My friend and colleague, Anthony Mersino recently wrote an article that explores a new shift for managers into becoming coaches. The first part of the article mentions me quite a bit, but that’s not what caught my eye. And I also borrowed his photo.
But I digress.
What stuck with me is the notion that managers (traditional organizational leaders/managers), need to be converted somehow to be better coaches to their teams. Especially in agile contexts. And, I couldn’t disagree more.
Why?
Because they should already be coaching.
As part of their management role, I believe ALL managers have a responsibility to—
Mentor
Grow
Develop
Give feedback
Coach
The folks that report to them. The primary avenue for this, to me, is having regular one-on-one meetings.
And this isn’t a new idea or one that’s sprung up during agile. For the past 2-3 decades or more, managers, the good managers, have done this. They’ve been coaches. Perhaps they weren’t called a coach, but they did coach.
One piece of evidence I have is a book that Johanna Rothman and Esther derby wrote in 2005 called Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management. This was essentially on the cusp of agile approaches to work taking off and it was based on their experience long before the publish.
Essentially, Rothman & Derby were talking about two things surrounding great management:
One-on-one meetings, behind closed doors
Crucial coaching conversations between the manager and each of their reports.
Wrapping Up
Yes! I enjoyed Anthony’s article. And I love the inspiration it provided.
And the premise isn’t wrong. It’s just that it shouldn’t be a discussion or debate whether managers (leaders) have to coach. Of course, they do! It’s a fundamental responsibility. And if they’re struggling to do it, then they should ask a local agile coach to mentor them a bit in how to add coaching skills to their leadership toolbox.
And yes, even though Behind Closed Doors is a bit dated, I would highly recommend the book.
Stay agile my friends,
Bob.