27 July 2006
Mr. Antti Yuhani Wihuri hails from the ‘INNOTIMI’ organization in Finland. ‘INNOTIMI’ means ‘innovative team’ and that was precisely the theme of the talk: ‘Subordinate Interaction and Team Building’.
Wihuri rephrased subordinate interaction as ‘coaching’. By taking this interesting allusion of a boss being a coach he conveyed with great effect, the change he wanted to create in the vision we carry of interaction. ‘Coaching’ is an interaction wherein the superior also plays the role of being encouraging and supportive and generating a sense of direction among the subordinates.
To validate his theory some relevant stories were narrated. He even drew instances from his personal experiences. Just like in a sport the ‘coach’ or the ‘boss’ should identify which of the ‘players’ or ‘workers’ is a better player or worker and which one is likely to fail. While the former is motivated and proactive, the latter needs more of a push to attain results.
The key points to remember would be: everyone is a treasure and the challenge lies in bringing out the best in them.
Developing coaching skills and attitude is a four-fold process:
1. The ability to see the potential in people
2. Asking questions and learning
3. Effective listening
4. Suspending your judgment to learn things anew
His style of conversation helped us to grasp his points with ease. Slightly difficult concepts like how leadership overlaps coaching etc. were dealt with great effectiveness.
At the end of the session there arose a lot of questions on various aspects such as the ‘short term effects of coaching’ and whether coaching starts with observation’ etc. This testifies the fact that the talk was well received by the students and has helped in igniting their thinking.
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