Christian Whamond. Key Leadership. Executive coach
Christian Whamond - 0408 322 176
  • Home page
  • Resume
    • Career Summary
    • Education
    • Reference's
    • Personal
    • Documents
  • Leadership
    • Effective Leadership
  • Learnings
  • Referance Material
  • Social Profile's
    • DiSC
    • 360 degree feedback
    • Hogan Profile

Coaching for success

21/8/2013

Comments

 

Coaching leaders help employees identify their unique strengths and weaknesses and tie them to their personal and career aspirations. They encourage employees to establish long-term development goals and help them conceptualize a plan for attaining them. They make agreements with their employees about their role and responsibilities in enacting development plans, and they give plentiful instruction and feedback.


Coaching leaders excel at delegating; they give employees challenging assignments, even if that means the tasks won’t be accomplished quickly. In other words, these leaders are willing to put up with short-term failure if it furthers long-term learning.


Not surprising, the coaching style is used least often in our high-pressure economy. Many leaders say they don’t have the time for the slow and tedious work of teaching people and helping them grow. But after a first session, it takes little or no extra time. Leaders who ignore this style are passing up a powerful tool: its impact on climate and performance are markedly positive.


Admittedly, there is a paradox in the positive effect on business performance because coaching focuses primarily on personal development, not on immediate work-related tasks. Even so, coaching improves results. The reason: it requires constant dialogue, and that dialogue has a way of pushing up every driver of climate. Take flexibility. When an employee knows his boss watches him and cares about what he does, he feels free to experiment. After all, he’s sure to get quick and constructive feedback.


Similarly, the ongoing dialogue of coaching guarantees that people know what is expected of them and how their work fits into a larger vision or strategy. That affects responsibility and clarity. As for commitment, coaching helps there, too, because the style’s implicit message is, “I believe in you, I’m investing in you, and I expect your best efforts.” Employees very often rise to that challenge.


The coaching style works well in many business situations, but it is perhaps most effective when people on the receiving end are “up for it.” For instance, the coaching style works particularly well when employees are already aware of their weaknesses and would like to improve their performance. Similarly, the style works well when employees realize how cultivating new abilities can help them advance.


By contrast, the coaching style makes little sense when employees, for whatever reason, are resistant to learning or changing their ways. And it flops if the leader lacks the expertise to help the employee along. The fact is, many managers are unfamiliar with or simply inept at coaching, particularly when it comes to giving ongoing performance feedback that motivates rather than creates fear or apathy.


Some companies have realized the positive impact of the style and are trying to make it a core competence. At some organizations, a significant portion of annual bonuses is tied to an executive’s development of his or her direct reports. But many organizations have yet to take full advantage of this leadership style.


Although the coaching style may not scream “bottom-line results,” it delivers them.

Comments

Teach people to do things that can’t already do.

11/6/2012

Comments

 
Sometimes training and development is about teaching people how to do what they already do better. Good training is teaching people how to do what they aren’t already doing. There is a difference between what we call adaptive and generative learning.
Adaptive learning means learning how to solve day-to-day problems. It’s problem solving skills as they relate to the workplace. In other words, it’s problem-solving the“same ‘ol” way we’ve done it for centuries. Generative learning is about teaching people how to create and exploit opportunities.
Comments

Training is NOT a luxury.

11/6/2012

Comments

 
Training and development is a necessity, and the best leaders and organizations know it. This dedication to improvement is
reflected in their calendars and in their budgets.
Comments

Managers & Coaches.. Get Out From Behind Your Desk!

20/1/2012

Comments

 
_Today I see so many manager and coaches sitting behind their desk, Creating spread sheets and sending out emails that never get read.

Get out from behind your desk and wandered around your department or organization and just talk with the members of your department or organization? There is a term for this activity – MBWA, management by walking around.

Presence Among Your Employees is Important The benefits of getting to know your people and letting them know you care about them will go a long way toward improving morale, communication, and employee performance. Time spent with them will have dramatic, indirect, positive rewards for you as a manager.

You don’t have time? You have too much on your plate already? Excuses, excuses! If you are stuck every day in meetings, conferences, research, doing paperwork, reading email its time to get you S#@t together, Review your priorities and make some commitments to work towards yours and the organizations goals.

You can’t manage and coach your staff from behind your desk. You can only coach, train, inspect, lead, and direct when you are in the presence of your employees.

Being visible to your employees allows you to:

1. Catch people doing things right and recognize them.
2. Catch people doing things wrong and modify behaviour through coaching.
3. Keep in touch with the reality of your department or organization.
4. Be available for questions, concerns, or needs of your employees.
5. Find new creative ways to run your department.
6. Be a sounding board for your employees.
7. Send the message to your employees that you care and are interested in them and their jobs.
8. Fix things before they break.
9. Break things that need to be broken.
10. Determine common perceptions that people have about the business, their jobs, customers, and so on.

Effective Managers and coaches are In Tune with Their Organization The most effective managers and leaders get to know their people. They know their frustrations, concerns, questions, beliefs, problems, dreams, goals, strengths, and weaknesses. You can’t know any of this if you are barricaded behind piles of reports, non-stop meetings, and a heavy workload. The job of a manager is to manage it, not do it. The job of a coach is to coach not sit from a far and question.

