2.4.4 Coaching & Counseling Programs

COACHING & COUNSELING PROGRAMS

In a sales or marketing team, the real difference starts with people before systems.

Team members sometimes need guidance, sometimes support, and sometimes simply someone who truly listens.

Coaching and counseling programs address exactly this need — establishing a relationship based on trust and development, not command-and-control, between employee and manager.

Over the years, this method has been applied in teams established in different countries: one-on-one meetings with employees, co-thinking processes, and conversations that raise awareness rather than direct.

Result: both performance increases and team commitment strengthens.

APPROACH: LEADING AS A COACH, NOT A MANAGER

The classic management style is a model where the manager speaks and the employee listens.

Real development begins when the manager starts listening.

In these programs, the manager is not only the person who gives instructions — but a guide who tries to understand the employee's way of thinking and reveal their strengths.

Conversations progress not on "why did you do it?" but on "how can we do it better?"

This approach is applied on two main axes:

1. Coaching:

Conducted with employees who perform their jobs correctly and are open to development.

The goal is to elevate the individual's performance and help them discover their potential.

The method: active listening, asking the right questions, enabling the employee to find the solution themselves.

2. Counseling:

Conducted with employees experiencing performance decline or showing behavioral deviation.

The goal is to pull the person back onto the right path without judging or punishing.

Here, the leader presents options to the employee — saying "You will choose one of these two paths", returning responsibility to the person.

This is a form of communication that is both respectful and decisive.

PROCESS: STEPS OF ONE-ON-ONE TRANSFORMATION

1. Performance and Attitude Analysis: The employee's current situation, goals, and development needs are determined.
2. Meeting Plan: Regular one-on-one sessions are planned (monthly, quarterly, or project-based).
3. Coaching / Counseling Practice: Sessions of active listening, guiding through questions, and enabling solution-finding.
4. Feedback and Action: Clear decisions and actionable steps are set at the end of the meeting.
5. Follow-up: In the next meeting, previous steps are evaluated, development is measured, and the process is redirected.

This structure provides not only performance improvement but also behavioral development.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF REAL EXPERIENCE

Contribution of Real Experience

As a leader who has worked with thousands of people across different cultures, I have seen that the most valuable thing in coaching and counseling practices is "empathic discipline".

No matter how tough the situation you manage, real transformation does not happen without understanding the other person's way of thinking.

The aim in these meetings is not to "judge" but to create awareness.

When the employee understands why they made a mistake, they change not through external pressure but with intrinsic motivation.

That is the moment true leadership emerges.

With this method:

• low-performing employees were re-engaged,
• strong personnel realized their potential,
• managers transformed from "commanding" to "developing" leaders.

NOT COMMANDING, DEVELOPING

Coaching and counseling are disciplines beyond the classic understanding of management.

The goal is to reveal the employee's potential and correct mistakes not with punishment but with awareness.

In our approach, every meeting is not a command but a dialogue.

Thanks to these dialogues, teams not only work better;

they become more conscious, more accountable, and more committed.