Welcome back to English for Management and Leadership. In this video, we'll be discussing an important element of good leadership, building employee potential. This can emerge in two ways, coaching and mentoring. They both serve to grow potential, but they do so in different ways. Coaching comes from the supervising manager, but a mentor, though often in a senior position, usually has no direct supervisory responsibility for the employee. Coaching targets specific skills needed to benefit the team or to reach certain short-term objectives. Examples of this might be speaking more concisely, sharing knowledge, or learning a new system or program. Because these are short-term objectives, items discussed in coaching are often related to ongoing performance reviews. Mentoring, on the other hand, focuses more on the long-term goals an employee has, such as promotion, reputation, influence, or self-confidence. Because these are not directly related to the yearly performance review, and because the mentor is not the supervising manager, mentor relationships often build an environment of trust and confidence. Mentoring is commonly used when an organization wants to build its leadership pool for succession planning. In these cases, the mentor is grooming the employee for a future leadership position. In the scene for this module, you saw Elizabeth talking with Katherine and Jake in one-on-one meetings. What was the purpose of these meetings? Was she coaching or mentoring? If you answered that Elizabeth was coaching her team members, then you're right. One of the more important roles of managing people is offering constructive feedback on their performance in a timely way. And timely is important here. Unfortunately, because many people are not comfortable with these kinds of conversations, feedback is often given only once a year at a performance review. But if you were a coach for a soccer team, would you wait until the end of the season to give feedback on your players' performance? Would you wait until the end of the game? Of course not. You would be offering feedback on their play all the time so they could work to improve right away. And your team would benefit from that improvement right away. Coaching is used to give direction and build performance. Elizabeth met with Katherine to give direction and to help her see how her attitude was causing her colleagues to avoid seeking her help and knowledge. This kind of avoidance can have serious effects on the outcome of the project. Elizabeth knows this and needs Katherine's knowledge and expertise to be readily available. After all, that expertise is why she selected Katherine for her team. Elizabeth met with Jake to build performance. Jake is already a well-recognized innovator, but his communication style is off-putting in a different way. He talks too much and too long. He may have great information, but he takes so long to make his point that people stop listening. In fact, some people know how much Jake can talk that they stop listening the moment he opens his mouth. Even Elizabeth cut off Jake the first time he wanted to share information about km's. However, even with her impatience, Elizabeth knows that the team needs his knowledge and gives him guidance on how he can get his message out more concisely. So how can you conduct a one-on-one coaching session in a way that's not threatening but still constructive? First, begin with an I focus, rather than a you focus. Elizabeth starts with words like, my observation, or I noticed. Secondly, ask questions. Find out what they think of the situation. If they can realize the problems themselves, they will be more likely to change. Elizabeth asks Katherine what her thoughts were. She asked her if there was anything else she could have said instead. Elizabeth asks Jake if he thinks the team's annoyance with him could have something to do with his communication style. By listening carefully to the answers to your questions, you can find out a lot about your employee's motivations for behavior. Find out what their goals are and help them progress. You can also act as a sounding board for frustrations they may be experiencing or work to remove obstacles that may be hindering performance. Third, try to get agreement. If you can get buy-in, the employee will be more likely to change. This may not always happen the first time you mention an area for improvement, but may come after a few more coaching sessions. Finally, offer to role-play a scenario. This gives you the opportunity to offer specific suggestions and gives the employee a non-threatening place to try out different styles of communication. Keep in mind that coaching sessions are not a one-time event. They're meant to be ongoing, regular opportunities to offer continuing feedback. Don't forget to give positive reinforcement when you see appropriate changes in behavior. Just like a soccer coach, be sure to give public praise to strong, as well as developing performers. Now, let's review the takeaways for this lesson. Coaching and mentoring serve different purposes. Coaching is supervisory with a focus on short-term objectives. Mentoring is not supervisory and focuses on long-term professional development. Coaching involves timely, constructive feedback. Use an I focus as much as possible, ask questions, listen carefully, try to get agreement, and offer specific suggestions for improvement. But most importantly, when coaching your employees, you, yourself, need to be the example you want to see in them. In our next video, we will take a look at how to build a team that works well together. See you then, and thanks for watching English for Management and Leadership.