It is critical that managers be in tune with their organization’s culture, perceptions, employee attitudes and frustrations, and not wait for these to filter up through the ranks as rumours or hearsay.

Negative things are happening in your organization right now, and the sooner you identify them, the sooner you can reduce, eliminate, or neutralize them. If you just act as if everything is just fine, prepare for the consequences. Get your head around what your role and responsibilities are.

Leadership, management and coaching are not easy, it’s not sexy its hard work. Its repetitive, doing the same thing day in day out, setting expectations, measuring result and adjusting with effective feedback. Coaching is ongoing, working with individuals to achieve there goals and the organizations expectations. Now get going. Get out from behind that computer and start talking to your people… Now!!

Comments

Coaching steps

10/1/2012

Comments

 
_How many times have you trained a colleague in a task, only to have that person come knocking on your door every five minutes with a question?

People learn by watching others, so instead of telling people how to solve a problem, show them. Take them through each step, explaining the reasons behind each. Then allow them to ask as many questions as needed. This will not only give them the foundation they need to do the task, but will prompt you to master the task more deeply as you provide a justification for each step.
Comments

Social media

29/12/2011

Comments

 
_Social media is the buzz word, everyone want's to get into it but unfortunately it can be daunting for many businesses who have never entered this area before.

The purists will contend that everybody should do their own social media because of the “authenticity” value. Certainly that is an ideal, but I’m also a realist. If people want to out-source their social media and there is a buck to made, it will certainly happen somewhere.   I also think there is some value to a consultant or agency helping people along for some period of time.  When you first got your driver’s license somebody still had to sit beside you and teach you how to drive, right?

In my job as a consultant, I see many approaches to social media management. In general, here are some broad trends in social media management:

Mega brands – I have had a chance to witness some AMAZING and sophisticated social media marketing programs. These companies are beginning to make correlations between “share of voice” and true marketshare, using listening platforms to track micro-trends and the “cool kids,” and taking location-based marketing to a whole new level.

These companies have the resources to hire the biggest agencies and best minds in the world to help them navigate social media labyrinths and determine a strategy, but generally, they are organizing and resourcing to respond to the new opportunities. One brand has renamed part of their marketing department “Customer Connections.”

Medium-sized companies. In my opinion, unless you are an elite brand, I believe at least 95 percent of the companies I see are desperately confused about what to do about social media.  I think they would just like for it to go away so they can return to having a trade booth and shop front.

They probably don’t have a corporate culture that can easily adapt to the transformation needed to “listen” instead of “broadcast” and they simply want to check a box to do SOMETHING. You, know … I actually think there is some value in that.  A company that is at least thinking through the platforms, attempting to listen on the new channels and dipping their toe into content marketing is taking a step in the right direction.  Most of these companies at least have the vision and budget to hire an agency to get them started on social media marketing.

Small businesses.  I think social media can provide an advantage to most small businesses, but that doesn’t mean it actually does unless they are working on it!   Why isn’t it happening?
  1. They’re overwhelmed by the concept and don’t know where to start.
  2. They started a Facebook page and nobody “liked” them so they quit.
  3. They understand the concept but don’t have the time or resources to do anything consistent and meaningful.
  4. Their marketing budget is tied up in local newspaper, Yellow Pages, Google and TV ads and they don’t have anything left for something new.
  5. When you bring it up, they stare you down and tell you they “Don’t need the Facebox or the Tweeter."
Unless customer falls into Category 5, they are probably looking for help in managing their social media program.  I see the following business models emerging:

Local support.  The new category of social media gurus are trying to teach best practices and perhaps do some hands-on social media management.  My take is that most of these efforts eventually fail because you are communicating for somebody else, which is probably not sustainable, and the labor cost to actually do this stuff is so high –and the results so undefinable in the short-term — that customers lose interest. People with a limited budget need this to work NOW.

Cookie cutter.  I am seeing a ton of people and small agencies offering social media packages — “our gold package features two tweets per day, a Facebook update, and one blog post per week!”  This is handing your social media campaign to someone who has no idea about your business. This is fine to get you started but the company acting on your behalf needs to get to know your business as if they actually work with you each week. You should insist on weekly meetings (phone meetings are fine) where you get a chance to coach the person managing your campaign on what changing in your industry and guide them to the style of speak you want to see within your campaign. If you don't take a hands-on role in your social media campaign I feel that it will fail because at some point, you are going to wonder when all the new sales are going to start coming in from these two tweets per day you are paying for.

Overseas.  Kind of a hybrid. Let’s solve the labor cost problem by hiring low-cost virtual assistants in Vietnam or The Philippines to do the tweets and blogs for you.  There are a multitude of problems associated with this approach but it at least addresses the labor issue.

Coaching.  I think the only viable long-term solution for most small businesses is to get some coaching.  start out with the cookie cutter method but stay actively involved with the campaigns. Each week while you are coaching the Campaign manager on your business, take the time to better understand how the campaign is working, the objective of the campaign and the reasons for some of the posts. Buy additional time for further education and coaching each week. Methodically work on a step-by-step plan to eventually create a culture, an organization, and an actionable strategy appropriate for the company resources and budget.

