04 Sep SHOULD I REALLY LEARN HOW TO COACH?
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One of the most effective coach training programmes I ever delivered was for a government agency. There were 16 EL2 leaders who had been nominated for this 6-month programme that led to an Australian qualification in workplace and business coaching.
One of the challenges that came with this was the fact these leaders were nominated for the programme, rather than having the choice about whether they would like to attend it.
On the very first day of the programme, at the first morning tea break, one of the participants, David, came to me and said, “I really don’t want to be here. This coaching thing is just fluffy, and it won’t make any difference whatsoever. I’ve got so much I could be working on back at the office.”
This agency provided a service that was offered 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. I could understand his position that he had a lot of things to do. He had a large team of 75 people who supported this service.
However, he had to attend this leadership coaching programme.
Of course, we had a coaching conversation during that morning tea break. I really hoped to give him an opportunity to see what might be possible for him by undertaking the programme.
The first day of learning was completed. Between each of the learning days, were activities to undertake back in the workplace. Utilising coaching approaches in business-as-usual activities.
On the second learning day at the morning tea break, David again came to me and said, “This coaching stuff doesn’t work.”
We explored that statement and I asked, of course, some open questions to understand what had led him to this conclusion.
It transpired he had taken one of the coaching frameworks. He had tried to use it once in the previous month. He had not received the outcome he hoped for, and so he hadn’t tried again.
Once again, using a coaching approach, I re-enlisted David into the programme and helped him to see what might be possible if he was to pursue coaching and the things he was learning with a little more openness and engagement.
And so, the programme continued with the remaining four learning days delivered during the next four months. Plus, the learning-in-action activities, designed to develop the practice as a leader as coach. Creating the chance to experiment with the things that were learned, to find what works. and then to refine it so that it works even better. Allowing participants to become more confident with practice.
Ultimately, David and his colleagues completed the programme and received their certifications in workplace and business coaching.
Coaching is unlocking a persons potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.
Timothy Gallwey
About six months after the programme had finished, I received a call out of the blue from David. He started the conversation by saying, “You might not remember me, but I was in your recent programme and I had serious doubts about coaching and I really didn’t think it was going to make any difference.”
And I said, “Well, I do remember you, David.” And I did because of our conversations at each of the morning tea breaks.
Then he went on to say that the reason he was calling was to apologise. That he had not understood the possibility and potential that coaching creates and had not realised that there would be significant positive impacts from doing this programme.
He had, in fact, come to realise that coaching was an enormous opportunity for him and for all the people around him. And so he shared with me that adopting a coaching approach, using the learning that he had gained, practicing and using those skills, and becoming better over time, had allowed him to save over 15 hours a week. By helping people to solve their own problems, by asking questions rather than answering them, by being a better listener and encouraging people to make decisions, choose options, and take ownership for their own portfolios rather than trying to do it for them.
It was quite a remarkable conversation because it was quite a remarkable transformation.
The fact that David had recognised the significance of this was an enormous win for me, but an even bigger one for him, for his people, for his department, for the people they served, for his family who he got to see more of, and for the enablement that this coaching approach had created. The opportunity to build accountability and capability in almost every conversation.
I often share this story during large coaching programmes because I think it’s such a great reminder of the difference that coaching can make. Not just for you individually, but for all the people around you.
What is even more remarkable is that some of the other people on this programme also went on to create incredible transformation, performance elevation and opportunity for themselves and for their people.
Leaders empower individuals by building trust and coaching competence.
Kenneth H. Blanchard
There is another individual who was part of this programme who has become a very long-term client of mine. Introducing me to work with her people leaders in five organisations because she understands the difference that a coaching approach, when adopted by leaders, can make.
I believe every leader should be equipped with coaching skills. If they were, the world would be a better place, and so much easier for leaders to be leaders. I want to put coaching skills into as many hands as I can.
This is one of the reasons that in this time of challenge and change and complexity and opportunity I am sharing a public programme open to everyone:
- which introduces and reminds people of the power of coaching
- the principles involved, and
- provides a couple of key frameworks to get you started in building the foundations of your leadership coaching approach.
Join me on the 1st of October for this rare public programme where I will be sharing some of the foundations of coaching that you will be able to use in your very next conversation.
I’d love to know your thoughts.
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