Why coaching?A leading question is WHY coaching is growing in popularity. If coaching is doubling every year, where is the demand coming from? Why is there such a demand? These questions are especially pertinent in the current economic climate when organizations are reluctant to spend funds carelessly, and continuously seek better ROI in development. The answers seem to be in the successes from coachee experiences. Coaching is almost uniquely positioned to exploit all the learning styles to optimize learning outcomes.
Reports show that executive coaching is twice as effective as behavior modeling, and three times more effective than multi-technique programs (training). Furthermore, that the top 5 benefits for most people were:
• Higher level of self-awareness (68%),
• Smarter goal setting (62%),
• More balanced life (60%),
• Reduced stress (57%) and
• More self-confidence (52%).
In comparing coaching against other options such as training, consulting and mentoring, a recent study reported that training alone increased productivity by 22% while training plus coaching increased productivity by 88%.
In summary, most leaders prefer coaching because:
• They receive 1 to 1 assistance from someone they respect and can trust, with no hidden agendas.
• They don’t have to leave their office.
• It fits their timeframes and schedules.
• They can see results fast – if they’re dedicated.
• ROI on executive level coaching can be very high – improvements are leveraged by their actions.
• Stress levels and burnout drop.
• Employee satisfaction goes up.
• Coaching skills are easily transferred to coachee and passed into the organization.
But:
• Coaching must integrate with rest of organization’s development program
• Coach or organization must get buy-in of coachee
• There is clarity required on type of coaching
• There are coaches and coaches – it is not a regulated field yet, and there are no standards. Quality varies.
• Coaching needs a match between coach and coachee
• Some coaches may not know how to use valid and reliable instruments – in a valid and reliable way.
How is coaching executed? The real problems of the coachee are usually hidden behind the presenting problems, and the coach helps the client identify those hidden issues with questions.
Typical exploratory questions are:
“What would make you an outstanding professional a year from now?” and
“If you were to die today, would they mourn you & regrettably search, desperate for someone to fill your shoes – or quickly and easily replace you – or not replace you at all?”.
However, the coach should not let the coachee actually define the need, because they may be seeing through a flawed lens. Therefore, the coach may supplement client-provided information with 360-degree feedback data that gives focus to undeniable needs. Sometimes the coach’s biggest job is to convince the coachee of the real problem(s).
The assessment instrument and ‘quizzes’ can be used to expose important weaknesses.
The coach attempts to help the coachee understand what works and what gets in the way, before actually starting to coach.
Because of the medium to long term nature of coaching, coaches usually insist on a contract over a period, to help ensure commitment from the coachee. ‘As needed’ coaching arrangements have been to found to be less successful.
The coachee should expect formal assessment, review of long term goals and aspirations, to sign a contract, meet with coach weekly to monthly, spend some time preparing for each meeting, practicing between meetings, homework, between-session access to coach, challenging questions, sound advice and help, honesty, confidentiality.
There are as many possible coaching scenarios as there are different situations, but the following three scenarios give a guide:
• 360-degree feedback instrument
• 1st analysis and development planning session – 1 to 4 hours
• 2nd session – 1 month later – 1 to 2 hours
• 360-degree feedback instrument
• 1st session – analysis and development planning session – 1 to 4 hours
• Phone coach each 1 to 4 weeks – 1/2 hour to 1 hour
• 3 month mini assess – use ROI measure
• Final session – set slip detector
• 360-degree feedback instrument
• 1st session – analysis and development planning session – 1 to 4 hours
• Coach each 1 to 2 months – roadblocks and encourage
Another approach refers to phases or stages of the life cycle of a coaching engagement. 4 phase process for remedial coaching is described from the coaches view:
• Set goals, set frame, set program, negotiate with organization for support.
• Differentiate between counseling, therapy, consulting and coaching.
• It is about personal behaviors or attitudes that interfere with his, hers, or others’ work.
• Does the person exhibit a rigid or inflexible management style, or one that’s put of synch with what is required.
• Is the person arrogant, abrasive, or demeaning to others. A bully?