It is not fast (and a lot of people hate that! ) but it does slowly integrate these practices into the fabric of the company, get real employees involved, and become a natural extension of their sales and marketing strategy.
Comments

An Unconventional Gift

14/12/2011

Comments

 
_ I think it’s fair to say that most managers like to do good things for the people who work for them, to make them feel more appreciated, productive and fulfilled. Unfortunately, many of them don’t seem to know what their employees really want or need, and so they end up relying on the same traditional things: training classes, monetary bonuses, small office perks.

Now, employees aren’t going to turn down a bonus or a perk, and in many cases, they’ll be glad to attend a training class, but those things don’t have the transformational affect on people that managers would like. And because they cost real money, they’re not always available for managers to use, especially during difficult times.

I have an idea about how a manager can meaningfully impact an employee’s sense of esteem, enthusiasm and importance. It is completely free, and turns out to be almost as beneficial for managers as it is for the people who work for them. But it’s a little counter-intuitive. Let me explain.

Instead of doing something for the people who work for you, find a way to let them do something for you. I told you it was counter-intuitive. But it actually makes sense, and isn’t at all selfish.

The best way to endear yourself to someone is not to offer to do something for them, but rather to ask them to do something for you. The underlying logic is that people actually feel better about themselves and about someone else when they are in the position of being a helper, rather than a helpee.

That’s because helpers receive a sense of contribution and confidence, while helpees often feel dependent and in debt to someone. As a college wants said to me, if you want a girl to like you, don’t ask her if she wants help with her homework, ask her to help you with yours. Who would have thought?

I realize that this might sound manipulative, and indeed, if used insincerely, it can be. But with the right intentions, with a genuine interest in helping employees grow in confidence and self-esteem, it can be transformational.

Here’s how it might work. Sit down and think about each of the people who work for you. Identify something about them that you admire, that you genuinely believe they do better than you. That shouldn’t be hard, because every employee has skills or talents that exceed those of their bosses.

Once you’ve identified those skills or talents, take a moment to tell each employee why you admire them. If you mean it – and that is absolutely essential – it will blow them away. Be sure to be specific about what you admire about them and state the fact you would like to learn from them. It doesn’t have to be right then, and it doesn’t have to come in one fell swoop. Over time, you’d like them to coach you in that area.

This does not diminished your authority as their leader at work, but rather made it abundantly clear that they have as much to offer me as I do them, in spite of the hierarchy at work.

Now, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that this is sometimes difficult for me, and probably for any manager, to do this. There are times when I don’t want to acknowledge another person’s superiority, and I know that, in my weaker moments, I’ve downplayed the talents of others out of pride. But overcoming that pride, and allowing my staff members to shine, is something that is good and right and liberating, and it will probably have a more lasting impact than any bonus, perk or training class ever could.

During this Christmas season, as you remember that “it is better to give than to receive,’ think about letting your people give you something. What you’ll be giving them is the gift of admiration and importance. Of course, you might want to buy them something too so they don’t just think you’re being cheap.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Comments

Leadership develops daily, not in a day.

3/12/2011

Comments

 
_
  •  Leaders require seasoning to be effective. If you continually invest in your leadership development, the inevitable is growth over time.

  •  The relationship between growth and leadership: It’s the capacity to develop and improve one’s skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.

  •  Successful leaders are learners. And the learning process is ongoing, a result of self-discipline and perseverance.

  •  The Phases of Leadership Growth

    Phase 1: I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know – few think of themselves as leaders and as long as a person doesn’t know the importance of leadership he isn’t going to grow. D1

    Phase 2: I Know That I Need to Know – at some point we discover we need to learn how to lead. D2

    Phase 3: I Know What I Don’t Know – if we don’t get better at leadership, our careers will eventually get bogged down. In this phase you develop a plan for personal growth on areas you need improvement. D2

    Phase 4: I Know and Grow and It Starts to Show – when you recognize your lack of skill and begin the daily discipline of personal growth, exciting things start to happen. You start becoming an effective leader but you have to think about every move you make. D3

    Phase 5: I Simply Go Because of What I Know – your ability to lead becomes almost automatic. You develop great instincts which results in incredible payoffs. But the only way to get there is to obey the Law of Process and pay the price. D4

  •  Benjamin Disraeli asserted, “The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his time when it comes.”

  •  There is an old saying: champions don’t become champions in the ring – they are merely recognized there. That’s true. If you want to see where someone develops into a champion, look at his daily routine.

Comments

HR, a company assett not just referee

3/12/2011

Comments

 
_Trust. HR managers must earn the trust of employees. They need to take care of those who do a good job, and “tell it straight” to those who are not performing well.

Rigorous evaluations, noting that no employee should wonder where he or she stands in the company. Weak performers should be “traded out of the team.” That this does not necessarily mean they should be fired. Often a weak performer will be a better fit in a different position in the organization.

HR also needs to create an atmosphere of growth and excitement, to make the organization “vibrate so people feel the excitement of tomorrow instead of the pain of today.” I urged HR professionals to make their companies more informal, less bureaucratic. This will help organizations retain their best performers when the economy recovers.

Don't be a victim. Make it know to upper management that HR makes a difference and to get out of the “picnic, birthday, and insurance form business.”

HR professionals can make their CEOs recognize their value to the company by overdelivering. HR professionals have to make their bosses smarter by giving them more than what they ask for. HR also has to insist on having a voice within upper management.

