Manager and Coach: the Incompatible Combo?

How much credibility can be given to the manager-coach concept? Indeed, the ‘classic’ manager is most often perceived as the voice of the company, of the hierarchy, and by extension, of judgment. This manager evaluates the work of their employees, who must deliver within expected deadlines and quality criteria, often through methods perceived as directive. Conversely, the coach must create a neutral, non-judgmental atmosphere to allow the coachee to bring forth their own solutions. How to overcome this contradiction?

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The Limits of the Manager-Coach Concept

This paradox can be resolved by keeping in mind that:

• The coaching must remain within a purely professional scope: the manager is not strictly speaking a coach (or even a psychoanalyst!!). As such, they are not all-powerful in the relationship, and must also learn from their coachee. The notion of ‘coaching’ must therefore be perceived as a perpetual movement, an opportunity for growth on both sides, for both the coach and the coachee. The boundaries of coaching must be constantly re-evaluated within the limits imposed by the company framework.

• The manager-coach retains legitimacy and must focus the coachee’s efforts towards specific missions/developments. They are a help, and often benefit from longer and more in-depth experience than the coachee. As such, they can provide genuine guidance on how to achieve more sales, without necessarily going through the emergence phase for the coachee to find their own solutions.

Passing Fad or Lasting Trend?

Coaching has never developed as much as it has in the last decade. Coaches are flourishing on all subjects and in all aspects of business (team coaching, executive coaching, etc.). Is coaching just a fad? Should we give in to what could be called a passing trend? While we currently lack the necessary perspective to answer these questions, it is nevertheless possible to make the most of coaching theories and allow employees and managers to adopt what they deem relevant for their journey.

Why these Needs Today?

Many arguments, such as loss of meaning / illegibility of objectives / loss of trust, can explain this growing reliance on coaches. These absences, or ‘voids,’ are widely felt in companies today. Certain pathologies also highlight this new form of ‘malady of the century.’ Examples include:

• The bore-out, or boredom resulting from a loss of meaning at work, often leading to a lack of responsibility or a loss of purpose.

• The brown-out (meaning ‘power reduction’) is the state of an employee who does not (or no longer) understand their work. Dr. François Baumann defines it as: “directly stemming from burn-out – which corresponds to professional exhaustion – brown-out literally translates to a power reduction.” This drop in tension “expresses the pain and discomfort felt following the loss of meaning in one’s work objectives and a complete misunderstanding of one’s role within the company structure.” Unlike an employee suffering from burn-out, an employee suffering from brown-out remains functional and can still perform tasks. According to a study by Deloitte, more than one in two employees (55%) believe that the meaning of work has deteriorated (Europe 1).

• Generally, in this context, Generations Y, Z, and Millennial verbalize their search for meaning. These populations are no longer satisfied with old, directive management methods, and desire more personalized support while understanding the stakes of the tasks required of them. For companies, adaptation is therefore necessary to onboard new recruits into growth and performance frameworks. Even though remuneration remains the primary factor for motivation at work (for 50% of men and 44% of women in Europe)…. It is not the only one, however: development and learning opportunities count for a lot in attracting and retaining talent.
• In this context, and following increased investment in technologies and business processes, the focus today is more on the human element.

Furthermore, and more specifically for sales professionals, it is necessary to bring a new dimension to the missions currently carried out daily:

• The sales profession is particularly threatened by the technological revolution:
  • E-commerce sites can offer more sophisticated services faster than any human could (personalization, recommendations, complementary products, etc.). Information thus becomes immediately available to the consumer, who can make their choice without necessarily going through a salesperson.
  • Furthermore, 50% of consumers believe that purchase recommendations offered by e-commerce sites are just as relevant as recommendations a salesperson could make.
  • Sales professionals must position themselves not as sellers, but as experts to advise their clients on purchases meeting the criteria: EASE, EFFICIENCY, LOW COST, LOW RISK.

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Conclusion

The historical ‘mailbox’ sales manager posture is changing: the latter must now focus on upskilling their sales force by mobilizing them around key company challenges, notably through leading challenges, and by using digital technologies to move beyond mere figures. By moving beyond a debate on performance accuracy, operational discussions can evolve into genuine support points, the beginnings of a real coaching process.

Other Articles that might Interest You:

• Is coaching outdated?
• Combining management and coaching for performance: the ideal manager-coach profile