• Is the person not a team player?
• Sexist – racist?
• Poor communication skills?
• Ineffective manager? (can’t delegate, make decisions, develop subordinates)
• Poor self-image
• Lack integrity, trustworthiness?
• Chat with people around the client, including clients
• Do 360-degree survey
• Interview coachee
• Needs candor and trust – promoting self-awareness – and others-awareness.
• Once the person is aware of the effects of his or her behaviour on others, is more open to change.
• Seek the “Ah – Hah!” experience.
• Provide a hefty dose of reading material
• Exec goes it alone.
• Set up anti-slide measures.
• Set up for self-reflection
• Help set the executive up to pass the knowledge and skills on (deeper learning to teach)
In practice, the steps of coaching are flexible, and the criteria for success depends on the individual in the context of the organization. Coaches need to generate that criteria list or have the organization generate it, assess the individual against those list items, then collaborate to devise the action plan, and agree to do it. An initial target of coaching is usually to help the client develop an objective openness, to work through emotionality blurred or experientially limited vision, accept the need to change, and only then can he or she accept accountability for that change.
What is coaching? Coaching seems to have four purposes:
• to remove obstacles so executives can resume their productive career,
• develop promising organisational members,
• optimise learning of specific content, and
• facilitate self-motivated improvement with career or performance focus.
Each of those four purposes fit within one of two broad classifications: development coaching or content coaching.
Coaching of either kind may be in response to appraisal deficits (remedial coaching) or employee development plans (developmental coaching). Coaching is therefore a flexible delivery system where coaches serve as trainers, facilitators, motivators, moderators, devil’s advocates, sounding boards, and confidantes.
Executive coaching is, in essence, organizational intervention at the individual level, where the primary focus of coaching is always linked to the business goals. It addresses business issues and personal response behaviors in their organizational role, where those responses impact the organization. The coach uses best practice learning to link learning initiatives to the vision, values and strategy of the organization. To achieve best-practice, coaches typically use a competency model to integrate development efforts into other business processes, and get executives involved in designing their own development plans.
A coach tries to see things the client hasn’t or can’t, looks for behaviors that might interfere with success, and looks for skills and competencies that may advance the client. Even having the exploratory conversation out loud can help the executive.
In summary:
• Coach paradigm: the coach is not the expert, but the ‘thought partner’
• The coach knows what questions will prompt coachee to discover important answers
• Coaching is essentially ‘just in time’ training – tailored specifically to meet an individual’s particular needs.
• Coaching assumes that people are basically good and will grow, so it speeds up the process. It does not assume that the coachee is broken and needs fixing up.
• Coaching provides an environment in which people receive unconditional positive regard. Acceptance is unconditional, and people are truly heard.
• The coach understands the client’s internal frame of reference.
There are two distinct sources for coaches, the organization that wants coaching for selected people, and the individual person who seeks coaching for personal reasons.
Executives who seek coaching, against those who are directed or ‘persuaded’ by someone else, usually have their finger on the problem. The most demanded services were for time management (80%), career guidance (74%) or business advice (73%).
When organizations offer to finance a coach, it signals organizational interest in the individual. The best athletes in the world have coaches, so now it doesn’t mean that something is to be ‘fixed’, but more that ‘I want to be extraordinary’ or ‘we want to help you be extraordinary’. As a result, coaching now covers topics from strategic business coaching at boardroom level, to helping workers learn ‘management speak’ and to think strategically, to life coaching for personal development. Coaching is also being used to leverage other training; an example demonstrated when adding coaching to negotiation classes promoted a more collaborative approach.
Due to the widening applications of coaching, any list of prompts to encourage an executive or manager to seek a coach for self or subordinate is likely to grow.
The following list shows the common themes and differences:
• To enhance already adequate skills (quality of life issues)
• When you have executives with a behavioral or skill shortfall – usually interactional
• When you have a promising executive
• The entrepreneur needs a wider skill set
• When you simply feel you need a coach
• When told to do so by a supervisor
• When you notice butterflies in your stomach concerning what you are about to do
• When you are about to be promoted and closely watched – and it matters to you
• To help technical people who are promoted to management positions – think like managers. Prepare them for not liking the new role, possibly suffering growing pains.
