Cop Or Coach?

When coaching talent during performance reviews, managers all too quickly often gloss over positive points and in great detail, focus on areas for improvement. Sure, strengths are mentioned in a sort of drive-by-stroking but are seldom given the same emphasis as someone's weaknesses. For morning shows or part-time talent, performance reviews can become a critical mechanism for what he or she isn'tdoing.

There's more "cop" than coach in those sessions; a cop catches a talent or seller doing something wrong while a coach catches them doing something right, which over time through collective events, brings out the best in someone. However unintended, leading by negative reinforcement like a cop patrolling a neighborhood, you may be watching for what may go wrong instead of what can go right. Over time team members may feel more busted than trusted.

• Focusing on weaknesses can actually reinforce them. Peter Drucker once said, "Don't focus on building someone'sweaknesses. Help them understand their strengths and place them in a position where those strengths count."
• Obviously if a jock, MD or a PD is doing something that's significantly hindering progress you have to act, so consider using coaching vernacular such as "Steve ... you've come too far and learned too much to repeat that mistake. It's holding you back."
• You'll "get by" improving on weaknesses, but you'll get great by building on strengths.
• And falling into the "some are born with it; some aren't" trap is an easy way out. If that's true, how is it that every year, Doctor Suzuki's method helps teach countless kids to play the violin with virtually no prescreening?

The challenge lies in realizing that radio talent does not come with an instruction manual or a college degree. It comes with time, and if an emerging morning talent, MD or talk show host is fortunate enough to get real coaching, it's probably because a savvy leader has recognized potential and put less emphasis on mistakes/weaknesses and more on potential. We've all experienced more than enough negative; in some cases, so much so we may shrug off our positive strengths and spend too much time dwelling on weaknesses.

Here's an iron-clad premise we stress repeatedly with managers and PD: people move to what they picture.Saying to a kid, "You should be more like your brother," or to an emerging night talent, "You'll never move up if you don't _____" reinforces their self-doubt and undermines confidence. Saying instead, "You're too good to keep repeating that same mistake; just be aware of it!" puts coaching in a very different light.

Building on strengths creates a ripple-effect; growing confidence and willingness to take risks (when and where there's much to gain) can turn promising people into peak performers. We've watched it, we've reinforced it, and we've seen the process of "potential" turned to success. In an intimate business like ours where a handful of people are between us and our competition, coaching makes all the difference. Being a cop is a technique, never a strategy.