From Captain to Coach

Leading a business is a tough job in the best of circumstances. How one balances the complex roles of business leader, steward of corporate assets and fallible human being can lead to vastly different outcomes. The roles often have conflicting demands and may leave the CEO feeling, at the end of the day, that there's no way to win. While there are no easy answers, the CEO can change these circumstances with a deliberate, considered effort to lead in collaborative ways. And one of them is to be a coach. In today’s competitive environment you need to attain and practice new work habits. To become a coach from a captain is not a luxury but a necessity.

Power play doesn’t work but it needs a mentorship. In past CEO’s focus was on result and now paradigms are shifting to people.

 It is time when organization run short of talent so CEO should play a mentoring role looking organization from outside. He must analyze how is decision is perceived and what perception people carry about their roles and organization.

“Training is now a need, which has to be undertaken everyday at every level. So a new CEO means who remains behind curtain and train people.” Says Prince Augustine, President, Mahindra Group “There is a lot of change in attitude that time is demanding and it has to be context specific. Leaders must take step towards fulfilling personal self-actualization needs. They must enhance their social responsibility.”

Enhancing Social responsibility of business also means strengthening corporate branding strategies, enhancing role of business and be more sensitive towards society needs and its progress. “While playing this role he must see organization from all the angles from outside and see where actually shaping and reshaping is needed” continues Prince.

Information revolution has empowered everyone and people are empowered with ideas like ever before. It’s not about managing people but managing ideas and intellectualism. “A Leader must be direction provider now helping people to club their personal goals with organizational goals so as they achieve want they want at the same time enhancing growth of their organizations.” Says Sridhar Patrachari CEO of Aqua logistics, “In past CEO’s focus was result but now employees awareness levels have gone up so paradigms should shift to people. They must convey Team Leaders to mentor thoughts and coach them in training minds. A CEO not only has wisdom but power of experience that young mind needs”. Explain Patrachari.

Looking at recent Sharukh flick Chak De India Leaders must know that when a team captain lift the cup the whole credit goes to coach. How a coach handles situation, handles people and handles professional and personal problems of players affect overall performance of team. A coach reserve power to change Captain and has power to raise a 12^th man to achieve status of captain.

“In corporate sector best example is of Narayan Murthy of Infosys, a Chief Mentor Officer now. He is playing a perfect role of a coach and growth of Infosys is exemplary and credit goes to his coaching and mentoring abilities” accentuates Gaurav Verma HR Professional from Heinz India “How a CEO is being perceived by people plays a pivotal role when we talk about transition of role from being a captain to coach. If his way of doing things have brought success to company than it is best time for him to share his ways of doing day to day things shaping long term goals.”

Relationships become key to the effective sharing of needed information. Collaborative relationships create the connections inside the organization required to operationalize its strategic intent. These relationship interconnections are referred as "thought partnerships." More specifically, a thought partnership is a relationship formed among two or more people, in a value creating enterprise for the purpose of generating social or intellectual value. Thought partnerships are the fundamental ingredient needed to be successful in any collaborative relationship between the Coach and his/her team. No team can afford "victim thinking" or "finger-pointing." To stay positive and productive, leaders must be able to adjust their own attitudes when discouragements or unwelcome situations come their way. And they must encourage those they lead to do likewise. With a variety of easy-to-use "Attitude Adjustments," leaders learn to accept and even profit from difficult change and crisis, instead of resenting and resisting them. Being authoritative and dictator is good when you have people who are not responsive to change and happy and content with way they are doing their job. But when you want same set of people should be responsive, have an urge to grow and wish to be progressive than coach them dictatorship won’t work.

Its all about growing organizations not individual.