How Should I Coach People?

Gil Broza specializes in increasing organizational agility and team performance with minimal risk and thrashing. Dozens of companies seeking transformations, makeovers or improvements have relied on his pragmatic, modern and respectful support for customizing agile in their contexts. His book "The Agile Mind-Set" helps practitioners go beyond process and adopt a true agile approach to work. His book "The Human Side of Agile" is a practical book on leading agile teams to greatness. These days, several of the world's largest organizations are having him train hundreds of their managers in technology and business (up to VP level) on practical agile leadership. Get Gil's popular 20-session mini-program "Something Happened on the Way to Agile" free at OnTheWayToAgile.com.

  Agile   Change Management   Leadership   ProjectsAtWork  

Change is happening everywhere, all the time. It is often uncomfortable and project teams need help through it. They need leaders to illuminate and facilitate, to guide them toward a target and make it stick. They need a coach. But as a coach what do you need to succeed?

This is the sixth and final article in an exclusive series excerpted from the new book The Human Side of Agile. Part One looked at the Agile team leader’s responsibilities; Part Two described the team leader’s relationships with various role players; Part Three showed how to help your team embrace the continuous improvement mindset; Part Four presented an approach for carrying out improvement efforts as experiments; and Part Five focused on simplifying and sustaining agility.

As a leader, one of your best tools is coaching. From being a virtually unknown concept outside of sports 20 years ago, the practice of coaching has grown by leaps and bounds. It is now a whole industry with its body of knowledge, certifications, and niches in almost all walks of life. Accordingly, it is vastly misunderstood. Some languages don’t yet have the right equivalent for the English word “coaching.”

As an Agile leader who draws and guides people toward a target, use coaching to foster intrinsic motivation and alignment. As an Agile leader who helps people and teams…

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