Communicate. HR has to engage in reality-based communication. Recognize the uncertainties in the economy, and let employees know what is going on. HR can gain the trust of employees and of upper management through honest, consistent communication and by sending the same message to employees, upper management and the media. #in

Comments

Have you coached and given feedback before moving to a PiP

3/12/2011

Comments

 
_Treat your staff like family. Moving them to a PIP (Performance improvement Plan) or even a Counseling warning without first giving weeks of daily feedback on their performance and ongoing CAP's (Coaching Action plans) with regular meetings is a slap in the face and a sign of lack of expertise on your behalf.

Staff should understand the reasons why they are moving to a PIP, even embrace it and thank you for it. If this did not happen you need to take a look at your process before you delivered a PIP in the future.


Review Leadership chart "Know, Grow, empower and guide" http://www.whamond.net/leadership.html

Don't use a PIP as a "Bully" tactic o get what you want or to stamp your authority, you loose credibility with the rest of your team and will soon find yourself in a fast spiral of destruction.
Comments

Leadership tips - Jack Welch style..

3/11/2011

Comments

 
Jack Welch, respected business leader and writer is quoted as proposing these fundamental leadership principles (notably these principles are expanded in his 2001 book 'Jack: Straight From The Gut'):

  1. There is only one way - the straight way. It sets the tone of the organisation.
  2. Be open to the best of what everyone, everywhere, has to offer; transfer learning across your organisation.
  3. Get the right people in the right jobs - it is more important than developing a strategy.
  4. An informal atmosphere is a competitive advantage.
  5. Make sure everybody counts and everybody knows they count.
  6. Legitimate self-confidence is a winner - the true test of self-confidence is the courage to be open.
  7. Business has to be fun - celebrations energise and organisation.
  8. Never underestimate the other guy.
  9. Understand where real value is added and put your best people there.
  10. Know when to meddle and when to let go - this is pure instinct.
As a leader, your main priority is to get the job done, whatever the job is. Leaders make things happen by:
  • knowing your objectives and having a plan how to achieve them
  • building a team committed to achieving the objectives
  • helping each team member to give their best efforts
As a leader you must know yourself. Know your own strengths and weaknesses, so that you can build the best team around you.

However - always remember the philosophical platform - this ethical platform is not a technique or a process - it's the foundation on which all the techniques and methodologies are based.

Plan carefully, with your people where appropriate, how you will achieve your aims. You may have to redefine or develop your own new aims and priorities. Leadership can be daunting for many people simply because no-one else is issuing the aims - leadership often means you have to create your own from a blank sheet of paper. Set and agree clear standards. Keep the right balance between 'doing' yourself and managing others 'to do'.

Build teams. Ensure you look after people and that communications and relationships are good. Select good people and help them to develop. Develop people via training and experience, particularly by agreeing objectives and responsibilities that will interest and stretch them, and always support people while they strive to improve and take on extra tasks. Follow the rules about delegation closely - this process is crucial. Ensure that your managers are applying the same principles. Good leadership principles must cascade down through the whole organisation. This means that if you are leading a large organisation you must check that the processes for managing, communicating and developing people are in place and working properly.

Communication is critical. Listen, consult, involve, explain why as well as what needs to be done.

Some leaders lead by example and are very 'hands on'; others are more distanced and let their people do it. Whatever - your example is paramount - the way you work and conduct yourself will be the most you can possibly expect from your people. If you set low standards you are to blame for low standards in your people.

"... Praise loudly, blame softly." (Catherine the Great). Follow this maxim.

If you seek one singlemost important behaviour that will rapidly earn you respect and trust among your people, this is it: Always give your people the credit for your achievements and successes. Never take the credit yourself - even if it's all down to you, which would be unlikely anyway. You must however take the blame and accept responsibility for any failings or mistakes that your people make. Never never never publicly blame another person for a failing. Their failing is your responsibility - true leadership offers is no hiding place for a true leader.

Take time to listen to and really understand people. Walk the job. Ask and learn about what people do and think, and how they think improvements can be made.

Accentuate the positive. Express things in terms of what should be done, not what should not be done. If you accentuate the negative, people are more likely to veer towards it. Like the mother who left her five-year-old for a minute unsupervised in the kitchen, saying as she left the room, "...don't you go putting those beans up your nose..."

Have faith in people to do great things - given space and air and time, everyone can achieve more than they hope for. Provide people with relevant interesting opportunities, with proper measures and rewards and they will more than repay your faith.

Take difficult decisions bravely, and be truthful and sensitive when you implement them.

Constantly seek to learn from the people around you - they will teach you more about yourself than anything else. They will also tell you 90% of what you need to know to achieve your business goals.

Embrace change, but not for change's sake. Begin to plan your own succession as soon as you take up your new post, and in this regard, ensure that the only promises you ever make are those that you can guarantee to deliver.

Comments

Management is not sexy, get back to basics.

12/2/2011

Comments

 
It hard to motivate others if you don't talk with them.

Managers who's teams are not performing well stop doing the right things and look for the quick fix.

Their time is consumed with non effective activities rather than stopping and deciding "what is the right thing to do".

Teams need to be lead from the front. Start regular One on One's, Coaching and feedback. Communicate to your people regularly about performance and give feedback around effective behaviors, coach for better performance and measure the steps.

