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Jim Selman published this workbook to accompany a course that was presented to 23 business executives who were “grappling with the issues of productivity, keeping up with a rapidly changing world, creating time to meet everyday demands, developing and empowering people to be effective, and working with integrity and commitment given an increasingly uncertain future.” These issues are the same issues executives are grappling with almost 20 years later.
Selman introduces coaching as a new paradigm, or context, for management and communication. He suggests a radically new perspective that communication is the primary (perhaps only) lever we have if we are to deal effectively with these types of traditionally “soft” issues. Selman was co-founder with Werner Erhard and CEO of Transformational Technologies in the mid 1980s, which brought these concepts into American corporations.
Selman presents 15 commitments of a great coach, which are repeated here:
1. Be clear that it is a game and that the game is to win.
2. Be ethical within the rules of the game but not limited by them. Remember the greatest coaches invented new rules.
3. Be committed to people and generate a personal stake in the success and well-being of each individual.
4. Be focused on the development of each person. The performer is really the coach’s product.
5. Be uncompromising in your discipline to preparation and practice.
6. Be committed to the possibility that there are never absolute limits to performance for either an individual or an organization.
7. Be in continuous communication with the employees, owner, public, and the competition.
8. Be personally responsible for the outcome.
9. Be honest, talk straight and model the qualities you demand from others.
10. Be awake and aware of the team picture and what is occurring in all aspects of the game that impact the team.
11. Be uncompromising with the details every step of the way.
12. Be a teacher in the original sense of the work – of fully developing the capability of the individual.
13. Be a learner and listen accurately.
14. Be your word.
15. Most of all, be in love with the game and the privilege it is to be a coach.
Selman has continued to advance these ideas and concepts. You can read more about his current work and download articles at www.paracomm.com.
Vikki G. Brock, Ph.D., EMBA, MCC
Leadership & Mentor Coach
Director, History & Archives Division
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