By serving as mentors, managers can help employees expand their capabilities
and improve their performance, but first a manager must create the proper
climate and develop the specific skills needed for effective coaching.
The Managers Role as
Coach and Mentor
Charles D. Orth
Harry E. Wilkinson
Robert C. Benfari
any effective managers at all levels recognize
the need to develop the employees they super-
vise. By helping staff members expand their
capabilities and improve their performance,
managers can gain more time to improve
their own capabilities and performance. Fur-
ther, by building a reputation for develop-
ing employees, managers can enhance their
chances for promotion. Even more impor-
tant, they can create a lasting source of power
through mutually beneficial relationships with
the employees they have helped.
Managers who are most effective at
developing employees have incorporated the
skill of coaching into their management style.
These managers display behavior and skills
that are very similar to the behavior and skills
of an athletics coach. Although coaching is an
important aspect of every effective manager's
job, it is especially important when a man-
ager is a mentor. Employees who have been
fortunate enough to have had a mentor, par-
ticularly early in their careers, usually find
66 their careers enhanced by the experience and
frequently incorporate coaching into their
own management styles.
In The Change Masters (Simon and
Schuster, 1984), Rosabeth Kanter argued that
all companies that want to achieve excellence
should encourage managers to become men-
tors to their employees. In Power and In-
fluence (The Free Press, 1985), John Kotter
agreed that mentors, sponsors, coaches, and
role models can be especially important in
helping young people during their early
careers. He stated, "Virtually all of the suc-
cessful and effective executives I have known
have had two or more of these kinds of rela-
tionships early in their careers. Some have
had upwards of a dozen people they were able
to rely on for different needs — some provided
important contacts, others gave key informa-
tion in specific areas, and still others taught
them certain valued skills."
If many managers in an organiza-
tion would adopt a coaching style, thereby
creating an organizational culture that re-
flected their coaching relationships, the prob-
 able result would be stronger management
teams at all levels, enhanced management
performance, and a less stressful environ-
ment for all employees. Many of the per-
sonnel problems that occur in an overly com-
petitive organizational climate might be
prevented. Teamwork and mutual support
among employees would be nurtured, while
power struggles and infighting would be re-
duced. Competition would be directed out-
ward instead of within the organization.
Despite these potential benefits,
coaching remains a neglected management
function in many organizations. As Kotter
noted, 'Although almost all large corpora-
tions, and many small ones too, acknowledge
the importance of mentoring, coaching, spon-
soring, and role modeling for the develop-
ment of their next generation of leaders, few
seem to do a very good job in this regard."
Why is coaching so often neglected?
From the manager's perspective, at least three
factors inhibit greater practice of coaching as
a management style: (1) Many organizational
climates are not conducive to coaching, and
managers are not rewarded for developing
employees. As a result, managers have few in-
centives or role models in this area. (2) Lack-
ing role models, managers do not recognize
the benefits, to themselves and to their em-
ployees, of a management style that empha-
sizes coaching. (3) Time, training, changes in
attitudes, and sometimes frustrating practice
are needed to develop coaching skills and to
incorporate these skills into a person's
management style.
THE ROLE OF COACHING
To be effective as a mentor, a manager must
be very skilled at acquiring and using power,
building and using relationships, and teach-
ing and coaching others. Coaching, however,
should not be confused with career counsel-
ing (which usually is the responsibility of hu-
man resources professionals) or performance
appraisal (a periodic, usually annual, evalua-
tion of performance). Although coaching is
related to both of those activities, it differs in
that it is a day-by-day, "hands-on" process of
helping employees recognize opportunities to
improve their performance and capabilities.
As such, it resembles on-the-job training, but
it requires managers to have skills beyond
those of a trainer, including the ability to ana-
lyze ways to improve employees' performance
and capabilities, plan mutually acceptable
action, create a supportive/helping climate,
and influence employees to change their
behavior.
A manager's job really encompasses
three distinct roles: manager, evaluator, and
coach. The role of manager includes responsi-
bility for developing and communicating per-
formance goals and expectations. The role of
evaluator includes responsibility for conduct-
ing periodic performance appraisals — evalua-
tions of performance against the goals that
have been developed and communicated. The
role of coach includes responsibility for help-
ing employees improve their capabilities and
performance on a day-to-day basis as well as
over the long term.
Performance improvement can be
viewed as a positive modification of be-
havior. Changing behavior, however, can be
difficult since it is the product of a person's
life experiences, self-image, and perception of
the expectations that others have of him or
her. People tend to use their past successes as
proof that they are doing things the right way.
When they achieve less than complete suc-
cess, they tend to blame other factors such as
the environment, the marketplace, their boss
or other organizational units, or the lack of
needed resources to get the job done. To in-
crease motivation, expand capabilities, and
develop new and better ways of accomplish-
ing desired results, then, employees must first
recognize that these efforts are desirable. (Of
course, a mentor should not discount all "ex- 67
 cuses"; some of them may be valid, in which
case management action is needed to remove
blocks to performance.)
Generally, people are disposed to
expand their capabilities and improve their
performance (that is, change their behavior)
when they know that these actions are ex-
pected and when they perceive that change
will be nonthreatening and in their own self-
interest. The development of an explicit set of
expectations between supervisor and em-
ployee or between organization and em-
ployee is therefore a vital step in the coaching
process. When properly developed, mutually
understood expectations lead to specific per-
formance goals, enabling the mentor to ob-
serve actual performance and provide helpful
feedback when performance does not meet
the goals.
In most instances, expectations
should be renegotiated as often as necessary,
usually several times a year. Either the mentor
or the employee can initiate the process when
either perceives that circumstances or the en-
vironment has changed or that old expecta-
tions are no longer as useful as they might be.
CREATING THE PROPER CLIMATE
Climate, orientation, and behavior are con-
siderably different when mentors function as
an evaluator and when they function as a
coach. They therefore must carefully differ-
entiate between these two roles when inter-
acting with employees. As an evaiuator, men-
tors express judgments about performance
against previously agreed-upon goals and ob-
jectives. As a coach, mentors must express
concern for helping employees develop to
their fullest potentiaL
To play the latter role effectively,
mentors must temporarily suspend judgment,
listen empathetically, probe for concerns
related to an employee's self-assessment, and
be ready to offer specific suggestions regard-
68 ing training and self-development opportuni-
ties that would help the employee achieve ca-
reer goals as well as the objectives of the
organization. If an employee's career goals
are not in line with the organization's objec-
tives, the matter should be discussed as part
of the coaching interaction.
For the coaching process to be effec-
tive, the mentor must create a climate that
contributes to a free and open exchange of
ideas and that is perceived by both mentor
and employee to be a growth environment.
Some characteristics of this kind of environ-
ment are described below:
• Since coaching is intended to help
an employee, a mentor should never use
words or actions that imply a threat. Expres-
sions such as "If you want to succeed in this
job you had better . . . " or "If you know what's
good for you, you will. . ." are to be avoided.
People generally respond to implied or overt
threats with denial, flight, anger, or aggres-
sion. These reactions will have a negative ef-
fect on the coaching process.
• Coaching requires a positive rela-
tionship between employee and mentor; the
employee must respect the mentor's integrity
and capability as a leader and the mentor
must respect the employee's integrity and ca-
pacity to do the job.
• A mentor develops trust by dem-
onstrating an honest interest in an employee
and fostering open and candid two-way com-
munication. The mentor listens, tries to under-
stand, is supportive of the employee's efforts,
and respects the employee's individuality.
• A coaching session should be free
of interruptions or distractions. The location
should ensure privacy and be conducive to a
frank exchange of views. For example, a
coaching session should not be conducted at
lunch, on a plane, or in a hallway. An em-
ployee's office or workplace, if privacy can be
ensured, may be an appropriate and non-
threatening location.
• Timing can greatly influence
whether coaching sessions will be effective.
For example, before a coaching session is

