Tips For Being an Effective Coach - Great Leaders to be Great Teachers

We can shape the leaders of tomorrow by teaching8) Teach with A Heart of Passion
them today.The best form of teaching is not data-crunching.
People who are effective in influencing others haveEffective teaching should be personal and with
the ability to communicate effectively and have thepassion. The things you can share with your own heart
ability to teach effectively. This essentially means thatwill mean so much more to your students than
good leaders have the ability to communicate andanything out of an ordinary textbook. Everyone can
teach. There is a chance that a person may be ableread and "teach" from a textbook - but is that
to teach yet not lead, but a person who leadsteaching?!
successfully also teaches successfully.9) Repeat The Process
In order to ensure that people at every levelIn order for your students to remember the things you
understand the priorities of the moment, you need tohave taught them, the best way is to give it to them
simply teach them. In this way, they can be developedmore than once. It can be through summary, additional
into leaders of tomorrow.notes, mini tests, or simply by asking them questions
Following are some tips that will help us to becomeover and over again in during different time of the
better leaders, as such better teachers:class.
1) It is not about You; It is about Them10) Ask Good Questions
When you are going to communicate, alwaysEffective trainers understand that learning is about
understand you are not the star. It is not about you. It isexploring the unknown and that it begins with questions.
about the people with whom you are trying toIt should be questions that actually seek thoughtful
communicate. They are the one that matters most.answers from your students.
2) Study your Students well11) Stop sending them data but teach them how to
Great trainers know their material as well as theirthink
students well. To know your material and not yourData does not make your students become much
students, it simply means that you have something tobetter. The best way for them to learn something is to
give, but no effective method to deliver it.think about it. Once they picked up the skills of
3) Teachers should create a safe environment so thateffective thinking, learning will become easier and on a
students dare to take riskslong-term basis.
It is important for you as a leader to create such an12) Stop Talking & Start Listening
environment where there's a sense of security for theEffective learning should be a two-way process. It
person you want to develop. Learning requires theshould be a dialogue between the students and the
room for mistakes to be made. When the atmospheretrainer. In order for the students to learn effectively, it is
and the environment allow room for vulnerability andtherefore very important to listen to them to find out
mistakes, material is absorbed very quickly andabout their learning progress. Remember it is not what
effectively. If students are not allowed to makewe the trainers want to teach, it should be what the
mistakes during the training period, then when?!students want and need to learn that matters.
4) Great teachers radiate Passion as well as Purpose13) Let your students teach each other
The difference between a mediocre teacher and aGreat trainers and coaches understand that their
great coach / trainer is not expertise. It comes downstudents have the ability to communicate and teach
to passion - passion for the material and passion foreach other, many times more effectively than they
sharing information and experience with the students.can. Peers normally relate to one another better than
5) Students learn more when teachers sharestudents do to teachers. Partner-Sharing and
Goal-Setting with themClass-Sharing are good activities to conduct. Many
Most students fail to see the gap between whereTrain The Trainer programs available always highlight
they are and where they need to be. Teachers needthis as a very important factor for effective coaching,
to conduct and inculcate Goal-Setting activities with thebut many do not practice it as they fear that others
students. This is because if you lose you fail to seemay say that they are not doing their job in "teaching".
that gap, you cannot gauge and will lose your incentive14) Different student require different approach
for learning.To be an effective trainer, we need to understand that
6) Communicate Clearly & Simplydifferent students learn differently. Some are visual,
The essence of teaching and learning is essentiallysome are audio while others are kin static. We need to
communication, and the biggest challenge that leadersengage the class of students in as many ways as you
face is whether student understand them. Alwayscan. We should include a mixture of white-board
remember, Context is more important than content.presentation, reading aloud by students, power-points
This meaning having more energy in the class is moreand class participation in order to be effective in
important than having great amount of data, becausecoaching them.
the level of energy will easily convert effectively the15) Never stop coaching
data to become valuable information for the students.Effective teaching is about the quality of the
7) Practice Vulnerability without Loosing Credibilityrelationship between the teacher and the student, and
To many people, being a teacher or a leader meansit does not stop there when the class is over. It should
appearing as though they are invincible and knows allbe an on-going process. Great trainers should be
the answers. Any sign of vulnerability or ignorance isleaders that are always passionate about what they
seen as a sign of weakness. These people can makeare doing, imparting what they are learning and passing
the worst leaders, as such the worst teachers. Weit on to others as quickly as they possible can. The
see a lot in Top Schools where the teachers aregoal of a great leader is to impact his students by
usually scholars in their higher education. They arelearning how to communicate effectively. Even if you
taught with a mindset to not to fail. Be honest aboutdata is good, their ability to receive it and turn them into
what you know and what you don't know with yourvaluable information is based upon your ability to
students. Do not try to give them a false answer ascommunicate it effectively across to them.
you will lose even more credibility that way. We doFor current teachers, tutors and trainers, I hope the
have to emphasize the things that we know very wellabove tips will help you to become better coaches for
and the things that we can actually teach.your students.