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- Herausgeber: tredition
- Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
To date, coaching is largely known as a 1:1 dialogue which can help managers overcome performance deficits. However, coaching can offer companies much more than that: when organised and implemented correctly, it can mobilise managers' knowledge, skills and volition of relevance to the future, thus having a positive effect on a company's development and transformation processes. This book presents the various roles of senior management when developing an internal coaching model, along with how to develop such an internal coaching model to meet future requirements, the different types of group coaching available, and what coaching can do at various levels within the hierarchy to support a company's change processes. Here, the authors put forward an entirely new understanding of coaching as a company development tool with the aim of showing readers how to develop and roll out a futureproof coaching model. As well as presenting the extended basics of coaching and suitable coaching models, this book provides a series of checklists that HR development staff can use as guides at their company. In addition, this book provides advice on finding and acquiring the right professional coaches on the market. The real-life questions at the end of each chapter as well as the illustrations and checklists are all structured such that they can be used as a guide for developing and updating a company's internal coaching offer. This book also serves as a guide for HR development managers and senior management looking to put together a coaching model to tackle future requirements. Finally, this book can be used as a textbook when training as a coach or looking to expand one's skill set.
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Britt A. WredeKarin Wiesenthal
Coaching for Industry 4.0
Empowerment for development and transformation
Copyright: © 2019: Britt A. Wrede and Karin Wiesenthal
Translation: Andrew Rennison
Published by tredition
www.tredition.de
tredition GmbH
Halenreie 40-44
22359 Hamburg
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher and author.
Thanks for the experience of a blessed co-creation
Preamble
The impact of globalisation and the challenges ahead of us as a result of digitalisation are driving an increase in the long-standing complexity of market developments while also appearing to accelerate the speed at which change is taking place. This gives rise to the question of how human resources, i.e. human potential within a company, can be used more extensively, and how the full potential of managers and staff can be tapped into and fostered with the aim of turning the entire business into a ‘learning company’ in a wider sense.
The learning company, a theoretical concept initially developed by Western industry in response to the perceived threat posed by Japan, has since been implemented successfully in various different guises by an increasing number of companies. The concept involves thinking in human resources and evolves constantly as a result of new insights and practical experience. It was and still is difficult to introduce to technology-driven companies because they logically invest in physical capital, meaning that investments in training, i.e. learning, are generally forced to take a more backseat role. It remains to be seen whether this is attributable to the general structure of engineering degree courses which typically focus on technical issues. Either way, company executives and managers are often unsure of how they should invest in people to release and benefit from their potential. Many companies have leadership principles in place where the onus is on managers to train and develop staff. But how should they go about training and developing people? This task shouldn’t simply be passed on to personnel development specialists, it’s also up to every manager to know how ‘to invest in people’, i.e. to understand how people learn. Here, learning isn’t just about acquiring and refreshing knowledge and skills, it also extends to using specific results gleaned from reflection and cognitive processes that coaching provides in a targeted manner.
Over the years I’ve gathered a great deal of scientific and practical experience as a result of researching and teaching educational economics at the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. This experience also involved putting knowledge gained from university research into practice in line with national and regional developments. In doing so, I soon became convinced that human resources, i.e. people and their knowledge, skills and volition, are the decisive economic factor. I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to put my scientific conviction into practice thanks to state-sponsored pilot projects and in my role as head of central training at Volkswagen AG. I also helped establish the ‘staff development’ course at the TU Braunschweig in Germany where (prospective) managers learn ‘how to develop and qualify staff’.
My first encounter with coaching was in the workplace. At that time, I considered coaching to be a concept aimed at helping individual managers overcome certain performance deficits, a view that was likely shared by colleagues at other companies. Since then, however, public awareness of coaching as a means of unlocking potential has grown and it’s now seen as a way to discover new individual options, and as a means of fostering and making use of creativity. Nowadays, coaching is considered a valuable tool for corporate development and key to all change and transformation processes.