Charles D. Orth is a senior associate with
University Affiliates. Inc. He has done consult-
ing, research, clinical interviewing, and case de-
velopment and has designed and led numerous
management development seminars in the or-
ganizational behavior area. He has managed
major research and career development projects
funded by the Department of Labor and the
Department of Health and Human Services and
has participated as a facilitator iti several major
organizational change efforts.
Orth has authored or coauthored numerous
books, including Managers and Scientists (with
Ralph M. Hower, Division of Research, Har-
vard Business School, 1963). Organizational
Behavior and Administration (with Paul R.
Lawrence and others, Irwin Dorsey Press.
1961), Administering Research and Develop-
n;ient (with Frank Wolek and Joseph C. Bailey,
Irwin Dorsey Press, 1964), and Social Structure
and Learning Climate (Division of Research,
Harvard Business School, 1963). He also has
written or supervised the writing of numerous
articles and cases on organizational behavior
and has written extensively about as well as de-
signed and taught seminars dealing with the ca-
reer problems of women.
Prior to joining UAI, Orth was art assistant
professor and later an assistant dean at the
Harvard Business School. He is a member of
the American Personnel and Guidance Associa-
tion and the American Society for Training
Directors and has been listed in Who's Who in
the East. He was, for many years, an associate
of the NTL Institute of Applied Behavioral
Science. Orth received his M.B.A. degree with
distinction from the Harvard Graduate School
of Business Administration.
held, sufficient time must be allowed to per-
mit an employee to learn new skills or acquire
added capabilities. Timing is especially im-
portant after an event in which intense emo-
tional feelings are involved, such as after a
critical presentation to upper management.
An employee may not be ready to accept
feedback or coaching right away. On the
other hand, the coaching session should not
be delayed to the point that it is difficult to re-
call details of the event.
• During a coaching session, an
employee must clearly recognize that his or
her mentor is functioning as a coach, not as
an evaluator. As a coach, the mentor should
be seen as supportive rather than judgmental,
as one who provides helpful feedback rather
than criticism.
FOUR CRITICAL SKILLS
Most managers are not "born" coaches. Just as
an athletics coach needs to learn how to coach
through experience, observation, and train-
ing, so does a manager. Some of the skills
needed are implicit in the establishment of the
proper climate for coaching (which was dis-
cussed above). In addition, managers need to
develop four critical skills that are related to
the coaching session itself and to the man-
ager's preparation for it.
Observational Skills
A mentor must be able to monitor an em-
ployee's performance against established
goals and expectations. Long before having to
evaluate performance during a formal ap-
praisal session, the mentor should spot op-
portunities for the employee to expand capa-
bilities and improve performance and should
take prompt action to help the employee do
so. Mentors must therefore observe their em-
ployees' behavior and performance on a day-
to-day basis.
Some data can be accumulated by 69

