation and then start micromanaging.
You jump in, and your actions’ micromanaging don’t produce the results you want.
What if you practise self-coaching, quiet down the ‘monkey’ brain that is an overreaction and look at what is actually going on?
I suspect you would produce a different result.
I can articulate this so well because this exact scenario happened to me when I took my first leadership role.
I thought a member of my team was obstructive and defensive. On further examination, I appreciated they lacked a specific skill set, and my communication was anything but clear.
A small amount of personal self-coaching won the day for all concerned.
Is it time you started self-coaching too?
Until next time,
Julia Carter
How Can We Help Your Personal Performance?
At Zestfor, we offer a range of custom-built personalised coaching and development programmes to suit the particular needs of a leader, individual or team that can be delivered face-to-face or virtually to work flexibly with geographically dispersed team members and their workloads.
Click here for a full programme description or call one of our team on 0845 548 0833.
About Zestfor
Zestfor specialises in developing leadership Training programmes and resources scientifically tailored for technical markets – including Pharmaceutical, I.T., and Life Sciences.
Our blend of in-classroom, online, and virtual live-stream delivery methods will engage and assure even the most introverted team members from the first meeting – whether face-to-face or virtually. So, to have a brief chat, call us on 0845 548 0833.