This is the contribution coaching can make at a lot of companies looking for creative solutions to the challenges of the future.
We need to acknowledge that a company’s potential is limited by the defined roles and duties of its managers and staff, meaning that their knowledge, skills and volition only ever partially come to the fore. This untapped potential can be released during a coaching dialogue involving reflection of unconscious knowledge and associated skills. No knowledge is ‘added’ to the coaching user; instead, the dialogue serves to trigger the person’s inherent behavioural options and passive attitudes. This is what sets coaching apart from other forms of dialogue such as training, consulting and mentoring. In terms of corporate development, coaching provides a broad set of tools which can be adapted to the given needs and interests.
I highly recommend company executives look into the many opportunities of coaching provided in this book. This is all the more important because a management board’s commitment to coaching will drive development forward and lend extra impetus to the process of searching for unconscious human potential that remains untapped to date. This book by Britt A. Wrede and Karin Wiesenthal is a comprehensive interpretation of modern coaching based on their wide-ranging experience and shows how companies stand to benefit. It deserves a broad readership.
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Peter Meyer-Dohm
Foreword
Society is changing at a great pace, and technology is advancing at an exponential rate. Every-Wthing is going digital, which involves major changes within business and the economy at large. Many decision-makers have already come to the conclusion that action needs to be taken on a number of levels, and this extends to digital transformation.
What does coaching have to do with all this? Transformation and digitalisation are based on a corresponding mindset. Every kind of transformation also requires everyone involved to adapt their thought processes and stance. I can’t think of anything better than coaching as a means of reflecting on what is largely an unconscious mindset while also fostering ways of thinking, speaking and acting that are expedient to change processes. On an individual level, coaching nurtures awareness, in turn enabling us to tap into potential that has remained unused to date.
Another aspect that makes coaching appealing in terms of transformation at companies is that each transformation requires extensive conscious reflection by everyone involved at the company. This reflection unleashes innovative potential, highlights any impediments in the necessary innovation process, and opens the door to additional options for change. Using coaches who accompany transformational processes can have a major impact on change processes at a company.
Working in HR, I know from personal experience that a company’s human resources structure and workflows also need to keep pace with the digitalisation process, and their own transformation process can only run smoothly if it is well coordinated with the senior management team. I have personally experienced the change of mindset required to introduce modern HR methods that will serve tomorrow’s corporate landscape. In my opinion, coaching was key to achieving this mindset.
This book is aimed at all decision-makers, including people in HR, who want to ‘separate the wheat from the chaff’ and benefit from effective coaching so that each individual member of staff can make a valuable contribution. It is also suited to people who consider themselves drivers of Industry 4.0 and are looking to maximise the transformational potential of coaching for their business. This book takes coaching and all of the potential it wields for individuals and companies as a whole, and structures it into an easy-to-manage handbook that (HR) decision-makers can call upon at any time as a reference and guide for using coaching to great effect in their company.
I have met the authors in a number of different roles and recommend readers of this book attend a reading group if they get the chance to do so.