Harry E. Wilkinson is president and chairman
of the board of University Affiliates, Inc. In ad-
dition to the activities associated with the ad-
ministration of the firm, he participates in and
manages various consulting projects in such
fields as organization, problem solving, group
dynamics, engineering management, career de-
velopment, power and authority, communica-
tions, human behavior in organizations, and
the research, development, and presentation of
tailored executive programs. He has had ex-
perience in the use of computers for manage-
ment education and has taught techniques of
operations research and computer applications
to top managers. He has also had experience in
programs designed for executives and their
wives.
Before establishing UAI in 1967, Wilkinson
was dean of the College of Business Adminis-
tration at Northeastern University. Under his
direction, the Management Institute was formed
at the University to bridge the gap between
academia and business. Prior to that time, he
was a senior consultant and project director
with a major consulting organization. He also
worked for the General Dynamics Corporation
as a market analyst and for the Bell Telephone
System as an engineer, taught finance at
Washington University in St. Louis, and served
as an officer in the U.S. Navy during the
Korean Conflict. Wilkinson received an A.B.
degree in physics from Princeton University, an
M.B.A. degree from Washington University in
St. Louis, and a D.B.A. degree from the Har-
vard Graduate School of Business Administra-
tion. He is registered as a psychologist in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is listed
in Who's Who in America.
70
direct observation (for example, the manner
in which a meeting was conducted or a presen-
tation made or an employee's relationships
with other employees). Other data can be ac-
quired indirectly from the mentor's network
of relationships with other employees. Still
other data can be obtained by studying an
employee's reports (such as special or routine
assignments, memos, and letters) or through
control devices (such as expenses incurred
versus those budgeted).
Analytical Skills
Mentors must have two types of analytical
skills: They must be able to identify opportu-
nities for employees to expand their capabili-
ties and improve performance, and they must
be able to determine when coaching is the ac-
tion needed to help employees improve per-
formance and/or expand their capabilities.
The process of deciding when coaching is or
is not needed essentially entails analysis of
the factors influencing an employee's perfor-
mance (behavior). This step-by-step analyti-
cal process is outlined in Exhibit 1.
Identifying opportunities for em-
ployees to improve performance (behavior)
requires a somewhat different analytical pro-
cess based partly on the data mentors have
gathered from their own and others' observa-
tions of an employee's behavior and partly on
interviews with the employee. Some of the
questions that need to be answered are: How
was the work performed? What was done
well? What could have been improved? What
other strategies or approaches might have
been used? What specific improvements would
make it easier for the employee to perform at
an optimal level?
Interviewing Skills
A mentor must be able to ask employees the
right questions the right way and listen ac-
 Exhibit r
THE ANALYTICAL PROCESS or COACHING

Analytical Questions Action Steps

Does employee know per- No Let employee know.

formance can be improved?