What gets measured gets done!..

Comments

Creat great relationships

12/2/2011

Comments

 
Creating great relationships is how careers, business and great teams are built.
One of the best ways to motivate others is to give them interesting things to do, especially things that free up your time.

The foundations for success is in one on one's, coaching, feedback and delegation.. "Know, Grow, Empower and Guide you people"
Comments

Coaching

10/1/2011

Comments

 
The art of coaching is about helping people discover their own potential and resolve their own issues. its not about telling them what to do or solving their problems for them.

As a coach you have a range of possible actions:
  • instructing, telling and solving problems;
  • giving advice and guidance, and suggesting idea’s;
  • giving feedback to people;
  • asking questions to understand the context
  • looking for options;
  • listening, summarizing and reflecting.
The idea of successful and collaborative coaching is to us the bottom points over the first few.

The more you solve peoples problems, the more problems they will bring to you. Allow your staff to develop with guidance and support and encouragement from you.

Effective coaching takes time and can be extremely frustrating. The time invested in helping the other person discover the answer pays big dividends in the future.

Comments

Coaching is not a passing fad....

10/1/2011

Comments

 
In recent years, coaching has become fashionable in many organizations and has captured the hearts and minds of those who see coaching as a revolutionary approach to management and leadership. At its best, coaching is not simply a new buzzword for describing a more "people centered" style of management. Rather, coaching is a distinct and different paradigm for working with people and accomplishing results. 

The historical culture of management is rooted in a commitment to predict or forecast the future and then control human behaviour and processes to achieve that culture's aims. 

By contrast, a coaching culture is grounded in a commitment to create or invent the future and then empower the authentic commitment and actions of those being coached. In effect, this is a shift in the locus of power and responsibility from the manager to those they manage. 

COACHING HAPPENS IN A CONTEXT OF TRUST

Coaching by its nature is very personal and is based on a unique and profound level of trust between the coach and those being coached. While coaching is not therapy, the quality of the relationship is similar and the consequences, whether positive or negative, can be just as profound. 


THEORY AND PROFESSIONAL COACHING 

According to an ancient Chinese expression, "Theory without practice is foolish; practice without theory is dangerous".  
Comments

What Is Competence?

18/9/2010

Comments

 
Competence is more than a skill. It is the ability to make and keep promises.... I believe we can teach a skill, but need to coach people to be competent. 

In my work with individual clients and organizations I stress the importance of having action match commitments and not becoming trapped in conventional wisdom which can block our capacity to create possibilites and produce results.
Comments

Create a "Coaching enviroment" for better organizational effectivness.

6/9/2010

Comments

 
Coaching has been and still is a passion I hold close to me. Traditional management of "command and control" has serious limitations in a world that is changing rapidly. Organizational "culture" is becoming a central concern for leaders and managers and recognized it as the phenomenon that could either impede or facilitate the kinds of changes that are necessary to maintain progress and effectiveness in what is a global economy.

The term "coaching" has become a catchall buzzword encompassing all kinds of consulting, counseling and management concepts and activities. Coaching is in fashion!

Unfortunately, as with any idea that becomes popular, the underlying potential of "coaching" as a new paradigm of management and leadership can be diluted and become a distinction without a difference. Specifically, the word is often now used as a metaphor or sometimes synonymous with supervision, counseling, mentoring, and the traditional role of manager.

Most of us know from personal experience that a relationship with a coach is not the same as a relationship with a traditional manager. We know from experience that we listen and respond differently to a coach and we are often empowered to accomplish more with a coach than we accomplish when relating to a traditional manager. It is not surprising that historically in virtually every field of human endeavor where performance is the objective, "coaching" has been an integral aspect of the design of the game and the more professional the players, the greater the demand for coaching.

The need to create "coaching cultures" in our organizations is more pressing than ever. This is because a coaching culture is based on distinguishing, empowering and coordinating individual commitment and action.

The need to clarify and integrate coaching competencies into our existing roles as leaders and managers is essential. The reason for this is that in most organizations today, leaders no longer have the luxury of time or the capability to maintain the illusion that they "control" the decision-making and actions of the people who work in the enterprise.

Coaching is not a replacement for solid management skills, but a new context, a new way of observing and relating to people and action --- a different way of being.

From a perspective of action, coaching and leadership are virtually synonymous. Both the coach and the leader are always engaged with other people, they work exclusively in a medium of relationship and conversations, and they are both working to create through others a "future" that is unpredictable and unprecedented. For coaches and leaders, the future isn't a goal, it is a reality NOW and their job is to bring forth what is missing or what needs to be eliminated so that their vision can be manifested in the world.

Learning to "be a coach" or "be a leader" requires more than appropriating new techniques or understanding a new model. It requires a fundamental shift in how one observes their world, themselves and other human beings. This shift begins when we consider that all human beings normally behave and act based on how our world "occurs" for us, not because of the "way it is". For example, we can all find situations in our own experience where our actions were inconsistent with what we "knew' to be the case such as in continuing to smoke, running away from something because we were afraid even though no real threat existed or making a decision which we knew to be wrong at the time, but rationalized or justified making it anyway.

