I will focus on the final two questions in this article.

In many hotels, the annual review is the only opportunity employees receive to discuss their performance. With ongoing coaching, even as little as once a month, there are never any surprises. There is also the opportunity for continuous improvement. Little by little, one behavior at a time, employees can improve their performance by at least 12 things within a year, all because they chose which areas they could work on themselves.

I realize that the idea of coaching is nothing new -- what I also realize is that most hotels say they coach when, in fact, they are not actually following a coaching model that encourages self-discovery.

I recently attended a meeting where the executives said they constantly coached and were very familiar with the process. As I probed further, I was told, "I'm not really interested in what the employees think. I just want them to do what I tell them to do." The most important distinction here is that Coaching is not TELLING -- it is asking and listening.

Experience shows that people are much more engaged and successful when they buy into their own ideas. If we, as managers and ...