Angelika Kambeck,
Head of Group HR, Klöckner & Co SE
Content
1 Introduction
Section I - What coaching can achieve
2 What is coaching?
2.1 Definition of coaching
2.2 Dramaturgy of the coaching process
2.3 Real-life questions
2.4 Chapter 2 checklist: Achieve a mutual understanding of coaching and its intended purpose
3 Coaching compared to other useful forms of dialogue
3.1 Coaching is not consulting
3.2 Coaching is not supervision
3.3 Coaching is not psychotherapy
3.4 Coaching is not training
3.5 Coaching is not mentoring
3.6 Coaching hybrid
3.7 Real-life questions
3.8 Chapter 3 checklist: Choose the right kind of dialogue
4 The different types of coaching
4.1 1: 1 coaching
4.2 Short-term coaching and hot calls
4.3 Team coaching
4.4 Coaching programme
4.5 Webinars and other digital offerings
4.6 Real-life questions
4.7 Chapter 4 checklist: Which types of coaching should be offered?
5 The various interests regarding coaching at companies
5.1 The interests of the main characters – the coach and coaching user
5.2 The interests of the senior management
5.3 The interests of the works council
5.4 The interests of the purchasing department
5.5 The interests of the HR development team
5.6 The interests of people indirectly involved
5.7 Real-life questions
5.8 Chapter 5 checklist: Accommodating the variousinterests in the coaching model
6 The benefit of coaching
6.1 Effect and benefit for the coaching user
6.2 Positive effect and benefit for the company
6.3 Real-life questions
6.4 Chapter 6 checklist: Maximise the benefit of coaching
Section II – Favourable conditions
7 A good coaching model
7.1 A concept only describing the booking process is not enough
7.2 Senior management patronage
7.3 Develop a coaching model using a participatory process
7.4 Put a suitable coaching maxim first
7.5 Create a customised booking process
7.6 Coaching types to suit the model
7.7 Identify requirements for a coach
7.8 Do it yourself or call in outside assistance
7.9 Real-life questions
7.10 Chapter 7 checklist: Evaluate the quality of a coaching concept
8 Attract good coaches
8.1 Show respect when establishing contact
8.2 Foster a cooperative dialogue on equal terms
8.3 Ensure prompt initial assignment
8.4 Provide a smooth, transparent process
8.5 End the business relationship in an appreciative manner
8.6 Publicise use of coaching
8.7 Real-life questions
8.8 Chapter 8 checklist: Attract good coaches
Section III – How to organise coaching in your company
9 Establishing contact
9.1 The role of the HR development team as a professional service provider when establishing contact
9.2 Coaching agreement scope
9.3 Real-life questions
9.4 Chapter 9 checklist: HR’s participation interest vs. coaching user’s interest in maximum confidentiali
10 Fostering good relations with a coach
10.1 Provide the coach with all the relevant details
10.2 Suspend contact
10.3 Manage points of contact in an appreciative way and in the interest of the coach
10.4 Invite and recommend the coach
10.5 Real-life questions
10.6 Chapter 10 checklist: Fostering relations between HR development staff and the coach
11 Handling complaints professionally
11.1 A professional and straightforward complaints procedure
11.2 Claiming redress from a coach
11.3 Prevention is better than cure
11.4 Real-life questions
11.5 Chapter 11 checklist: Handling complaints professionally
12 Evaluating coaching
12.1 Evaluate effectiveness once coaching is complete
12.2 Feedback forms only provide partially valid data
12.3 External, anonymised evaluation process
12.4 Discern the effect of coaching programmes
12.5 Real-life questions
12.6 Chapter 12 checklist: Evaluate the effectiveness of coaching
Section IV – How coaching can benefit a company’s development and transformation processes at different hierarchy levels
13 Development and transformation processes in companies
13.1 Dynamics of change of development and transformation processes
13.2 The different requirements for coaching in development and transformation processes
13.3 Real-life questions
13.4 Chapter 13 checklist: Development and transformation processes in companies
14 Coaching in change processes for top management
14.1 Special requirements of top management in change processes
14.2 Aspects of coaching specific to top management
14.3 Real-life questions
14.4 Chapter 14 checklist: Organising coaching for top managers
15 Coaching in change processes for division heads
15.1 Special requirements for division heads in change processes
15.2 Aspects of coaching specific to division heads
15.3 Real-life questions
15.4 Chapter 15 checklist: Organising coaching for division heads
16 Coaching for department heads
16.1 One-on-one coaching for department heads
16.2 Coaching programmes for department heads
16.3 Real-life questions
16.4 Chapter 16 checklist: Organising coaching for department heads
17 Snap coaching and hot calls for employees
17.1 Snap coaching
17.2 Hot calls for employee coaching dialogues
17.3 Real-life questions
17.4 Chapter 17 checklist: Organising coaching for employees
18 Coaching in HR
18.1 Special requirements of HR development staff in change processes
18.2 Coaching programme to assist in transforming the perception of the HR development team’s role
18.3 Real-life questions
18.4 Chapter 18 checklist: Self-check for future-oriented HR development staff
Epilogue
The Authors
Britt A. Wrede
Top management coach; Britt A. Wrede is a pioneer having brought coaching to German companies at the start of the 1990s. She has been coaching top executives for 10 years and advises senior management teams when it comes to change processes. Alongside her work as a coach, Britt A. Wrede has published numerous specialist articles and is involved with several coaching associations where she has helped drive the emerging coaching standards. She is considered unwavering in her approach to quality and ethics in coaching, while companies see her as a coach with a keen eye for opportunities. She has a talent for identifying the potential benefits of a good coaching model at a company, and assists everyone involved to turn potential into reality. She is a fan of reading groups when it comes to training and development.