• Help managers become more strategic, changing their thinking to those of a director.
• Help people reassess their relationship with work – life balance.
• Help directors and others re-find their families
• Help females who overcompensate for feminineness by becoming too aggressive.
• Help organizations tap into their huge stock of intellectual capital. Coach executives and managers.
• To learn how to use time effectively and reduce over-commitment and stress. Chronic stress is a sign of failure of organizational systems.
• How to lead an organization rather than just manage it. Emotional intelligence (development) plays a big part here.
• How to be strategic in a meaningful way for the organization. (Strategic ‘manner’ must fit the organization.) Visibly focused leadership
• Maximize staff effectiveness without micromanagement. How they deal with things – not what they deal with.
• How to deal effectively with difficult people – employees, supervisors, clients etc. Removing personalities from interactions.
Someone seeking a coach should ask:
“Does the coach have adequate experience and maturity for the coaching task required, appropriate qualifications, access to valid and reliable assessment instruments and the ability to use them, sufficient ‘distance’ from the organization for objectivity, and confidentiality.”
Selection criteria for selecting coaches:
• Must have coaching experience
• Must have access to and experience with 360 instruments
• Must understand corporate environment
• Must know individual development theory and practice – know how encourage behavioral change
• Must know organizational development theory and practice – know how to implement change
• Must be able to be tough (confrontational/challenging in a supportive way) as required
• Must belong to a professional organization with established ethical standards, and support confidentiality
When engaging a coach, be clear about:
• Strategy and context – why you’re doing it
• How it fits the overall development program
• Company vision, mission, values, etc
• Information on the 360 instrument your organisation is currently using
• The coaching model you want used
• Caveats
• Contract requirements
The coach requires from the firm:
• Agreement on accountability of coachee and coacher
• How it integrates with other systems
• Top management support and modeling
• Confidentiality
The coach requires from the client:
• The coachee must be prepared to walk the talk.
• The coachee approaches it professionally, professionals have coaches – amateurs do not.
It is in the nature of executives to be unable to say that they are winging it. They are constantly managing their image and are in a culture that finds such admission a weakness. How then do executives get exposure to new information and opportunities to change, without exposing themselves?
Self-sufficiency is very important to executives and is rewarded in our society and organizational cultures. Self-sufficiency requires denying needs or asking for help. In order to be seen to be self-sufficient, executive self-care is sacrificed. This is one of the largest forces against coaching, the resistance of executives to being seen being coached.
Another force against coaching is the requirement for benefits to be seen in tangible ways. But much of coaching is about intangible benefits “If I do my job well, you don’t see the fruits of my labor”. Therefore, a coach must seek measures of outcomes that suit the executive. Finally, while the focus is on executives, any coaching in the organization requires the full support of a CEO or high-level sponsor. There must be commitment by those in the highest positions.
Our Approach to Coaching in 7+1 StepsA coach is trained to deploy advanced coaching competencies during each conversation to support the learner to achieve three things:
• Establish a clear understanding of where they are now,
• Develop a clear picture of where they need or want to be and
• Develop a plan for closing the gap and reaching the stated goal.
Advanced coaching competencies comprise two major components:
• The ability to facilitate a structured dialogue, which begins with a clear focus and ends with the learner able to state the agreed actions in their own language.
• The ability throughout the conversation to model the arts of active listening, observing, questioning, messaging and acknowledging.
The result of each coaching conversation is a coachee who is clear about what needs to be done, motivated to achieve the goal and equipped to face any roadblock.
However, there is more to the role of the coach. In the corporate arena, the issues faced by leaders are complex and inter-related. Mostly, they cannot be “fixed” in just one conversation. The coach therefore needs to provide sustained commitment and support to the coaching relationship over a number of months. Therefore, to make this relationship productive, the coach needs to guide the coachee through a roadmap that will result in the coachee being where they need to be at the end of the coaching assignment.
