Somewhere in the spectrum between being a leader and a manager is the powerful role of being a coach. Let’s understand what a leader and manager are first, and then we can clarify why being a coach for your team is so important.

The role of the leader is to set the vision. The leader is fundamentally curious about possibilities, opportunities, growth and the future of the business. By articulating the vision passionately, leaders inspire the team to create alignment and commitment, which are essential for evolving the practice.

By contrast, the role of the manager is to get results. The manager strives to create focused accountability, so teams achieve specific known goals. Managers set standards, define procedures, and ensure tasks are completed on time and correctly. Consistency, effectiveness and efficiency are all within the domain of the manager.

There is always going to be tension between your inner leader, who relishes in future possibilities, and your inner manager, who focuses on today’s realities. That’s why the central role of coach is so vital!

What Is a Coach?

The role of the coach is to close the gap between vision and reality. Most importantly, a coach understands that the best way is to prioritize the team, teach them better ways to accomplish their goals, give them the systems and resources they need to grow, and support them with encouragement, structure and feedback.

In short, your inner coach should be focused on developing the abilities of individual team members as well as how the team works together collectively. It’s a growth process where you have to give your team what they need to be successful, but allow them the space to learn, internalize, problem-solve and feel a sense of ownership with each stage of growth and success.

Of course, your inner manager immediately wants to take control and micro-manage every new detail. But that is rarely helpful during learning stages because you’re just teaching the team to follow new directions, rather than developing true competency.

The easiest comparison is your children and their school homework. If you jump in and do your children’s homework for them, you are working against your own goals. They won’t learn and they’ll become more and more dependent on you to give them the answers. Instead, you want to be a coach that encourages and supports them, guides them in the right direction, and helps them to figure it out what to do and how to do it.

How Coaching Helps You

What I have learned over the years as a corporate leader and personal growth educator is that everyone needs a coach. Everyone needs someone who believes in them, and who sees their high value. Great coaches shine the light on a better way and how to get there.

That applies at a personal level (such as life coaching through Legacy Life Consulting), at the business level through Endo Mastery, and also with areas like family, worship, community and pastimes (such as sports). It’s ironic how readily most people would accept coaching for golf, video games, or other hobbies but they resist expert guidance for the more important things in life where much more is at stake.

At Endo Mastery, we are very devoted to being great coaches for dental teams. We can’t be in your practice on daily basis to do everything for your team, but we excel at giving teams the resources, instruction, guidance and motivation to grow quickly with measurable results.

In the same way, what really sets Endo Mastery apart from other consultants is that we are great coaches for doctors. We’re not just coming in to help you “manage” your practice better; we’re energizing you (as the leader of your practice) with new possibilities, inspiration, and strategies to achieve a level of success in your practice and life that you probably never thought possible.