As nonprofit leaders, we wear many hats and herd many cats daily. It feels like a never-ending balancing act: managing programming needs and operations and aligning the work to the team’s individual strengths and motivation.
As a manager, our role of “coach” is critical to the organization’s and our team’s success. Assessing priorities, individual strengths, and capacity takes time and intention. But, if we take the time to do these assessments and understand the needs of our team, we can strategically develop plans for individuals to learn and grow while achieving organizational success.
But first, we must learn about our strengths as a coach. Each of us has a unique approach. We must ask ourselves the right questions: How do I plan and prepare? What is my approach? How do I engage others? What do I need to learn and understand about others?
The best way to identify and understand your coaching strengths is the CliftonStrengths for Managers assessment. The results identify your innate talents and strengths, and your report guides you to focus on the areas that are natural to you while bringing into focus the areas that need more time and effort.
Wendy and I have developed an Action Planning workshop designed for Executive Directors and Program Managers to help with the pain points leaders are experiencing in managing and coaching others. This workshop enables you to identify your best strengths as a coach and how to develop skills for those around you. We use the CliftonStrengths for Managers assessment and the Gallup book “It’s the Manager – Moving from Boss to Coach” by Jim Harter and Jim Clifton.
Our workshop combines the science and practice of coaching talent. It allows each participant to identify their core areas of strength as a coach and build a plan to coach and develop their team. Join us to refine your coaching skills to help master the wearing of many hats and herding of many cats. Register now or learn more about the workshop!