Each coaching assignment is individually specific and part of the art of being a coach is to respond to the uniqueness of each individual. In this unique journey some phases are essential and should be included:
Coaching begins with some focused questioning to get to the heart of the real issues being faced by the coachee. Our questioning will tend to involve deep probing at this stage, and we will frequently encounter some of the coachee’s initial blind spots. To some extent we will have also benefited from the perspectives provided by the immediate line manager during the initial briefing process. The outcome of this phase is the coachee achieves a high degree of clarity about what they want to achieve.
Once the real coaching issues are established and the client is reasonably focused, we will try to broaden their understanding of their organizational context. We seek to gain the clients’ understanding of the networks in which they operate, both internal and external, and identify key players whom they need to influence. Whereas the first stage, Getting Focused, is more introspective, the second phase looks more at the factors and issues in the external environment. The outcome of this phase is the coachee’s greater awareness of the impact they have on the organization, and the factors acting upon them. Often, we uncover underlying patterns and influences that were not clear to the coachee. As a result, the coachee becomes more sensitive to the needs and motivations of others.
Informed by both these perspectives, the coachee is helped to formulate their coaching goals; using a SMART format we seek to ensure that the coachee’s goals are consistent with the organization’s expectations. If possible, further dialogue directly with the line manager may be useful at this point, depending on the clarity and degree of alignment with the manager’s intentions set out at the outset of the coaching. A key part of the line management’s involvement at this point helps to address the issue of measurement – what are the individual and business measures that the coaching process will be expected to impact on over a given period of time. The outcome of this phase is converting the initial area of focus e.g. “I want to get to the next level in organization” into a concrete, three-dimensional objective e.g. “I need to change my communication style in the following ways in order to be ready for my next move, starting with x … ” with a strong emphasis on the ownership and individual accountability of the coachee.
With clearly set and measurable goals, the coaching conversations shift to those areas where the coachee needs to acquire or enhance their capabilities in some way. These issues can range from increasing sales impact to leadership styles to personal effectiveness. The emphasis we take is on applying previous learning more effectively and on self-learning. The coach will be referring to reading materials or exercises to help the client broaden their understanding. But we emphasize – this is not training. What address is the specific development needs of the client and do what it takes to enable the client to apply that learning where it counts – on the job. The outcome of this phase is the development or deepening of capabilities of the coachee to enable their objectives to be realized.
Although by now the coachee will be engaged in making changes, at this phase of the process we focus even more on the action plans. What happened last week? Did you do what you said you would do? The coaching style often becomes quite directive at this stage. The emphasis is on really getting the coachee to focus on closing the gap. The outcome will be the execution of the changes the coachee needs to make, with ongoing tactical adjustment and refinement, supported by the coach.
What can often happen is that the coachee will regress on their action plans – this is normal. For example, a leader who is trying to become more strategic and less involved in the detail will often feel out of touch and ill prepared. Their response can lapse back into chasing up details and allowing themselves to become too involved when there is no need to do so. Faced with adopting new behaviors when the old behaviors have not fully changed can result in a temporary loss of performance. The coach plays a critical role in helping the client understand that this is a natural process; and encouraging them through this painful part of the assignment. The analogy is with the adoption of a new tennis serve; with the coachee experiencing the (temporary) inability to even get the ball over the net but resulting in a more powerful and accurate serve in the longer term. The coaching style shifts to becoming more enabling i.e. pointing out options, problem solving, generation of ideas etc. The outcome of this phase is the overcoming of real barriers to change, often the coachee’s own inhibitions or mental frameworks. For instance, the leader who is harshly critical of their peers’ competence re-frames him or her as someone prepared support and coach those who are in need of help, leading to improved team results overall and better relationships. But the transition from one frame to another can be awkward.
