<p>I’ve written quite a lot about coaching as a central leadership task. The CLEMMER Group is getting ever deeper into developing and delivering customized coaching workshops, competency models, performance management systems, and the like. I have over 300 citations, quotations, and research papers filed under coaching in my research database. Here are a few:</p>
<p><em>“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it within himself”<br />
</em>- Galileo, 16th Century Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and flautist who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution</p>
<p><em>“In these high-pressure, tense times, leaders say the ‘don’t have the time’ for coaching. By ignoring this style, however, they pass up a powerful tool….coaching focuses on personal development rather than on accomplishing tasks…coaching creates an ongoing conversation that allows employees to listen to performance feedback more openly, seeing it as serving their own aspirations, not just the boss’s interests. Coaches are also good at delegating, giving employees challenging assignments that stretch them, rather than tasks that simply get the job done.”<br />
</em>- Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee, <em>Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence</em></p>
<p><em>“Too many managers focus on fixing people’s weaknesses — or worse, they simply ignore employees altogether. This doesn’t boost performance. Gallup has found that if your manager focuses on your strengths, your chances of being actively disengaged at work are only 1 in 100.”<br />
</em>- Brian Brim and Jim Asplund, “Driving Engagement by Focusing on Strengths,” <em>The Gallup Management Journal</em></p>
<p><em>“Great coaches help people do what they don’t want to do so they can be the person they want to be.”<br />
</em>Health Centre CEO</p>
<p><em>“In our latest meta-analysis of 198,000 employees in almost eight thousand business units, employees who strongly agreed that they had a chance to do what they do best every day claimed fewer sick days, filed fewer workers’ compensation claims, and had fewer accidents while on the job.”<br />
</em>- Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, <em>Now, Discover Your Strengths</em></p>
<p><em>“Managers’ chief responsibility lies in helping employees on their team unleash their human potential. No systems, process, or self-directed team – irrespective of how modern, fashionable, or flawless it may be — can ever take the place of a great manager. That’s because great managers act as the emotional connection between employees and the organizations they work for. In effect, they act as the emotional engineers who set the reactions in place and watch them take affect. “<br />
</em>- Curt Coffman and Gabriel Gonzalez-Molina, <em>Follow This Path: How the World’s Greatest Organizations Drive Growth by Unleashing Human Potential</em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.jimclemmer.com/coaching-and-developing.php">CLICK HERE</a> to review a series of my articles and book excerpts on Coaching and Developing.</p>