Karin Wiesenthal
Coach & co-creative facilitator; Thanks to her many years of experience gleaned from international project management and leadership positions, Karin Wiesenthal is an expert when it comes to corporate structures. She has first-hand experience of the demands that growth imposes upon executives during major transformation processes, and she knows just how helpful reflecting dialogues with professional counterparts can be when faced with such challenging situations. Her process organisation and clarity, combined with her attentiveness and flexibility to adapt to the situation at hand, make her a highly sought-after expert for co-creative dialogues so as to uncover and arrive at solutions for complex issues. Karin Wiesenthal’s clients consider her an analytical and empathetic sparring partner.
1
Introduction
Companies are currently faced with ubiquitous changes that are the side effects of two megatrends: globalisation and digitalisation. Everything appears to point to Industry 4.0, which is visible on the horizon but no-one can say where it leads to. What is clear at this time, however, is that the horizon is by no means the end of it all.
Any changes we make to adapt to current economic developments are also accompanied by far-reaching transformations that lead to restructuring within companies. These changes may end up running so deep that a company introduces entirely new business models that cannibalise its core business.
This is all occurring in a fast-moving market defined by global competition and people who are certainly willing to adapt to changing performance expectations but are nevertheless not yet fully aware of the volatility of the demands surrounding them. Frequently, there are only a few senior executives at a company who are able to interpret the signs of the times. To date, we have experienced various individual executives who have tried to introduce an innovative mindset at their company in the hope of fostering a modern environment to effect change from within the business.
Experience shows that profound changes on a material level are always linked to profound changes in terms of consciousness and stance. Such changes of stance are linked to a viable shift in behaviour which then brings about the change itself. If we want to win people over so they play an active part in shaping profound changes, we need to find a way of tapping into their consciousness.
We believe that coaching is the most effective tool for gradual long-term enhancement of a person’s consciousness and inner stance. Coaching helps create the consciousness and stance needed to bring about new behaviour within the mechanism of ‘thought drives speech which drives action’.
The change and innovation approaches currently in widespread use often involve several new methods such as design thinking, Scrum, U-Process and agile process models that are all aimed at helping the user achieve a positive experience by being actively involved in change. Ultimately, none of these methods are advanced enough to facilitate transformation on a level of consciousness to the extent that coaching can. The benefit of coaching is that it enables innovation to take place without any fixed expectations in terms of results. These innovations then play a part in ensuring the company’s viability going forward. If a transformation on a level of consciousness does occasionally occur with these methods, then the facilitators were always accompanied by a coach who knows the tools of their trade.
This book is an invitation to embark upon a journey of learning. The first section describes an entirely new understanding of coaching, while the second section sets out the conditions required to ensure that the inherent potential of coaching can be tapped into and used for the benefit of both the individual and the company. The third section outlines how coaching at a company should be aligned with its intended purpose, while the fourth and final section shows how coaching should be specifically tailored to the various levels of hierarchy to ensure maximum effect for the company’s transformational processes.
