What constitutes corporate, business, or executive coaching is fuzzily defined. Certainly, there is a move afoot to standardize and regulate this industry. It will be interesting to see how this changes the complexion of what people call corporatecoaching. Meanwhile, it may be helpful to get back to the basics of what most us remember coaching to be all about. My definition, from what I remember from my days growing up in athletics, is simply: instructingor training a performer (or wingman), or a team of performers, to perform well and consistently.

Myriad assessments, personality inventories, and recipes for effective coaching exist in the marketplace. Those notwithstanding, here is a practical guide for how an on-wing (or coach) may achieve the above definition.

Trust and Understanding

In athletics, the coach needs to know what to expect from an athlete and the athlete must trust the coach to guide him or her in the best manner. There is no substitute for the coach getting to know the wingman and for the wingman to trust and have confidence in the coach. Sharing non-business, non-coaching experiences (that may not directly apply to the coach's needs or plans) may help both parties know, understand, and trust each other.

Identify Objectives

Objectives should be a mixture of what the team, the organization, and the wingman needs while also considering what can be realistically expected in the time given. At the beginning of any sports season, a good coach may poll and work with the athletes to find healthy and realistic objectives. Once identified, it is important to make all expectations clear. A close parallel process should be implemented for the wingman, or corporate athlete. The following questions can help the wingman crystallize the objectives:

  • When the dust settles from this on-wing relationship, where do I want to be?
  • In what areas will I have progressed?
  • How will I be able to tell?

Benchmark

Before any plan can be put into place for taking the corporate athlete to the next level, you must establish the current project status. A sports coach can understand the starting point by seeing an athlete in tryouts. In business coaching, the leader usually does not have the luxury of a week of daily exposure to the wingman. A tailored assessment may do the trick. Using the previously determined objectives to provide the foundation for questions, the leader can easily design and administer an assessment tool to build the benchmark for the wingman. This interview or evaluation should be employed in a 360-degree assessment fashion. This will establish the starting point for coaching. Generally no more than five interviews are required to build a good portrait of the wingman (self, supervisor, two or three colleagues, and one direct report or customer).

Design the Program

The development of an athlete or a team is the by-product of a personal vision and the coach's ability to draw a blueprint for achieving goals. Successful teams and athletes generally partner with the coach to design a training plan that achieves their objectives. A corporate wingman should work with the on-wing to design and develop a plan to achieve the agreed-upon objectives. The more involved the wingman is, the more personal and important achieving victory will be to him or her.

Motivation

Perhaps the most profound and difficult job for the coach is keeping the athlete motivated and focused. The best coaches use a variety of tactics. People react differently, so alterations in style and delivery ensure player motivation while holding that player accountable for effort, progress, and performance. While a pat on the back may encourage one player, clear direction or even discipline might motivate another. That is why the coach must know and understand his or her players. An effective leader should know his or her wingman as well. He or she should understand what makes the wingman tick and what makes him or her respond; he or she should be able to help the wingman pinpoint when he or she was successful and what behaviors helped him or her achieve that success.

Whenever I doubt what the business of coaching is all about, I remember my days as a high school and college athlete. I look back and recall what impact my coaches had on me. I look one layer deeper to see how they achieved their goals. Without fail, I come up with the steps listed above: build trust, identify objectives, benchmark, design the program, and motivate the wingman throughout.