How effective is executive coaching in an offices setting?

As I was driving to the airport today to pick someone up, I thought about what I would like to post on my blog this week. Many people don't quite get the return on investment of hiring an executive coach. So, I thought maybe I should start describing some situations that people can relate to in order to see the effectiveness of coaching.  So here goes:

A small bank is being taken over by an investment group. The investment group sees the value of bringing in a coach to get a feel for what the current bank staff feelings and concerns are and create a plan of action to get buy in from the banking staff on the acquistion. I actually was the coach on this project earlier this year.

I first met with the leadership team of the investment group to get clear on what their roles and expectations were of the acquistion. I crafted a series of questions (with buy in from the investment group) to ask of the bank leaders (5 people) I met with individually. I also conducted a brief introductory meeting with the staff to share with them who I was and what my role was. At that meeting,  the investors introduced themselves to  the staff sharing limited information (as this was in the beginning stage of the acquisition and they had been working with the bank's leaders already). I asked the investment team what they would like to share with the banking staff and what they wanted the staff to know during the process. I asked this team to clarify how the staff would be impacted during the transition and what everyone on the team's roles were. I asked the staff to share with the investors what they needed to know and what they needed from them at this point. What showed up was a point person designated for keeping the staff informed when visitors showed up. The investment team acknowledged everyone for their hard work and shared they understood that fear of the unknownwas probably was present and that they would be as open as they could be and they asked for everyone's assistance during the transition which everyone agreed to.

From these meetings, I created a 10-question survey that was completed by the bank leadership team and the staff, with the results coming directly to me. The survey's focus was getting a pulse for what was going on, what they were proud of, what could be better, what they would like to see, what the challenges were in the current environment, what their fears were, etc. I compiled the results and built a matrix on key points that needed to be addressed. All this was confidential (no names shared) I included the good things that showed up as well, especially what people were proud of. (note - if this had been a bigger bank, a more formal assessment could have been more appropriate and I would have called in more coaching associates as well).

From the results of the survey, a plan of action was created between the investment team and the bank leaders. Meetings were scheduled to get buy-in from key people, staff meetings held to keep everyone informed and recruit volunteers who wanted to be part of future change. Committees were formed to keep the momentum going and included staff, management and leaders. This whole process created transparency and clarity in communication during the process, taking away some fear of the unknown and helped keep morale at a higher level.

Quality of Coaching

I just ordered the 3rd edition of "Co-Active Coaching" by Henry and Karen Kinsey-House, the founders of CTI (Coach Training Institute). I had the pleasure of attending CTI for my coach training (a life changing experience for me) back in 2004 and again in 2006 to get my certification, both six month processes. CTI is one of a few schools that require future coaches to attend face to face class room experiences where deep work is a focus on who we are as humans and how we can bring impact through change with our clients. I got my training in Atlanta and had to go up there every month for six months for three-day weekends where we focused on CTI's principles and foundation. The sessions included having to coach a client on the second night of the weekend, focusing on the learning that was emphasized and practiced for the weekend. I met some wonderful leaders and fellow classmates who to this day I am still friends. During the certification process, I had to commit to weekly phone work for six months, working in pods of eight people from around the world. We had a pod leader, had a pod name - hydrangeas was ours and we had homework every week, had to coach and be coached during our weekly one and 1/2 hour calls. We also had to have five paying clients while we went through certification who agreed to be recorded (for methodology purposes) which were critiqued my senior coaches to make sure we were learning the deeper meaning of our training. At the end of the six months, we were requried to take both an oral and written exam (similar to grad school). The oral exam was actually coaching two senior level coaches on whatever topic they brought to the call for 30-minutes. Very deep work and was imbedded in me.

It's important for good coaches to keep their "saw sharpened" regularly as our industry is changing and we need to stay aware of what changes are occurring in the industry and learning new processes and techniques that may be more relevant to what we originally learned. This is why I chose to buy the newest edition of the book to see what I need to brush up on and start incorporating in my practice.

I believe that CTI coaches are the best trained coaches in the world (a little prejudice here). We have been taught to deeply listen, ask through provoking questions, create a very safe and confidential space for our clients to work on change and help our client move the needle a little to where they want to go. Harvard Business school has created a relationship with CTI because they see the value in what Karen and Henry have created.  It works.