Repeated demonstration of the new behaviors will result in improved performance and after a lag, improved perceptions about the coachee’s performance. At this stage, it is critical that the coachee keeps focused on improvement – and uses the gains to reinforce his or her drive to close the full gaps. It is a natural human temptation for coachees, having made some improvement, to be satisfied and to accept less change than they should. Again, the coach plays a critical role in reminding them of their commitments and on the tasks ahead. The outcome of this phase is the commitment to the “last mile” and the full and sustainable realization of the changes the coachee has made.
It is common for our coachees to look back over the assignment period and be surprised at what they achieved. This reflective phase of the coaching process is an ideal opportunity for the client to refocus and set new goals, buoyed by the confidence gained from their recent success. Part of our coaching also addresses how the coachees can capitalize on their success in terms of their reputation, renewal of relationships, career advancement, and so on.
Introduction to Executive CoachingWinston Churchill is credited with saying
This statement seems to ring true for many adults, so if optimum learning is the objective when designing development programs within organizations, then the learning preferences of the individual learners should be acknowledged. There are many components of such an approach and coaching is one of these components nowadays.
However, coaching has gained new prominence as it changes to suit new demands placed upon it. Being a new field as far as organizational development is concerned, there is little empirical material to review, and many contributions tend to be prescriptive from practitioners.
Executive coaching is growing and changing as the needs of the executive wing are changing. “It’s like rewiring your house with the electricity still on”. Coaching is growing because mentoring systems have failed, and part of that failure is because organizations are so lean they don’t have time for mentoring. Coaching does not require organizational resources, and therefore is not as sensitive to how lean the organization is.
A recent survey by the Industrial Society (U.K.) found that over 80% of leading UK employers now use business coaching in the workplace. A survey by the International Coaching Federation (USA) found that the number of people coaching has doubled each year over the last three years, and that 98.5% of organizations that use coaching said it was well worth the money.
The attraction of coaching starts with the understanding that for an organizational to change, it first requires individual behaviors to change, and coaching provides an effective behavioral model for individual change. By working face to face, coaches are able to individualize approaches to behavioral change, employing tactics that suit each client.
For example, self-efficacy explains 28% increase in performance, goal-setting explains 10.39%, feedback interventions explain 13.6%, organizational behavior modification explains 17%. A total 68.99% of change is explained by these methods, the largest by self-efficacy.
“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react, where how you react is an indication of inner leadership. Using self-thought techniques, coaches facilitate clients to:
1. Recognize and challenge destructive thinking.
Jumping to conclusions (especially negative), magnifying or minimizing (catastrophizing), generalizing, and assumptions. The first two impact self-efficacy directly, the others affect indirectly.
Global (sweeping) and negative thoughts can be replaced by more realistic understanding.
3. Improve internal self-talk.
Moving for example from “I’m no good at …” to “I get better at it every time”.
4. Leverage mental imagery.
Imagine the final goal achieved. Imagine the steps along the way – the milestones.
Intentionally create opportunities to win or improve. Program the experience of success. Program the experience of getting back up on the horse after a setback. Inoculate against failure. Changes in self-efficacy do not occur as a result of success but occur based on how the person processes the information caused by the experience. This point reinforces the value of the coach, and explains the importance of falling off the horse occasionally. Learning is via reflection, not experience, and more learning occurs when things do not go to plan, than when they do go to plan.
Otherwise called social learning. By seeing someone being successful at something that was previously considered out of reach, an individual may re-appraise it as a doable challenge, and then have a go. It promotes learning by seeing and stretching to duplicate, then growing from there.
This generally includes a combination of realistic encouragement and the person having a sense of expectation from others. This requires managed exposure to increasing grades of task complexity, and ‘felt’ expectations by people who matter (a boss?).
Correctly identifying stress and anxiety (e.g. tension-‘nerves’) and have appropriate (constructive) coping strategies. Taking good physical and mental care of self. Help identify major stress sources and develop coping plans.
Coaching seems to have two ways of helping improve individual efficacy and organizational development statistics. Firstly, by the direct impact of being coached, and secondly because part of coaching is about helping the coachee become a coach, and then practice by developing others.
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