TIPS 4 THE COACH (Part 5)

Dealing with Reluctance, Resistance, or Defensiveness.

1. When coaching an employee or team for some type of performance improvement, make failure less threatening and success more personal by taking Peter Drucker's advice (roughly paraphrased): "Don't concentrate on polishing your skills. That will take care of itself if you seek to eliminate the constraints that impede you from achieving your stated goal. Using this approach, the focus of your effort becomes external to yourself, reducing the notion of a "personal shortcoming." (Peck)
2. Don't assume that the coachee's statements are signs of resistance, reluctance, and defensiveness -- just because they are different from what you want him or her to say. Use these statements as genuine and valuable indicators of unfilfilled needs or unexamined causes of performance problems. (ST)