Coaching
Developing people for high performance
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The Power of Coaching
Coaching in organizations has come
a long way since the days when it was used primarily
as a remedy for under-performers. Today's forward-thinking
companies recognize that individually-targeted
development efforts are the fastest and highest-impact
ways to develop their high-potential people.
In today's fast-paced environment, companies
rarely can afford to send their best people
to multi-day training classes. And classes provide
little opportunity to explore the unique and/or
personal issues that affect a person's ability
to change. The individualized process of coaching
helps people make the most of their skills,
style, and even shortcomings as they tailor
these to match the realities they face. And
the learning "sticks" because the
subject matter is real issues in real time.
We offer coaching in two contexts: (1) to augment our Connect-the-Dots assessments by helping instill the lessons learned, and (2) as a separate service where coaching is employed not as a part of a larger organizational change effort but simply because an individual requires further development. (See details in next section, "Who gets coached?")
WHO
GETS COACHED? | OUR
COACHING PRINCIPLES | WHAT
COACHING IS NOT | THE
COACH'S ROLE
Who Gets Coached?
An employee with a long history of success
might now face a situation—such
as a promotion or change in the business
environment—that requires new skills
and/or ways of thinking. Perhaps they
must now learn to think more systemically,
shift to a more team-oriented style,
delegate more, or acquire other skills
critical to their new assignments.
Creative, talented individuals can sometimes have blind spots that impede their ability to add value. For example, they might be technically brilliant and market-savvy but lack the "people skills" to exercise their expertise most effectively. Perhaps they need to modify their communication styles, take more accountability for their actions, become more adept at dealing with conflict, or develop other competences to achieve full effectiveness.
Often, a Connect-the-Dots (or other)
assessment will point to new skills,
behaviors, and perspectives required
to raise the effectiveness of an organization,
department or group. It will also identify
key people who, in adopting these new
ways of acting and thinking, are best
positioned to impact the organization.
This is not to say that they were "the
problem," only that they are a vital
part of the solution.
Our Coaching Principles
While the focus of coaching in organizations
is the client's effectiveness on the
job, any aspect of their life that impacts
that effectiveness is "grist for
the mill." Thus, a person's family
life, personal financial goals, desire
for meaningful contribution, and balance
of work with avocational interests all
might be addressed. Full engagement at
work requires that a person not leave
half of who they are at the office door.
In most organizations, people rarely get
the straight facts about how others
perceive them. Our culture has taught
us to be "nice"—to
avoid giving negative feedback or asking
hard questions. The actual effect is
not at all nice: Every day, opportunities
are
lost, careers are derailed, and lives
suffer serious setbacks because people
lack knowledge
of how they are limiting their own
effectiveness. The cost to organizational
productivity
is enormous. Without feedback, people
can't self-correct. The situation never
improves,
and the anxiety that arises from the
unspoken tensions cuts deep into
the organization's capacity for creative,
productive work.
Telling people about their
strengths and shortcomings — honestly
and with supportive intent — conveys
faith in their abilities and can prevent
years of dissatisfaction and misplaced
effort.
In this culture, many of us learn the
early life lesson that failure and mistakes
are bad, even shameful. This belief is
the kiss of death for learning, for it
encourages people to distance themselves
from their mistakes by making excuses
and shirking accountability. The problems
with this strategy are: (1) the learning
value of reflecting on one's contribution
to what went wrong is lost (since the
problem is cast as something or someone
else's fault) and (2) feelings of victimization
and disempowerment arise because the
causes of failure are seen as outside
one's control. Our belief is that to
err is human, and to err with awareness
can be one of the fastest routes to learning.
With pure action and no learning, people
make the same mistakes again and again.
With pure learning and no action, nothing
gets done. Successful coaching balances
the dual goals of learning and action
to optimize effectiveness.
People are most enthusiastic and committed
in settings where their talents are fully
utilized and where they see themselves
making a positive contribution to something
greater than themselves. To find meaning and purpose in one's work is a natural
human desire that must be fulfilled for
an employee to give his/her "all," yet
such existential concerns are not common
discussion topics in most organizations.
In our coaching sessions, they are. By
helping clients align their work life
with their values, we help them find
reserves of energy, creativity and commitment
they thought they had lost.
What Coaching is NOT
No one can force change upon another
without seriously undermining that
person's motivation and good will.
The coach's
role is to help the individual
move toward the results he/she
wants within the context of what
is good for the organization.
In situations where individual
and organizational goals initially
seem contradictory, the
coach helps the person look for
ways they are (or can be made)
complementary. Usually, these can
be found. On occasion, relevant
parties might be invited to negotiate
modifications
in roles or expectations to create
a
win/win for both individual and
company. In rare
instances,
the person can't find a way to
whole-heartedly commit, and decides
to leave.
This conclusion,
if arrived at truthfully, can be
a success for both
organization and individual. Employees
who aren't inspired to give their "all" only
take the places of those who
would be, and can undermine the
productivity and morale
of those around them.
Coaching is for individuals who are
basically healthy psychologically. Certainly,
psychological reactions such as anxiety,
discouragement, stress, resistance and
denial are normal responses to transition
and change, and these are all relevant
coaching topics. But where these symptoms
reach the level of psychological dysfunction—as
in clinical depression, substance abuse,
or other psychological disorders—the
proper intervention is psychotherapy,
not coaching.
The Coach's Role
The coach's first job is to set up the
coaching for success. As psychologists,
we know that this means establishing
conditions of absolute safety for
clients (who won't feel free to
share concerns
or shortcomings without confidentiality
assurances). As consultants, we
know that the organization wants
to know it's
getting its money's worth. Thus,
the coach's role is to contract
with organization
and individual such that both of
these conditions are met. Typically,
this means
working out an understanding by
which the individual and his/her
manager (or other
party) agree to evaluate the individual's
progress by means independent of
the coach.
Next, the coach helps the individual
set and achieve goals consistent
with the individual's aspirations
and the
organization's needs. If we've
already done a Connect-the-Dots
assessment, we
already understand, in depth, the
organizational dynamics impacting
that person and, in
turn, how that person impacts the
people and systems with which he/she
is involved.
This enables us to provide invaluable
reality checks for the person being
coached. If we haven't assessed the organization,
the coaching contract might include
a
data-gathering process wherein
the coach interviews coworkers and relevant
others,
observes the client in meetings,
and/or uses other measures as agreed
by the
client. The coach then shares the
feedback with the client, keeping sources
anonymous.
A coach does not have "the answers" but
provides help in many forms. These
include supportive listening, highlighting
and
encouraging a client's strengths,
confronting limiting behaviors,
challenging self-defeating
thinking, introducing new perspectives
for understanding human behavior
and organizational phenomena, teaching
systems
thinking, and using role-play and
homework assignments
to help the client practice new
habits. The experience of having another
person's
full attention and capabilities
in support of one's aspirations is rare
in organizational
life, and can be a powerful impetus
for change.
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