To Coach or Not To Coach?
Here’s a situation. A direct report of yours just gave a presentation to senior management. The presentation went okay but frankly could have gone a lot better. The direct report knew her material but didn’t demonstrate self-confidence in her body language, didn’t dress appropriately, and didn’t think fast on her feet in addressing some of the questions. You noticed your boss start to lose confidence in your direct report in the meeting. You secretly wonder if she’s losing confidence in your judgment to have the direct report present in the first place. What do you do?
Well, if you’re like most managers, you do nothing. That’s right. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Feedback, particularly developmental feedback, is often hard to give, so most of us avoid giving it. Here are some good excuses “Well, it wasn’t that bad”. “I’m sure she knew she didn’t do her best. She’s a grown-up, she’ll figure it out”. “I’ll have to make sure I mention it in her performance review”.
Continue reading



