Coaching for Performance Fifth Edition: The Principles and Practice of Coaching and Leadership UPDATED 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

by John Whitmore

The value of choice and responsibility in terms of self-motivation should never be underestimated. For example, if the members of a sales team come up with a goal that is lower than the leader wishes, the leader should consider the consequences very carefully before overriding their figure and imposing their own. They may do better to swallow their pride and accept the team’s figure. Insisting on the leader’s goal may well have the effect of lowering the performance of the team, even though the leader’s target was higher than theirs. They may or may not consider the leader’s figure discouragingly unrealistic, but they will certainly be demotivated by their lack of choice. Of course, the leader has one more option if they are sure of their ground, and that is to start with the team’s figure and coach them upward by exploring and helping them to dismantle their barriers to achieving more. They then retain responsibility for the figure that is finally agreed.

Imposing targets