Does employee know what is Reinforce applicable

expected of him or her? No performance standards.

Are there obstacles beyond Remove obstacles or revise

the employee's control? Yes standards,

Does employee know how Train employee and/or provide

to improve? No practice or demonstration.

Do negative consequences Change the consequences.

follow good performance? Yes

Do positive consequences
follow poor performance? Yes Change the consequences.

Consider reassignment,
No transfer, or other required
Could employee make the action.
improvements if he or she
wanted to?
Redirect employee's behavior
through coaching.

' Adapted from Coaching for Improved Work Performance by Ferdinand F. Fournies, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1978.

tively. Essentially, there are three types of
questions that can be used by the skillful in-
terviewer; the open-ended question, the
closed question, and the reflective question.
Each is used for a specific purpose to accom-
plish a desired result.
Open-ended questions are used to
encourage the respondent to rethink the
problem, think of things that he or she has
not considered previously, achieve insight or
understanding, or draw his or her own con-
clusions. For example, when discussing a
problem involving an opportunity for an em-
ployee to improve performance, a mentor 71
 should not respond to the employees pro-
posed solution by saying, "It won't work;
we've tried it before. Try this approach." In-
stead, any of the following open-ended ques-
tions, among others, might be asked: What
other approaches have you considered? What
are the advantages and disadvantages of your
approach? What have others done when faced
with a similar problem?
Closed questions are used to guide
a discussion into a specific area or to get spe-
cific information when a discussion is pro-
ducing too many generalities. For example, a
mentor might ask an employee: Who in the
section has been responding to your requests
for information? How much additional time
do you think you need to get the job done in
a superior manner? Have you had a chance to
talk with other people about their concerns?
Reflective questions are a restate-
ment in question form of something a person
has said. They are used to prevent misunder-
standing and to communicate concern about
and/or interest in what the person has said.
For example, if an employee says, "The system
just isn't working," the mentor might ask,
"You mean it isn't running at all?" If an em-
ployee says, "I can't get Ann to do anything
''Real listening, active listening, is a skill
that most managers need to learn. People tend
to be too concerned about what they want to
communicate next instead of listening for
sometimes buried ideas, feelings, or beliefs
72 that the other person is trying to communicate!
I ask," the mentor might ask, "She refuses to
follow your directions?" Or if an employee
says, "There isn't enough in the budget to han-
dle current training requirements," the men-
tor might ask, "You think we didn't forecast
very well?"
Real listening, active listening, is a
skill that most managers need to learn. People
tend to be too concerned about what they
want to communicate next instead of listening
for sometimes buried ideas, feelings, or be-
liefs that the other person is trying to commu-
nicate. To signal to employees that they are
really listening, mentors can use nonverbal
behavior such as obvious attentiveness, smiles,
nods, or eye contact and/or verbal behavior
such as making accepting statements, para-
phrasing what the employee has said, and
asking probing questions to elicit more infor-
mation or opinions.
Feedback Skills
If a mentor's feedback to an employee causes
defensive ness, withdrawal, anger, and/or in-
timidation, the feedback has not been given
effectively and is not likely to produce
desired changes in behavior. Employees
 should perceive feedback as being helpful to
them in their efforts to expand their capabili-
ties and/or improve their performance. Some
guidelines for delivering feedback to em-
ployees are discussed below:
Be specific, not general. For exam-
ple, telling an employee that he or she is "abra-
sive" is not helpful. Instead, a mentor should
provide details, such as "lack was visibly an-
gry with you for cutting him down at the
team meeting yesterday. What can you do to
repair your relationship with him?"
Be descriptive, not evaluative. For
example, telling an employee that he or she
"handled that situation very badly" is not help-
ful. A better approach would be to say, "When
you made your presentation yesterday, if you
had focused more attention on your audience
you might have sensed their impatience and
kept your explanations shorter."
Take both your own and your em-
ployee's needs into account. Feedback can be
destructive when it is self-serving and fails to
be sensitive to the needs of the person receiv-
ing the feedback. For instance, a mentor
needs to be careful not to give feedback when
angry or tense. The temptation to relieve
one's anger or tension by assailing the em-
ployee may be hard to resist.
Be sure that feedback is directed to-
ward behavior that can he changed. A men-
tor will only generate frustration by identify-
ing a shortcoming over which an employee
has no control. The following scenario pro-
vides an example of skillful coaching:
Mentor: You seem to be falling behind on