As a premise, we could say that coaching enables people to change the way the world "occurs" for them. When this happens, there are possibilities and actions available that are not available otherwise. We often hear organizational leaders speaking about the need to change people's "mindsets", to get "buy-in" to some radical new approach or to overcome historical ways of working. We can also see myriad examples of frustration and costs associated with trying to explain, justify, or rationally argue for change only to find that people are more often than not acting and behaving in the same ways they did previously.

The key to creating a "coaching culture" or any new culture is in exploring the phenomenon of commitment. If our reality is a function of our actions and our actions are a function of our commitments and we only commit to what is reasonable and feasible, then we will obviously be generating more of the same.

It is not possible to coach someone or for that matter to be coached in the absence of authentic commitment. I distinguish commitment here from wanting, wishing, trying, hoping or any other notion such as "what is realistic" that we sometimes substitute for commitment.

It isn't practical or logical to coach someone who isn't committed to accomplishing something "unprecedented" in his or her experience. Coaching is inherently about achieving breakthroughs and a breakthrough is something that hasn't occurred before - a new level of competency or new action or unprecedented result.

Commitment is a phenomenon that while clear in almost everyone's direct experience when it is present, is generally unexamined and somewhat mysterious in everyday living. Two basic premises in our work is the view that:
a) everyone is always committed to something whether they are aware of it or not and
b) often our commitments are cultural in nature, that is we've become committed to interpretations and practices given us from the past and relate to them as "truths" without rigorous examination or choice.


In a coaching culture, the commitments to the future come first and then the planning is about how to accomplish or deliver on those commitments. One must be willing to authentically commit to a breakthrough BEFORE there is evidence that it can be accomplished or it can never be accomplished except as a consequence of "good luck" or some other circumstantial explanation.

Specifically, we might summarize the competencies of coaches (or leaders) as involving the following elements. A coach:
  • Commits to and builds powerful, committed and trusting relationships
  • Is grounded in an awareness of and responsibility for their own "blind spots"
  • Grants total freedom, choice and power to those they coach --- is vulnerable
  • Is more committed to the others commitments and results than the person being coached is --- an unreasonable stand FOR the other person
  • Generates bigger possibilities for breakthroughs and accomplishment
  • Is focused on listening for commitment and action
  • Observes the others behavior and conversations for inconsistencies with the stated commitment or possibility, often revealing unexamined commitments and beliefs
  • Formulates and offers interpretations and practices to align actions and commitment in a context of the organization's vision and values
  • Manages conversations and moods of people involved in the game is able to "generate" new conversations to displace old ones and doesn't fix people, but allows them to be responsible for their own moods and interpretations.
  • Uses breakdowns, constraints, adversity, mistakes or undesirable results as "positive" information and as "assets" for improving performance or as raw material for creative inquiry and design of new processes and practices
  • "Comes from" the point of view that the results have already been accomplished and has a creative relationship with the future --- does not play the game to cope with circumstance or find out what will happen --- is inventing the future
  • Operates with clarity and consistency of his or her own commitments and "walks the talk" at all times --- speaks and listens commitment
  • Maintains an active relationship and dialogue with his or her own coach --- "pushes the envelope" of their own thinking, actions and accomplishment
These practices aren't unique or limited to only a context of coaching. They tend to occur naturally in highly responsible leaders and people broadly in times of crisis. I believe they are present in many instances of great accomplishment and leadership.

These are "contextual competencies" in that they all relate to distinguishing what is missing or what is occurring in the background of a situation. One question that has particular relevance to organizations, however, is "can they be systematically learned or are they simply natural qualities that one must be 'born with', acquire through fortuitous circumstances of life, or appear only when there is an organizational crisis?"

The answer is clearly "yes". These competencies can be systematically learned and mastered. Qualities and abilities such as committed listening, having compassion, living as one's word, being responsible, generating trust, creating possibilities and so forth are obviously desirable and often attributable to others --- however, they can be elusive when we try to learn them ourselves or teach them to others.

These kinds of qualities and abilities all have to do with our way of being, with who we are as committed human beings. Normally, when attempting to develop these qualities in others, we are often perceived as "preaching" them as virtues.

Knowledge and pre-existing processes can be taught. Ways of Being or "contextual competencies" can be coached. Learning to be a coach is primarily to learn a different way of Being. When this occurs, the above competencies are obviously appropriate and with practice tend to develop quickly and naturally.

If the focus shifts to "what are people's commitments" and "how are they 'seeing' their situation", it becomes obvious that many other interpretations are possible such as, "success depends on satisfying customers and other stakeholders including our families". In this context there isn't a problem, just a commitment and other questions such as "how do I satisfy all my stakeholders in the time I am committed to working. This in turn will often reveal new strategies, missing competencies and networks of people who might help. A new context or cultural "opening" doesn't proscribe action or solve problems, but leads to new thinking and actions depending upon the commitments of those involved.

Creating a "coaching culture" involves a multi-faceted strategy.

Being Responsible for the "Box". This involves various methods for displaying or "showing" the existing culture. This is the "box" often referred to when challenging people to "get out of their box". This is more than simple description and is the result of questioning conventional wisdom and revealing AS CULTURE many of the hallway conversations and points of view that are widely shared within the organization but rarely addressed.

