Episode #292: Coaching Team Members

Coaching has been wildly misinterpreted in Japan. It should be there to motivate and encourage people in their work but these current generations of Middle Managers have corrupted the idea. Mistakenly they imagine that blasting out orders like a mad pirate captain is coaching. Or that telling their people they are wrong is helping to correct them to fly straight. They are fault finders extraordinaire, never giving any praise. Or if they do manage to break the mould and give some praise, it falls on stony ground and is totally ineffective, never believed.

When we criticise, condemn or complain about others, what are their reactions? Do they dive deep into contemplation and self reflection? No, they go straight into justification of their position and become dogged and ideological or they spiral down into depression. When we tell our staff that their idea is wrong or their opinion is wrong, do they bow before the boss’s greater experience, knowledge and capability? No. They whine to their colleagues over lunch or drinks about what an ass they have to work for. Someone who has no interest in other’s ideas and who is a demotivating leader. Often, in short order they leave.

If the boss is proven to be wrong on some issue, does the boss admit it quickly and emphatically? No, they try to justify it or are mealy mouthed around their contrition. They have hitched their self worth and self regard to their status and so can’t retreat. How do staff see this? They recognise the boss is weak, stubborn, overly proud, arrogant and they don’t like working for that type of person. In short order, they will leave.

When mistakes occur does the boss start balling the offender out, telling them they are an idiot and useless? Or does the boss, tell them that they too have made mistakes in the past and then work with them to fix the issue? The yelling at them alternative is usually the tool of choice in Japan. What does this do to the motivation and confidence of the individual? They both plummet. It is very hard to get people in this frame of mind to come up with innovative ideas to share with the boss. Actually, they are hell bent on keeping their interactions with the boss to an absolute minimum.

What should bosses be doing. The first thing they need to do is follow the news. Yes, that’s right follow the news. If they did so they would understand that there are 1.62 jobs available for every person looking for a job. That is a national figure and I would guess that the ratio is much higher here in Tokyo. Try recruiting a salesperson these days – hen’s teeth are easier to find. Do we want idiots in Middle Management driving people out of our organisations into the waiting and welcoming arms of our competitors? Especially as we have spent years training them already?

Currently one in three young people notching up their third or fourth year with the company, are leaving for greener pastures. That number will only grow as the demographic pain of not enough young Japanese coming into the pipeline starts to register. The young will realize this is a seller’s market and that there are plenty of jobs and employers willing to hire them. This wasn’t the case back in their parent’s day, but is it certainly the reality now. We need to keep these young people with us and the managers job must be focused on their retention.

Some ways to do that have been mentioned. Take off the eye patch, put down the cutlass and don’t give orders. Instead ask questions which lead the staff to self discovery and therefore ownership of the solution. Stop criticising people. Instead find ways to indirectly raise issues around jobs not properly executed. Explain how a job mistake is not fatal through introducing your own mistakes when you were at their stage and encourage them to believe they can recover from this and have a future at the company.

When you see people performing their jobs stop looking for problems and faults. Rather start looking for strengths and job aspects done well. When you praise them don’t use some vague generality like “good job” because it is not powerful enough. They are doing tonnes of things everyday in their jobs, so which one are you talking about?

Look them in the eye, use their name, tell them the strength you have noticed, provide evidence, explain how this fits into the company’s bigger aims, thank them and encourage them to keep doing that. You might say, “Tanaka san, I really admire the way you are so conscientious about keeping in touch with our clients. I received feedback from Ms. Suzuki at XYZ company that they really appreciated the way you always follow up so promptly and thoroughly. This helps to cement our customer loyalty and builds the company’s brand. Thank you for doing that and please keep doing it with all of your customers, they certainly recognize your efforts and so do I”.

Managers who cannot adjust to this staff seller’s market of their services will simply become the free training ground for the rest of us, as their disgruntled staff jump ship and come to us instead. I am fine with you doing that and by the way, please keep doing it, because I know we can keep our staff. We will have a net benefit in play here from getting your nicely fully trained people to add to our team to use against you in the future. If that prospect worries you, then start training your Middle Managers now, because this is the reality we are all going to be facing into the future and possible forever, here in Japan.