Simon Sinek has the strong opinion that all industries’ leadership has the responsibility to help form the young generation to build the coping skills and trust that they need in order to succeed in any industry. He also believes that the stereotypes that this generation of young people has been labeled with are not their own doing.
Click here to watch his extremely passionate explanation of this point.
This generation is accused of being entitled and disengaged, disloyal and impatient. These are all characteristics that make them difficult to coach. That is, if we believe the labels to be true. Last week I wrote about fixed beliefs being a barrier to effective coaching. Using that as our premise for successful coaching, maybe we need to look at our biases first.
The modern workplace is known to leave people disconnected, isolated and stressed. Worst of all, the workplace can be experienced as a place of judgment, disapproval and fear.
Our job as coaches for a healthy, vibrant and happy workforce demands that we do more to include, support and develop our young employees. A good start is our own behavior regarding personally connecting with people.
Three things we can all do to help lead and coach our young employees are:
- Get up and speak to people on the team rather than use electronic media
- Model social engagement by leaving the cell phones out of meetings and opportunities for interpersonal connections
- Show an interest by making eye contact rather than iPhone contact. People who see you make the effort to connect will learn ways to connect as well.
If you are seen as consistently striving to build strong relationships throughout your work environment, you will be creating the opportunity for your coaching to be trusted as being authentic.
Coaching begins with a willingness to connect. That is every leader’s job. Contact me to learn more.