When it comes to the “boss man” (or woman), the role they play in our lives can vary from a boss, manager, counselor or coach. They can also be a lot of other things that can either greatly improve our life and job, or make it miserable. Being a trained counselor who has worked in the mental health field and having been a manger in charge of multiple people in multiple settings, I know that my first response is always…what needs to be done? What needs to be addressed, accomplished, fixed, resolved, completed? (yes, I am goal oriented, type A personality type). “Boss” would indicate a position: in charge. At the top. Calls the shots. Counselor implies-“you have a problem or deficiency; I will help direct you to fix it, solve it or overcome it.” Then there is Coach, the oft used word of our era, implying that I am going to come along side, reflect, help you to get to where you want to go. It has indeed become a word that, due to overuse, has become slushy and vague. The basic definition refers to one who is a “trainer or instructor”. Simple enough, but it alludes to the coach having some body of knowledge that, when applied appropriately, will help the trainee/learner to become better, more professional, stronger or more focused.
In the workplace, the boundary lines can become blurry when a leader/manager/boss person wants to help support their subordinate. Perhaps the employee is struggling, and the boss wants to give encouragement, suggest a way to overcome, offer an approach or skill to help. The approach can be that of a counselor, coach, judge or dictator. Clearly understanding how to give feedback, identifying where the employee is struggling and what they need necessitates a manager to understand his or her employee, their skill set, their actual job and what is the obstacle. (DO they need coaching? training? skils? a tutorial? employee assistance program?) At that point, the boss man/woman can help steer the employee to get them where they need to be in order be the most productive. Hard to tell sometimes what role that is-a boss, counselor or coach. This problem identification and choice of resolution is part intuition, part experience, part skill. And sometimes ,,,even the boss needs a coach.