How to Coach Your Business Team

Ten Tips to Be a Winning Business Coach

Recently, a CEO asked me – “When leading my team, it’s easy to read about what to do. But the challenge is how do I do it consistently in real-time?”

Leading a business team means being a coach – providing guidance, support, and development opportunities to help team members achieve their goals and maximize their potential.

While specific advice may vary depending on the context and team dynamics, here are ten tips for coaching a winning business team:

1. Build trust and rapport: Establish trust with your team members by actively listening, demonstrating empathy, and showing genuine care for their well-being. Foster an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their challenges, ideas, and aspirations.
2. Set clear expectations: Clearly define your team’s goals, objectives, and performance expectations. Ensure each team member understands what is expected of them and how their work contributes to the overall team and organizational success.
3. Get buy-In: Create belief in the journey by starting with small wins. Use these to create belief in the bigger goals and challenges ahead.

4. Give others ownership and accountability: Delegate tasks and responsibilities to team members based on their strengths and interests. Empower them to make decisions and be accountable for their work. Provide guidance and support when needed, but also allow them the autonomy to accomplish tasks in their own way.
5. Learn and Grow: The mistakes staff make in execution are opportunities for teaching and learning. As a CEO/leader, your job is to coach and mentor – NOT to jump in and do the task for them! Make it okay to try things, fail, and do it better next time.

6. Provide regular feedback: Offer timely, specific, and actionable feedback to your team members. I recommend running weekly 30–45-minute one-on-one meetings with your direct reports. Let your report lead the agenda creation with your input.
   • Your job is to ask good, probing questions and primarily be a listener.
   • Be sure to recognize their strengths, acknowledge their accomplishments, and provide constructive criticism to help them improve.
   • Be specific about what they did well and where they can adjust.
7. Encourage skill development: Identify each team member’s strengths and support areas for growth. Be current on their career motivations. Provide opportunities to enhance their skills and acquire new knowledge through training, workshops, mentoring, or stretch assignments.

8. Foster a collaborative environment: Promote teamwork and collaboration within the team.
   • Encourage open communication, idea sharing, and problem-solving together.
   • Create a safe space where team members can get loud (even the quiet ones).
   • Get them to express their opinions, challenge and debate ideas, and contribute to collective decision-making.
9. Decide and Commit: Ideally, the team’s collaborative efforts will result in a decision. Occasionally you, the business leader, will have to break a deadlock by deciding for the group. Once the decision is finalized, everyone must commit. There’s no room for pouting or dissension. You may need to remind staff of this rule periodically. After the debate, everyone must be on board with the execution of the outcome.

10. Celebrate achievements: Recognize and celebrate individual and team achievements. Show appreciation for their hard work and contributions. Celebrations can be in the form of public recognition, rewards, or small gestures of appreciation. Giving credit and celebrating successes boosts morale, motivates the team, and reinforces a positive culture – which is a magnet for attracting great future talent.

Remember that business leadership is an ongoing process that requires continuous effort and adaptation. Each team member is unique, so tailor your coaching approach to their individual needs and preferences.

By investing in your team’s development and supporting its success, you can create a high-performing and motivated business team.

Need advice on leading your winning team? Let’s chat. Contact me at don@afdonex.com.