How to Begin a Coaching Relationship

- Imagine working for an organization without a job description. It might be kind of fun, but it's not that efficient. So when you begin a coaching relationship with your employee, create a contract, a simple agreement to make sure your conversations have purpose. I'm Lisa Gates, a negotiation consultant and executive coach, and I want to give you three things that are important to include in that coaching contract. One, set personal and performance goals, and be specific about how you'll measure your success. It's really important that you help your coachee drill down and get specific, and challenge safe or ho-hum professional goals. And make sure your coachee's goals align with your team or organizational goals. So say your coachee suggests a goal of 20% win rate improvement, but you know that 50% is what's required to meet company objectives. Inspire your employee to find a compelling why, to move past what's expected and aim for what's exceptional. From there, you and your coachee can collaborate on milestones and what success looks like. The second thing to include in any coaching contract is to be specific about logistics. When, where, and how often are you going to get together? And finally, identify any stakeholders. These are colleagues, customers, the executive team, HR, anybody who may have expectations about your coachee's performance. The idea is to help your coachee develop a holistic understanding about how their goals and accountabilities tie to and impact key people in your organization. So creating a contract with your coachee, getting it in writing, will help you stay aligned and keep your work together purposeful, challenging, and focused on results.