From the course: Become a Better Coach for Your Team

Focusing on the positive

From the course: Become a Better Coach for Your Team

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Focusing on the positive

- When I'm doing leadership training, one of the things I'll ask is, how much time and energy do you spend on your lowest performing 20%? The majority of respondents say they spend 80% or more of their time on those low performing people. This should be reversed. When we spend our time and energy on those that are doing well, that becomes what everyone else focuses on. I see the same thing when coaching individuals. People tend to focus on the things that they're not doing well, instead of looking at the things that they excel at. But when we focus on the positive, we focus on the things we do well, we create a more positive self-image. The result is that we bring those other aspects up, and positivity flourishes. Here are three places that I often tell people to start to integrate a positive focus. You can take this into your next coaching session or use it to become a better coach yourself. Start this by looking for the positives in what your team accomplishes as a group. Part of this is who you pay attention to. Remember to spend the majority of your time on your high performers, thus communicating what you want to see. Next, shout out the positives instead of just the negatives. Rather than identifying errors and using those as examples of what not to do, next time, I want you to look for a positive and use that as an example of what to do. It's not a matter of, "Hey, let's look at this call "and see how it could have been handled better," but instead, "Hey, let's look "at this call that went really well, "so you can see what I'd like you to do." You should also apply this positive focus when working with individuals on your team. It can sometimes be easy to just look at the problems and try to fix those, but when you instead help them see their value, you can help them overcome shortcomings. This isn't to say you shouldn't point out errors, but you should also be making sure that you're pointing out when they do well. If you can identify and help people see when they do well, you'll build their self efficacy. The last piece here is a little different than the other two, but I want you to look to the positive you surround yourself with. When you approach work with a positive perspective, it makes those around you more likely to be positive and happier to be there. This can be easy as saying hello to people when you get there, but it's more about talking positively and keeping a positive outward and forward perspective. Cheerlead when things go well, and offer hope when things are tough. This isn't to say that you have to be an internal ray of sunshine. You don't, but you should certainly look for opportunities to share positivity, to identify strengths to build a happier, more satisfied team that's going to be more willing to be coached. There's a reason the most beloved coaches of any team are beloved, because they focus on the positive and keep teams hopeful and optimistic. That's the kind of coach I want you to be.

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