Teach Your Team to Fish

October 5, 2017

By Mark David

We can do more than lead, we can teach. ~ John Meyers

Virtually all great coaches see themselves as teachers. Teaching is not just a skill, it’s an honor. It’s the art of imparting your knowledge and experience to someone else— and isn’t that the heart of good leadership?

Instead of just telling people what to do, a good coach takes the time to patiently show them how to do it. From that point on, the entire team is more self-sufficient. As the old proverb reminds us: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

I don’t know who originally said it, but here’s another golden principle for good leaders and managers to remember:

The inexperienced teacher tells. The experienced teacher explains. The excellent teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

The best way for you to inspire your people is to help them set high expectations and then teach them how to rise to them. The better you teach, the easier and more productive it will be for you to delegate, which will leave you with more time to strategize and lead.

Excerpt from The New Coaching Illustrated

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