Coaching……
Insert the sarcastic vomit emoji for most when they hear the term in a business context, me included.
That was until I was introduced to genuine Business and Organisational Coaching a few years ago. Since then, I’ve being drawn in. I’ve studied it, applied it in client assignments extensively and I am a giant advocate. I truly believe that coaching is a required discipline for every organisation operating in today’s environment.
Allow me to try and evolve your perspective.
Firstly, below are some of the common responses I receive when I introduce myself these days as an Organisational Coach:
- You mean an Agile Coach? Those people who try to teach you how to work in sprints and write tickets on kanban boards?
- Is that what Consultants are calling themselves these days? Are you the guys that come in and review our business and tell us how we can optimise it?
- You’re not one of those Life Coaches or Influencers are you? Tell me you’re not on Instagram trying to promote 10-minute recipes, at your desk exercises regimes or skin care products?
It’s a touch frustrating, mostly amusing and a reality. To advertise as a “coach” during covid particularly was a ‘go to’. Many that were affected by lockdowns were able to establish an online profile as a person that knew a subject matter and had an ability to ‘teach’ it, ‘lead’ it, or ‘advise’ it.
They called themselves coaches and there is nothing but hats off to them from me personally. People’s ability during that time to get off their bums to adapt and evolve was extraordinary.
But this branding has taken away from the formal definition and discipline of business and organisational coaching and unfortunately it has lost some of its value.
Lordanou & Hawley in their book “Values and Ethics in Coaching Ethics” describe a coaching relationship as:
A developmental intervention based on conversations that foster curiosity and courage, through mutual respect, that lead to new understandings and the opportunity to flourish.
Done well, it offers individuals and teams a safe space to think, reflect and take responsibility for their actions that will help them develop and achieve their intended goals. It is the ability to assist people develop their own skills, capabilities and habits to support more effective functioning. It is a highly flexible, principles based contemporary environment where quality conversation is desired over goal focused manipulation and the culture of the organisation blends with an individuals.
And I love it
To illustrate what business coaching is not, consider an adapted business help continuum, developed to illustrate the different professional service help available to most organisations today. Coaching is not about teaching, mentoring or a deep diving into any person’s psychology. It is not to advise or manipulate an interaction to arrive at a pre-defined outcome. Nor is it to provide 360 degree feedback. It is the ability to work on an equal basis, ask the right questions and help and individual or team ‘solve it for themselves’.
Today, Workspring is focusing on providing coaching to Transformation Teams and Fledgling Management Teams. Our strong view is that the power and capability to improve lies within. Budgets, KPIs, weekly team meetings, Gantt charts, RACI diagrams and Risk Registers are not the answer to delivering effectively. Those methods are used more often than not to investigate why something has failed.
Harnessing and growing people’s passion, capability and belief is where effective delivery is garnered from in today’s environment.
Think about this next time you’re your annual, or quarterly organisational improvement planning session and you’re about to tell an individual or team what to do to improve. Maybe, just maybe, you’re better off asking a question