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PCA Corporate Workshop With Healthline Media

10.25.2018


On Wednesday, October 24th a group of 20 managers from Healthline Media gathered at their San Francisco office for the second of three workshops PCA will be holding with the company focused on how managers, much like coaches, can most successfully lead their “team.”

Tina Syer, Chief Impact Officer for PCA, is used to leading workshops which have been mandated for coaches by their school or sports organization. This one however, had a slightly different feel but much of the same content, as she talked to Healthline Media managers about how “positive coaching” could impact the way they manage.


Tina had previously led corporate workshops with Deloitte, Nike, and Liberty Mutual, so she knew how beneficial the information could be in this setting. She kicked off the workshop by asking, “What does positive coaching mean to you?”And she heard things from managers like, “Learning from mistakes, empowering people in a positive away, encouragement and not yelling at people (motivating through fear)”.

Most of those in attendance indicated they played a youth or high school sport and felt they could define some elements which help make for a great sports experience. After identifying things like: truthful and specific feedback, listening and allowing players to speak, non-verbal positive reinforcement, a great coach,etc., Tina asked them, “How can that relate to work?”. They agreed that positive emotions are contagious and those of a leader are the most contagious.

Watch: Healthline Employees hard at work during the workshop

First, the concept of filling emotional tanks was discussed - a concept in sports to give positive reinforcement to get the best out of your team. In business, these managers also recognized the power of positivity. They said things like: a positive environment, trusting those around them, providing recognition and feeling valued filled the tanks of those they managed.

Next, the table was turned and they were posed with the question, “What drains the tank of those you manage?” Things like: criticism, sarcasm, being ignored and complaining were shouted out by the group. They elaborated by saying that they don’t like it when someone rushes to the worst possible conclusion in a situation, blames others, are late or complain about things that can’t be fixed.


As a group, they decided to list actions that would fix the negatives by creating a list of positive responses instead:

NegativePositive

Giving up

Try and persist

Rushing to bad conclusions

Have an open mind/trust intentions

Blaming others

Being accountable

Run late

Be early

Leaving people out

Prioritize inclusivity

Apathetic

Engaged

Speak poorly of others

Be encouraging


Finally, the group discussed the magic ratio, the concept of striving for a ratio of five positives to every specific, constructive criticism. Managers agreed that increasing the ratio of positives to negatives in feedback with those they manage is critical to be more effective as a manager. Creating a caring environment where team members feel emotionally safe is important for the success of the team.

As a takeaway, Tina asked those in attendance, “What tool we use in sports do you see yourself implementing in your position as a manager?”. Several managers indicated that they would be more of a “noticer”, taking account of how those they managed were feeling, how they were responding to their management style, and caring about filling their emotional tanks. Another indicated they would fill their team’s emotional tanks by beginning their team meetings with “appreciations and triumphs”- time to share the positive accomplishments, successes, and assistance they had provided to the team.


At the end of the workshop, Healthline CEO, David Kopp, shared that, “PCA did a fantastic job engaging our managers in an interactive discussion about the value of positive coaching and positivity in management. Their real-world tested, academically-supported approach spoke to all types and they delivered actionable suggestions which made it easy for managers to experience the benefits of their approach in their next meeting.”

We look forward to our third workshop sharing more tips and tools with this outstanding group of managers!

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If you are interested in learning more about Positive Coaching Alliance corporate workshops, please contact Casey Miller

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