C: Coach as Leader, Manager and Supervisor

The workplace coach functions as leader, manager, and supervisor to support and elicit exceptional performance. Each of these three roles has distinct behaviors, intent, and purpose. The coach as leader: The leader imparts philosophy to create and support care-full staff. Philosophy is only signpost to give guidance in unanticipated situations. Every coach must lead by imparting philosophy. Vigorously ask & answer “why” questions such as, Why does company exist? Why does world and our community need us? Why do we choose to join this endeavor? Why do we do something this way instead of that way? Every one of us wants to aspire to a higher purpose. To be part of something greater than ourselves fulfills our desire to belong and provides us with an important place where we can make a difference in this world.

The coach as manager: The manager conveys knowledge to create and support staff who are mind-full and power-full. The coach in role of manager answers “what” questions. What business are we in? What do we do to fulfill our purpose? What difference do we make to our customers? What are our goals? What are our expected customer outcomes and business objectives?

The coach as supervisor: The supervisor establishes structure to support staff who are success-full. The coach as supervisor answers “how “questions: How do we do our business? How do we meet our goals? How is this task or activity performed and how do I prove it? How will we know when we get it right?

A good coach supports direct-care staff who are care-full, mind-full, power-full and success-full through imparting knowledge, philosophy, and structure. Goethe gave us answer to creating humane human service workplaces 200 years ago.

Act, believe and coach your way to being a supervisor who staff will admire and want to work with. Focus on these basic ABC’s, to develop a solid team of skilled, self-managed and stable employees.

The new popularity of singles also allows artist to profit without taking time and effort to compile an album and we have come full circle. Free down loading also presents new marketing opportunities for entrepreneurs. The mass marketing Columbia House mail order giant used to feature selection of month for designated format for each member. Then they added discounts to move slow movers. They gave thumbnail reviews for their selections of month.

I have subscribed to a few audio magazines over years. Reviews often influenced my buying decisions. A good review could induce me to buy an album by an artist I did not usually care for. It could discourage me from buying an album from one I normally did, and I felt reviews helped me avoid disappointment and got me to hear things I liked and might have missed.

Reviews are irrelevant to anyone who only acquires free music, but how many of us might subscribe to a really good review magazine that also marketed music from independent producers through mail order? The magazine can be print or electronic. Reviewers, people who can listen objectively and write about what they hear, would get free music to review and possibly compensation for writing review.

There are many of us who like lyric sheets and commentaries that come with industry CDs. Many of us would gladly pay for that, even if we take some free music. The free music then becomes equivalent of old record shops that would play you a single in store, in hopes you would buy. Albums put an end to that. Now we can sample a few singles and decide whether to buy an album or singles themselves.

I say, let new mail order companies and producers add value to music itself in packaging and artists will receive fair compensation. The RIAA will go way of dinosaur and we will all be better for it. Boo Hoo.