your inspection schedule.
Employee: I've been asked to do a lot of
other things.
Mentor: There are always other things to
do, but until recently you managed to keep
up with your inspections.
Employee: In the last month, your boss has
given me two special assignments that I
thought you knew about.
Robert C. Benfari is principle consultant for
professional programs at University Affiliates,
Inc. He has done consulting, research, case de-
velopment, and instruction in management de-
velopment seminars, primarily in professional
and/or technical organizations.
Benfari also is a senior lecturer in the Har-
vard Graduate School of Public Health and the
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
He has directed many behavioral science re-
search grants sponsored by various agencies of
the Department of Health, Education, and Wet-
fare. He has undertaken advanced study and
research of social and industrial systems and
behavior change in both small groups and large
organizations. As an organizational behavior
consultant to industry, he has conducted exten-
sive management development selection pro-
grams, sensitivity sessions, personnel selection
programs, and assessment studies.
Earlier activities included research and teach-
ing experience with the Office of Naval Re-
search and the Albert Einstein College of Medi-
cine. He was director of the Harvard Center of
the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trials
(MRFIT), a major national research program to
study the impact of psychological, nutritional,
and smoking interventions on the incidence of
cardiovascular disease in thousands of male
subjects. Benfari has over 75 scientific publica-
tions in the fields of psychology and behavioral
science. He received an A.B. degree in social
science from Colby College, an M.B.A. degree
from the Whartan School of the University of
Pennsylvania, art M.S. degree in industrial hy-
giene from Harvard University, and a Ph.D.
degree in psychology from Albert Einstein Col-
lege of Medicine.
73
 Mentor: I didn't know. I guess I have a
problem. What were the assignments?
Employee: (Gives details.)
Mentor: I'm glad we've identified the real
problem here. One thing, hereafter if my boss
gives you assignments, don't assume that I
know about it. Come and tell me.
In the example above, the mentor
did not assume that the employee was slack-
ing off. Instead, he attempted to discover an
explanation for a problem that he had ob-
served. He quickly learned that the problem
was not the employee's but his own —a prob-
lem involving his relationship with his boss.
At the same time, he was able to take the first
step toward solving the problem by asking
the employee to report any special assign-
ments given to him.
Be sure the feedback is well timed.
Feedback should be given as soon as possible
after an action (or lack of action) unless a
cooling-off period is indicated. When emo-
tions are strong, an employee may not listen
to or make effective use of feedback.
Make sure that you and the em-
ployee have clearly understood each other.
There are too many filters in the normal com-
munication process to guarantee mutual un-
derstanding of what is said.
A WAY OF MANAGING
Coaching is a management technique that is
based on knowledge about how and under
what conditions employees improve and
grow and on specific skills that managers
need to practice, develop, and incorporate
into their management style. These skills are
not those of a psychologist, psychiatrist, or
analyst; they are management skills. Once
learned, coaching becomes an integral part of
any manager's way of managing.
Coaching is not a way of solving
74 one-time problems. It is a way of helping em-
ployees, over time, improve (change) their
performance (behavior and results) to out-
standing levels or at least to the highest level
of which they are capable. As such, the devel-
opment and practice of coaching knowledge
and skills can and should result in improved
performance for all who are exposed to it.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Power and influence skills are a critical part of the
set of tools a mentor needs to use as well as instill
or develop in those he or she is trying to help. John
Kotter's bock Power and Influence (The Free Press,
1985) is an excellent source of information on the
general approach to the acquisition and use of
power in organizations. He also discusses network
building and the role a mentor can play in helping
young employees develop these skills. His earlier
articles, such as "Managing Your Boss" (Harvard
Business Review, January-February 1980) and
"Power, Dependence and Effective Management"
(Harvard Business Review, July-August 1977), are
useful as well. Rosabeth Kanter's book The Change
Masters (Simon and Schuster, 1984) also discusses
the important role of mentors in organizations
that want to achieve excellence.
For a more specific discussion of power
and influence skills, see our article "The Effective
Uses of Power" (Business Horizons, May-June
1986) and our monograph Influencing People in
Organizations (University Affiliates, Inc., 1986).
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity (Bantam Books,
1971), B. F. Skinner, among others, discusses the
importance of positive reinforcement as a way of
influencing behavior.
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