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20

Nov

Coaching and Autonomy: How do you balance the two?

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There is no doubt that many of the hundreds of sales reps I’ve led would say that my style involves regular feedback and coaching.  The same people might also say that once the coaching and feedback is implemented, my style then shifts towards increased autonomy.

Lately, I’ve been struggling with this paradigm —wanting to give more room for autonomy and letting people fail more often early on. I want to let them adapt, instead of hopping in with feedback along the way. Perhaps this is due to a shift in workforce dynamics and what people want from a job, but I’m still negotiating the balance of what works best in the long run.

What I do know is this: too much coaching early on nurtures dependence, and not enough structure early on leads to misaligned expectations and unnecessary turnover.

This is highly dependent on the individual, but I believe there are two best practices that have stood the test of time.  

            1. Growth is mandatory after a certain point. 

2. You must be open to people doing things differently early on as they may disrupt your process for the better.

Professional growth and a desire to improve are major areas that I screen for in the interview process. People that I hire need to have a strong desire to grow as a professional and as a person. This has multiple benefits as typically these people fit my style and tend to make progress faster.

At times, coaching doesn’t work – even with people that say they want feedback in order to improve.  There have been many times in the past when I’ve labeled such people as uncoachable.

As it turns out, however, some of them simply need more autonomy to try things out on their own – even if it means failing at first – before they are ready to utilize feedback.

I had a potential superstar sales rep in 2008 that gave me a dose of my own medicine when he coached me on leaving him the F$&! alone.  This rep was eventually promoted off my team and then twice more in the next three years.  He was extremely coachable but just needed a little more autonomy at first, to open him up to the coaching process.

Autonomy may lead to more mistakes early on, but with the right level of patience, it can produce equally effective outcomes in the long term. We all need a different mix of both coaching and autonomy at various points in our career. The key as a leader is to discover the right mix for you, your leaders, and your team.

What are your thoughts on the topic?  How do you balance the two?

Jake Dunlap, CEO