March 23, 2001, Newsletter Issue #13: Coaching Skills for the Home Business

Tip of the Week

Know your Management Style
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a big step in the development of any
business--home based or not. Even Bill Gates once
faced hiring his first employee.

"I`m not a manager, I`m an entrepreneur," you say.
This may very well be true. However, in order to keep
growing you will need to develop some basic coaching
skills. Here are some practical tips on coaching in
the home-based business setting.

The first thing to look at is, what kind of a manager
are you. You may have had some prior management
experience. Even if you haven`t managed employees
before you can still get an idea of your style. Are
you detail oriented? Is it hard for you to ask for
help? Do you find that you still want to be in
control of a project even after you`ve given it to
someone else to complete? Many entrepreneurs find
that they fit into this profile. In fact, the very
skills that make you a success in your business may be
the things that make you hard to work for.

Perhaps you are the kind of person that has no problem
delegating authority. In fact, you love nothing more
than to hand off a project and let the person run with
it. There are challenges that come with working for
this kind of boss as well.

The key in hiring the right person for the job is to
find someone who has a similar style as yours. If you
are a "hands-on" manager, then you need to find
someone who prefers a lot of communication. Daily
updates and progress reports will characterize this
kind of a coaching relationship.

If you have an empowering management style, then you
need to find someone with a certain amount of
experience in your field of business. For example, if
you have a catering business, and you want to hire
someone to help you do some of the cooking, you`ll
need someone who has some experience cooking the kinds
of food you provide. Otherwise you will find yourself
much more "hands-on" than you would like.

About LifeTips

Now one of the top on-line publishers in the world, LifeTips offers tips to millions of monthly visitors. Our mission mission is to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Expert writers earn dough for what they know. And exclusive sponsors in each niche topic help us make-it-all happen.