A part of every leader’s job is to provide the coaching necessary to each of the individuals on the team. The challenge is that sometimes we end up coaching about something that happened recently, or that most stands out, rather than on what would most affect the future results of the person. At other times, we might struggle with how to evaluate what the needs of our people are and what would be most helpful.

In my work with sales managers whose ability to coach salespeople is critical to success, I teach the acronym “BOSS” as a tool for thinking about coaching needs and to quickly evaluate what might be most useful for each individual. BOSS helps to quickly identify a person’s coaching needs.

This method will also work as you evaluate the needs of other staff members. Let’s look at what each letter represents.

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