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Top performers use performance enhancers in virtually every arena— professional sports, amateur sports, even singers and dancers. Why shouldn’t professionals in the nonprofit sector have the same advantage? No, we’re not talking steroids, HGH, or anything like that; we’re talking “coaches.” Whether on a team or as an individual, top performers see the value of working with someone who has a wealth of knowledge and knows how to use it to coax out their own excellent performance.

Nonprofit managers know the value of top performers in their own organization and the satisfaction of developing a team member into a top contributor to the organization. Just like in sports, coaching doesn’t happen by chance. The relationship needs to be formalized by identifying a knowledgeable person, who is willing and able to provide the consistent, insightful guidance to a developing superstar. Here are five ways nonprofit managers can successfully coach their teams:

  1. The team member needs to want to be coached. The team member has to be open to improving and maximizing their potential, and sees the value of working with a coach and the investment the organization is putting into their success.
  2. Both the coach and team member need to work on developing an easy-going, collegial relationship. For the coach to be successful there needs to be frank feedback given – without it being received defensively. That can only happen after trust has been built between the two. The team member needs to believe that the coach has their best interest at heart.
  3. The coaching relationship should never be misconstrued as a formal review process. In fact, there should be an agreement up front that the information shared between the two is private and won’t go back to a supervisor. That’s not to say that the topics or issues being worked on (e.g. handing of a project or presentation) can’t be discussed. It’s a good idea to work with the supervisor to make sure that the coach is addressing any perceived weaknesses.
  4. While there may be some scheduled meetings, the real value is in regular, informal feedback given contemporaneously to issues. Think of these as ‘learning moments.’ For example, after a presentation, there could be a debriefing between the team member and coach where they “break down” what went well and what could have gone better. Also, if the team member has a challenge that comes up unexpectedly, they should feel comfortable going right to the coach to get their thoughts.
  5. Finally, and most importantly, both the coach and team member need to have fun with it! Just look at the smiles on a coach’s face when their player makes a great play. They know that while it was the player who executed, they impacted the development of that player which led to it.