How do you coach people who don’t think the same way as you?

I hear this a lot. People with a certain level of experience of the working environment (older) get frustrated/surprised how people newer to the workplace (younger) aren’t prepared to do the extra hours they did to get the job done.

A very specific example perhaps but if you’re coaching someone who has taken a different approach to their performance than you did it’s useful to…

• Be aware of how you really feel and how this could shape the way you interact with them. This can range from, “I feel they’re not fully committed” and you end up micromanaging them to, “I’m actually a bit jealous I didn’t (or didn’t feel able to..) do that” which could leave you trying to undermine their approach.
• Put what worked for you to one side initially and instead try to get as clear a picture as possible of how their approach impacts performance.

Being more aware of these two things can help you avoid letting your emotions adversely impact your coaching (they feel your frustration) or becoming overly focused on your way of doing things (“I used to get in before everyone else so I had no interruptions”). Then use a little and often coaching approach to help them identify the things they could do better to improve performance (this may require a change of how they operate but always good when they work this out for themselves rather than being told to do it your way!).

Workplaces will continue to evolve and different generations will think differently. As always, if you want to help anyone reach their potential then taking time to understand how they think and not letting your beliefs adversely impact your coaching is key.

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