For example, if we ask, "what does everybody know about the way things get done around here", people will begin to articulate this conventional wisdom such as "you must get the boss's permission before you do something or you will be punished". This kind of generalized belief can persist even when the boss has encouraged risk-taking and independent action.

The result of this step is the recognition that our culture is not a problem but is the phenomenon that blinds us to possibilities and actions that would allow us to create an "unpredictable" future.

Creating a bigger Game. It is important for the leadership of the organization to undertake a serious learning process and open themselves to being coached with respect to "what is the future we are committed to creating?". This usually is in the form of an organizational vision, but not one created as a "picture of the future" but as a ground of being from which to organize and align actions on a day-to-day basis.

The result of this step is the alignment of the top team on the "game we are playing" and an authentic commitment to learning and changing themselves as appropriate. They are committed to "walking the talk" and demonstrating new ways of being as models for the rest of the organization.

Walking the Talk. To anchor the foundation and sustain "new ways of being" requires a company solidify its new culture through design of processes and practices consistent with this new worldview.

Coaching isn't a onetime relationship or intervention. In most fields, the more competent and more professional a player, the more their demand for and reliance on coaching. In a coaching culture, coaching isn't a role, but the practicing of coaching competencies in every situation. Everyone is open to both giving and receiving coaching as appropriate to their abilities and concerns. My partner Karen is my coach in some domains and I am her coach in others.

Coaching is a partnership between human beings in which one person can empower another to accomplish more than is possible on their own. When commitment and actions are aligned, the coach is able to assist in creating larger and larger possibilities and learning becomes an "upward creative spiral".

Continuous Learning. Creating culture is to continuously transfer coaching capabilities and responsibilities through continuous learning and through the organization's practices for recruiting and for moving people between jobs, including transferring accountability when people retire.

In a coaching culture, everything that everyone is doing comes down to:
a) What am I committed to accomplishing.
b) With whom am I coordinating commitments.
c) What do I see is missing or in the way to fulfilling our commitments.
d) What possibilities and actions am I committed to now?

In a coaching culture the organization is seen as a network of people coordinating commitments for the sake of accomplishing a common future.

The "coaching approach" allows an organization to get at what is beneath all the things that are traditionally in the way of becoming the organization that they want to be. It goes beyond addressing symptoms or problems or putting a band-aid on what is wrong.

Coaching creates sustainable positive changes in "the way things are". The ontological underpinnings of this approach, which deals with the nature of being, allow people to experience themselves and their world more directly and have a more responsible relationship with whatever they see is limiting them.

In a coaching culture an environment is created in which context is just as important as content and becomes the main lever for creating a future that is not already constrained by the past. Coaches accomplish this by distinguishing all the background "conversations" that usually stop people and keep them trapped in their reasons for not having what they say they want.

"Coaching competencies" are the practices that allow a person to be effective in the domain of context or culture. Coaching an organization's members to learn them in practice and move toward mastery in these areas leads to having an organizational culture where commitment to clarity and results in more important than the historical and unexamined attachment to reasons, justifications, control and predictable outcomes.

Creating a coaching culture is the fastest and most sustainable strategy for an organization committed to continuously reinventing itself and for being successful in a complex and globally interconnected world characterized by constant and unpredictable change.
Comments

Staff meetings

2/9/2010

Comments

 
The purpose of the staff meeting is efficient organizational and team communication. As a manager we have a responsibility to communicate with your team. To your team members, we are the company.

If your team doesn’t know something about the organization that they should we need to take responsibility as we are the one’s who are meant to communicate to them about what you’ve heard, Seen, Read, know, Think, Believe or surmise about what’s going on upstream.


The most effective way to hold a staff meeting's is weekly. This is a time to catch up and discuss the past week and the weeks coming. If you don’t do them weekly you’re probably indulging a personal bias in tasks over people. Directive number one in the Effective Leadership Triangle is “Stop putting personal preferences ahead of organizational effectiveness”.


Have an agenda to everyone in advance. An agenda must have a start time for each topic and the start times should be followed. Use a parking lot for items that need to be re addressed. Set ground rules in the first meeting and continue to refer to them through out the course of the meetings. Let you staff create and manage the ground rules.


The staff meeting is for everyone to attend, no exception. If a person reports to you they are to attend the staff meeting.


Start the meeting with a welcome and go through the agenda which everyone should have. Touch on the ground rules again if necessary.


Allow 15 minutes for a “waterfall” of information that has come from up stream and need to be passed onto your directs. You are not communicated to; you are communicated through. Include in the waterfall of topics “This is what it means for us”


Schedule 15 minutes for special topics/reports/updates. This is a chance for you to delegate and coach one of your directs to deliver information on a special project they are working on, or to pass on new information to the team they have discovered that has helped them to be more effective. This time could be used for a brain storming session on a new project.


Each direct gets 10 minutes to brief the team on their achievements and progress to goals and company objectives. Encourage each person to present using a flip chart and highlight numbers for which they are accountable. Use the traffic light signal for progress. Green light/Pen around a number means they are on track. Orange needs focus. Red is at a stop and full resources are needed to get back to orange and then green. Each team member will hold each other accountable.


Intermittently ask for feedback from staff on the meeting. What's working well and what needs to be looked at for improvement.
Comments

Upgrade talent and up skill.

