🎙️ EP 34 : Coaching works…in the proportion of three things
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Coaching simply works. Or does it?
Well, as with everything that is even remotely related to people, there is no black or white here. It’s a grey zone. One thing is true though for me and it reflects my experience over the past 4-5 years: Coaching works proportionately to three things:
1. The Ability of the Coach
2. The Willingness of the Team Member/Coachee to work hard and grow
3. The rapport and trust between both.
Let’s dive a bit deeper into each of these elements:
1. The Ability of the Coach
Great Leaders are not automatically great coaches. Many Leaders are effective in giving advice and mentoring, yet their style limits their impact. Novice Coaches will slip back into giving advice very quickly…it just feels very good. However, seasoned coaches know that it is worth staying in inquiry mode as long as possible. It is the method of Leadership that builds long-term commitment and growth.
And yes, there is a learning curve. Yet, it can be learned and that is important. Anything worth doing has some effort attached to it.
Here for me, a great learning applies; the first 20h. ICF might not like me for saying that, but Leaders do not in my view need an ACC credential to have real impact in their coaching. With 20h of solid, deliberate practice and a different mindset, Leaders can radically impact their organisation.
One resource I can recommend is the ICF Coaching Core Competency description, which just received a major update in late 2019. I will spend some effort over the coming months to apply this framework to the reality of Leaders. Until, then you find a link to it below.
2. The Willingness of the Team Member/Coachee to grow and learn
No matter how well you coach: If your team member is simply in that mindset that they do not need it, you might as well move on. It will feel like watering a rock. Coaching simply requires someone who is coachable. And one of the most important elements of coachability is that the person actually WANTS to change themselves.
Unfortunately, it is all too common that coaches are called into organisations to ‘fix’ someone who does not believe they need fixing. In that situation, it is near impossible to build the required coaching relationship that is built on trust and future focus. If a person in your team does not show a growth mindset, it is more useful exploring what is behind that. It might also just not be the right time for that person to be coached right now. Don’t give up on them.
3. The rapport and trust between both
Even if your skill as a coach is high and the person you are working with in your team is generally showing a growth mindset. If your team member does not assume you have a positive intent towards them, they will see manipulative effort behind every one of your well-intended questions.
You won’t get anywhere.
If the trust is low between you and your team member, forget about offering a coaching session. It will certifiably fall flat. Do what you think is right to restore trust between you and your team member, using a combination of humility and consistency in our approach. You will know well how your team member ticks. Maybe you rescheduled four 1-1s in a row due to urgent requirements. There was no bad intent, but your team member is justifiably upset.
Three elements that act like multipliers
The more these three elements are in place, the higher and stronger your result as a Leader Coach will be. In fact, I see these three elements interact like multipliers.
It’s a conceptual idea, not a mathematical one, but here is an example to illustrate:
Level 10 Skill x Level 10 Growth Mindset x Level 10 Trust = Impact of 1000
Level 2 Skill x Level 8 Growth Mindset x Level 8 Trust = Impact of 128 out of possible 1000.
Level 10 Skill x Level 6 Growth Mindset x 0.5 Trust (it’s REALLY bad!) = Impact of 30 out of possible 1000.
What does that all tell us? We should be actually aware of three things if we want to fully harness our power to use coaching skills when building long-term performance and growth in our team members:
A) That we constantly improve our ability and skillset as a coach.
B) That we observe the growth mindset of our people when we want to coach them
C) That we make a great effort in maintaining and building trust.
All the best, Maik
Mentioned Resources:
ICF Coaching Core Competencies: https://coachfederation.org/app/uploads/2019/11/ICFCompetencyModel_Oct2019.pdf
Maik Frank
Maik is a PCC Executive Coach and the founder of IntelliCoach.com. He has coached and trained over 400 People Leaders to improve their communication skills and offers guaranteed measurable growth to his clients. He also hosts the Coaching Leader Podcast.
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