Let me now go back to the point we started from, “management by coaching”. In my own company I organized my human resource policies around this central idea. I had learnt from my days as a software developer and manager that all important takes an employee can have from his or her engagement, largely owes to the relation with and interaction with his manager. The manager plays a crucial role in the development of a team member in the project. I have seen projects in “make or break” situation due to strong or weak manager-employee work interface and relationship. This led to our policy that every manager has to play the role of a coach for his team members. But how can one play the role of a coach if he himself is in need of coaching?

In fact, the workplace today is not only getting smarter in technology and ecological networking but also needs a strong human supplement to make the system work and improve. I have been experimenting with “management by coaching” and working with the people who report to me directly very closely as coach to each of them. This is in fact a two way exercise. Like they say the teacher also gets to go better in his or her skills through teaching, I found I have been growing in my experience and practices of management through the mentoring done by me to others.

As Stephen Covey talked of paradigms and perceptions, I discovered through coaching others, how differently we think and behave due to different paradigms and the coach has to work on aligning these differences into something holistic and meaningful.