Unfortuantely, there are coaching schools out there who teach people to coach in a weekend or via the internet without any true experience, learning or interface with others. This does not help our community with credibility or effectiveness.  Thank goodness that are organizations such as the ICF (International Coaching Federation) which I am a certified member that creates standards and ethics to adhere to. Another thing I had to learn to be with as maybe they bring some sort of value are people who call themselves coaches who have no training and in fact, use their past experiences in their work or who hear from others that they should be a coach now call themselves coaches.

If you are considering coaching to help you, check out CTI or the ICF. You want to engage with a coach who is aligned to who you are and who can bring you the best value. You want to hire someone who is trained, bottom line.

7 differences between a group and a team - Buschman Consultancy

Well written article on the importance of understanding the difference between teams and groups. Marco is also a CTI trained coach as I am.

7 differences between a group and a team - Buschman Consultancy

The Empty Pickle Jar

I  have demonstrated this exercise in front of people stating the golf balls were values, the pebbles the influences around us - work, play, etc. and the sand is the metaphor for everything else (the small stuff). We tend to forget this philosphy too often so it's good to revisit once in awhile to remember what is really important in life.

The Empty Pickle Jar

The Attitude is Everything Movie

Pass this on to those people in your life who need a little pick me up once in awhile.

The Attitude is Everything Movie

Do I Really Want to Work Here: What’s Your Culture Telling Me? | Tolero Solutions

Had a conversation yesterday with the CEO of Tolero Solutions and I would definitely align myself with them from a coaching perspective as we have similar beliefs on the importance of culture, leadership development and diversity in the workplace. Great read here.

Do I Really Want to Work Here: What’s Your Culture Telling Me? | Tolero Solutions

If Life is a Game, These Are the Rules

Sometimes we get so busy with our every day life that we tend to forget what is really important in the grand scheme of things.  This vidoe is a 3 minute pause to reflect on how to embrace who you are......If Life is a Game, These Are the Rules

Sharks and Dolphins - opportunity to blend the two in leadership

Read in yesterday's Sun Sentinel, an article quoting Connie Glaser, an author and women's leadership expert about working women learning to swim with sharks. She described women as typical "dolphins" and men as "sharks" in characteristics of leading and communicating. She said each gender should be blended into "dolphark" which is really a blend of the great qualities each gender inhibits in leadership and communicating with others.

What that means to me is men are a bit more gutsy in taking risks and making decisions and speaking their minds. Older generations especially tend to take the lead in decision making especially male leaders. Whereas women have always been categorized as being better at the "soft skills" - collaboration, being supportive of others, engaging others and listening. Soft Skills (Emotional Intelligence is another label) has been coming to the forefront recently as having a lot of significance and is being embraced in the workplace as important skills to have when leading others. We are getting more connected globally and younger leadership sees the value in brainstorming to solve problems, allowing others to have a say in the direction of the company, being collaborative in approach to business, etc. "Women tend to be better at fostering cooperation and are less likely to dominate conversations" says Glaser. We  are much more likely to listen to hear what others have to say and take that into consideration when decisions need to be made. Studies have shown that the more diverse workplaces are there is a higher level of cooperation and a richer collection of intelligence.

It would benefit us as women to speak up confidently more often in meetings. We tend to be too humble at times and don't pat ourselves on the back enough whereas men have more confidence in who they are and they speak it much more easily. Women can utilize the skills of men in some cases, especially around confidence. Blending of the traits of both species is the best choice. At times it's great to gather consensus  from others but there are times when you need to rely on your own resources and make a thoughtful decision on your own. It's very important to always value collaboration and being a good team player but never forget to feel comfortable taking credit for what you have achieved. If you show up as walking the talk, you will gain respect and credibility on your own merits.

It's really important for women to support other women in an organization so if another woman is on the leadership team or is a manager, they need to promote one another and speak up where credit is due and needs to be acknowledged. Men can benefit from learning from women's leadership qualities as well (and some already exemplify this). The days of the "deer slayer" is no longer of value or respected. Feeling comfortable with getting away from gender differences is an important lesson to learn as a leader. Value who the person is and what they bring to the table is much more effective. A good place to start is to have conversations with each other, maybe over lunch, breakfast or coffee, asking questions; listening to each other's stories on the definition of success; where each sees the strengths and challenges inside the company and with each other.

As a coach, facilitating meetings to get out all the good, the bad and the ugly is where laundry can be aired, old thoughts and perceptions can be cleared and new ideas, intentions and discoveries can be defined and implemented together.