6/6/2010

Comments

 
Coach and support in ways that help them improve their productivity.
Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2015
    January 2015
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010

    Categories

    All
    7 Habits
    Abraham Lincoln
    Abuse Power
    Abusive
    Accountable
    Achievable
    Achieve
    Action Plan
    Adaptability
    Alexander Graham Bell
    Ambition
    Ambitions
    Angry
    Annual Reviews
    Apologize
    Apple
    Approval
    Attitudes
    Axioms
    Bad Behaviors
    Bad Boss
    Basic Principles.
    Behavior
    Believe
    Boss
    Bully
    Bureaucracy
    Burn Out
    Busy
    Candor
    Care
    Career
    Career Development
    Cause
    Ceo
    Challenges
    Challenging
    Change
    Chaos
    Character
    Charisma
    Checklist
    Childhood
    Christmas
    Churchill
    Clock Builder
    Coaching
    Coaching Action Plan
    Coca Cola
    Cold Call
    Colin Powell
    Colorose
    Commitment
    Communicate
    Communication
    Communicators
    Competence
    Competition
    Competitors
    Conflict
    Confrontation
    Connect
    Connectivity
    Consistency
    Conversation
    Courage
    Courageous
    Creativity
    Credibility
    Criticism
    Culture
    Customer
    Customers
    Dalai Lama
    Dale Carnegie
    David Thodey
    Decision Maker
    Decisions
    Decisiveness
    Dedicated
    Delayering
    Delegation
    Developing
    Development
    Differentiation
    Difficult Employee
    Dilutions
    Diplomacy
    Disc
    Discipline
    Discouraged
    Doers
    Dream
    Effective
    Effectiveness
    Effective People
    Ego
    Emerging Leaders
    Emotional
    Emotions
    Employees
    Employment
    Empower
    Empowering Leader
    Empowerment
    Enemies
    Engage
    Engagement
    Enthusiasm
    Entrepreneurs
    Ethical
    Ethics
    Expect
    Expectations
    Experts
    Facebook
    Fear
    Feedback
    Firing Someone
    Focus
    Foundation
    Friends
    Friendship
    Game
    Geniuses
    George Washington
    Goals
    Google
    Gospa
    Gossip
    Growth
    Habit
    Harvard
    Helping
    Hobbies
    Honesty
    Hope
    Horstman's Laws
    House
    Hr
    Humility
    Idea
    Idea's
    Identity
    Influence
    Insanity
    Inspiration
    Inspire
    Jack Welch
    Jim Collins
    Jim Rohn
    Job Performance
    Job Satisfaction
    Job Seekers
    John Maxwell
    Lead By Example
    Leader
    Leaderning
    Leaders
    Leadership
    Leadership Qualities
    Leading
    Learn
    Learning
    Legacy
    Lessons
    Lessons Life Taught
    Listening
    Lou Holtz
    Love
    Loyality
    Management
    Manager
    Managers
    Managing
    Managing Up624f2380c5
    Manipulative
    Marketing
    Mark Twain
    Martin Luther King Jr
    Meaning
    Meeting
    Mentoring
    Micromanages
    Mission
    Mission Statement
    Mistake
    Mistakes
    Moodiness
    Motivate
    Motivation
    Multidimensionality
    Myers Briggs
    Network
    One On Ones
    Opportunities
    Oprah
    Organization
    Organizational Commitment
    Organizations
    Overachievers
    Passion
    Passionate
    Passiveaggressive4cb939360a
    Pattom
    People
    Performance
    Performance Management
    Persistence
    Persuasive
    Peter Drucker
    Petty People
    Pip
    Pitch
    Planning
    Poor Performers
    Positive Attitudes
    Positive Leadership
    Power
    Prepair
    Pride
    Priorities
    Proactive
    Productivity
    Professional
    Promote
    Purpose
    Pursuit
    Push Back
    Quotes
    Recognize
    Relationships
    Reputation
    Respect
    Responsibility
    Resume
    Richard Austin
    Ridge
    Risk
    Roosevelt
    Sacrafice
    Sacrifices
    Sales
    Sales Team
    Secrets
    Selfconfidence
    Selfconfidenceef32ab1bf4
    Selfmasteryb72a7fe0f0
    Selling
    Simon Inek
    Simplicity
    Six Sigma
    Skills
    Smart Goals
    Smile
    Social Media
    Sorry
    Speaking
    Staff
    Staff Meeting
    Star Performer
    Start
    Stephen R Covey
    Steve Jobs
    Stress
    Success
    Succession Planning
    Support
    Tact
    Tasks
    Team
    Team Leader
    Teams
    Team Work
    Technology
    Thankyou
    Theodore Roosevelt
    The Truth About Leadership
    Thomas Jefferson
    Thought
    Tim Cook
    Time Management
    To Do
    Todo List86df8ef42f
    True Selves
    Trust
    Truth
    Twitter
    Uncertainty
    Value
    Valuebased Leadership
    Value Proposition
    Values
    Vision
    Visionary Company
    Visulizing
    Who We Are
    Why
    Willingness To Sacrifice
    Willingness To Take Risks
    Win
    Winners
    Winning
    Win People
    Win-win
    Wisdom
    Wise
    Work
    Work Life Balance
    Workplace
    Worry
    Yes-men

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Christian Whamond
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.