As organizations search for new ways to create an achievement environment, drive optimal performance, and keep people engaged, learning, and developing, more and more are discovering the value of coaching and the essential role played by managers in corporate cultures that value coaching.
Managers play a unique role today because they act as the critical link between strategy, execution, and results and must ensure that people are engaged, focused, able, and working in optimal ways to achieve optimal results.
Coaching is now recognized as a highly effective way to help people develop needed skills and achieve optimal performance.
For those who read our September 9, 2022 Blog Post – “Google Google!” you know the results of Google’s Project Oxygen on what makes a manager great at Google. The top 10 behaviors were identified. The number one behavior?
Is a good coach!
We weren’t surprised. Were you?
But it’s not just Google that’s saying this. There is considerable research that points to the need for and benefits of having managers who are effective coaches.
Unfortunately, many managers avoid coaching.
- Some believe they just “don’t have the time.”
- Others hesitate to make the time because they don’t fully appreciate the value of coaching and how effective coaching can be in helping them to leverage their efforts and accomplish their strategies.
- Many avoid coaching because it’s just not something they feel comfortable doing.
In addition, there are still organizations that have not been able to make the move from old style “command and control” to more innovative leadership styles that promote dialogue, active collaboration, and just-in-time/on-demand coaching.
But here’s the good news!
Over the past few decades, there has been a significant evolution in the way we think about the role of coaching and the benefits associated with it. As a result, receptivity to coaching and the demand for it has grown tremendously.
For Leaders . . .
It wasn’t too long ago that coaching was offered to senior staff as a last step in the “performance management cycle.” When people in leadership positions faltered, it was not unusual for them to get a coach to see if they could be “saved” or even used as a final step in the termination process.
Today, many executives in companies of all sizes have directly experienced coaching as a normal part of their working experience or are aware of the benefits coaching provides. As a result, organizations in general typically offer coaching opportunities for leaders as a first step, not a last one. As a result, many in leadership positions have come to believe the benefits of coaching should extend beyond the C-Suite to individuals at all levels of the organization. For leaders there here has been an evolution in thinking.
For the Way Workplace Performance is Managed . . .
Traditionally, Performance Management centered around the annual review – a once-a-year “discussion” about performance – with little or no support offered during the year. For some this frequently ineffective approach is being replaced by a more “agile” one commonly known as Agile Performance Management.
With Agile Performance Management organizations provide greater levels of active coaching support all the time – continuously — throughout the “work year” —and they are always looking for new ways to do that. There has been an evolution in thinking about the way Workplace Performance is managed.
For the individual worker (and managers too) . . .
Today, just about everyone knows (or has heard about) the benefits that come with coaching. Working with a coach is no longer a sign of failure but rather an indication of being “highly valued” and viewed as someone with significant potential.
Receptivity to coaching is greater than ever before because people understand that it improves opportunities to focus on goals; makes it possible to reach new levels performance; and promotes the ability to achieve higher levels, rewards, satisfaction, and recognition. For individual workers and their managers there has been an evolution in thinking.
Bottom Line . . .
As a result of this evolution in thinking about the role of coaching and the need for active performance support in today’s workplace, it has become clear that coaching is needed everywhere – and by everyone. Unfortunately, there are simply too many in need of coaching support and not enough skilled workplace coaches to go around – to provide one-to-one live coaching.
A fundamental shift in the way coaching is provided is needed for coaching to become a widespread, easily available, and an integral part of every organization’s DNA!
How do we make coaching integral to any organization? Several important activities need to take place.
- We need to reimagine what it means to be a manager.
- We need to reimagine the workplace.
- We need a way to do both in one seamless and highly integrated way.
We need to reimagine what it means to be a manager.
Traditional management functions can be summarized as follows: Plan, organize, staff, direct, and control. Each of these activities have played central roles in what we expect from managers but an emphasis on directing and controlling needs to evolve and be supported in new and innovative ways. The role of manager needs to be reimagined.
People in management positions – let’s include the “leadership team too” – need to recognize that getting things done means energizing and equipping people – everyone they manage and lead. The central focus of coaching is on developing people – on helping people discover new and better ways to achieve desired results and thereby drive optimal results. That’s a “mouthful” but it’s what coaching does!
Traditional management approaches are typically designed to keep everyone “in line.” Order and conformance is achieved but working to unlock the real potential of people and gain deep and meaningful commitment is often sacrificed. Imagine what more can be achieved when people are excited about what they do, play meaningful roles in planning their work, are encouraged through dialogue and active support to work in new and better ways, and are recognized for their new found achievements and success. It’s a fundamental shift in thinking and acting and one that needs to occur now.
Managers who coach have a new “tool kit” and “mind set.” Command and control is replaced with commitment to coaching. And it’s contagious. Once managers start acting this way, those they lead develop a whole new appreciation for what work can be like. When you’re coached, you want to be coached and you want to replicate the experience by coaching others. It’s how coaching cultures are created and sustained.
We need to reimagine the workplace.
To reimagine the role of manager, we must also reimagine the workplace. Asking managers to change before there is a comprehensive shift in the organization’s thinking and commitment is simply a prescription for failure. Yes, reimaging the role of manager is an important element, but a deep — well-planned — organizational transformation must lead the way and set the stage.
Central to this transformation must be a commitment to train managers to be better coaches. Right? Yes, but there’s much more.
- The entire leadership team must also commit to coaching and be trained to do it well. Leaders must walk the talk and talk the walk. It’s not enough to say we will, leaders at every level must say it, do it (walk the talk), and promote it (talk the walk). Case closed!
- Every human interaction must be alert to the possibility for coaching. There are thousand of coaching moments in every day and managers and leaders must be adept at noticing them and acting accordingly.
- The Performance Management practice must be upgraded. If you haven’t internalized Agile Performance Management, now is the time!
We need a way to make both happen in one seamless and highly integrated way.
Reimagining is important but making the reimagined come to life is key. Here’s an overview of our “best practice.”
- Have a plan. Set clear action sets, outcomes, and time frames. Don’t be afraid to be bold.
- Develop a clear set of communications. Be open and honest about what you’re trying achieve and why. Remember – you’re not planning an invasion where the element of surprise is important. You’re planning a transformation. No Surprises!
- Train managers and leaders to be effective coaches. Why? When managers and leaders actively coach, coaching becomes part of the organization’s DNA. When you hire a few outside coaches, a few people benefit. It’s the “exception” not the “rule.” When coaching is internalized and widely done, it becomes “the rule.”
- Provide coaching support to everyone you train. Really? Why? Training provides a foundation. When you follow training with coaching you built the house. When you follow training with 1:1 coaching session performed by seasoned coaches, those you’ve trained can experience first-hand what they just learned and leverage this first-hand experience to help them put coaching concepts to work. They can then “model” their 1:1 coaching experience and use it when they begin to coach their direct reports.
- Give everyone access to on-demand coaching support. Just-in-time coaching is key and when you provide everyone in the organization with easy access to on-demand coaching support each member of the organization is able to coach and be coached at significantly higher levels.
- Communicate actively. Use materials created in Step 2 before, during, and after to support and cement the transformation. Remember, you’re doing this for and with people — not to them. Letting people know the what, why, when, where, and how throughout the entire process — and beyond — is the best way to get buy-in, ownership, and accountability and ensure that transformation actually takes place.