This book provides a number of real-life examples. Each chapter provides illustrations and ends with a checklist so that content can be put into practice. As is the case with good coaching, this structure was chosen specifically to enable various different types of reader to embark upon this journey of learning.
I
Section I - What coaching can achieve
Chapter 2
What is coaching?
Chapter 3
Coaching compared to other useful forms of dialogue
Chapter 4
The different types of coaching
Chapter 5
The various interests regarding coaching at companies
Chapter 6
The benefit of coaching
Coaching releases untapped potential
If everything goes as according to plan, coaching will release hitherto untapped potential in the coaching user. This then enables the coaching user to achieve results of their own accord that previously appeared unattainable. If the company can organise itself in such a way that it is able to maintain the potential released from the coaching user and make use of it time and again, coaching can prove to be a key tool for corporate development. In order to gain a better understanding of coaching as a direct means of fostering individuals and as an indirect means of developing a company, we should note that coaching does not set out to furnish the coaching user with new skills or expertise. Instead, coaching should serve to trigger inherent behavioural options and help the coaching user release these thought and behavioural options and then make good use of them. In expert circles this is known as releasing potential.
Achieve goals by simply thinking, speaking and acting
The question that comes up time and again in this context is whether every type of behaviour can be seen as an option in every person. This purely academic question can be skipped here because it is clear that the majority of goals that people genuinely pursue can be achieved by the simple skills of thinking, speaking and acting. An average ability to think, speak and act is usually enough to achieve goals, even if the objective extends far beyond the coaching user current comfort zone. It is fair to say that any healthy adult has at least an average ability to think, speak and act, and if complemented by intuition and talent, the discovery and implementation process will be swifter. This, in turn, lends the target achievement process a certain degree of levity, but it is not a prerequisite for successful coaching.
Coaching enables you to think in terms of solutions
The potential tapped into during coaching and subsequently released by the coaching user leads to an enhancement of attitude, stance and behaviour. This enhancement is not only beneficial to the circumstances surrounding the issue at hand, it also influences the level of disposition to future challenges in such a way that the person thinks more in terms of solutions rather than problems. Another benefit of this enhancement is that coaching users are more willing to see themselves as having an active role in the given circumstances and will therefore ask how they and their team can come up with feasible solutions to future challenges.
In summary we can say that coaching boosts a coaching user’s self-efficacy, and this can also be extended to those around them.
The topics provided in Figure I.1 should be reflected upon in advance to enable coaching to be a direct way to foster individuals and an indirect way to develop a company.
Fig. I.1 Topics for prior reflection to facilitate effective coaching.
2
What is coaching?
2.1 Definition of coaching
2.2 Dramaturgy of the coaching process
2.3 Real-life questions
2.4 Chapter 2 checklist: Achieve a mutual understanding of coaching and its intended purpose
Summary
Coaching is a specific form of dialogue. Currently, the widespread assumption is that coaching serves to correct performance deficits. There is also a kind of urban legend surrounding coaching where people think it is a highly personal and highly empathetic service similar to psychotherapy rather than being a feasible way of developing managers and bringing about change within a company. However, the entire process, including every single dialogue designed to empower the coaching user to achieve specific, measurable goals, is intrinsic to coaching. The dramaturgy of the coaching process, both as a whole and during individual sessions, is shaped in such a way that it enables the coaching user to bring knowledge to the fore which they were previously unaware of so they can then apply it when working on their current goal. This process of becoming aware leads to a change in behaviour which benefits both the coaching user and their surroundings.
2.1 Definition of coaching
A good way of fostering an understanding of the effect of coaching and what it can achieve for individuals and companies (cf. Fig. 2.1) is to look at the characteristics of coaching.
Coaching is described as being a highly specific form of dialogue. We could even go so far as to call it an independent method since each individual coaching dialogue and the coaching process as a whole are part of a system that can be repeated at will.
Coaching focuses on specific, measurable goals involving strictly observed roles and tasks, followed by a coaching-specific dramaturgy.
Dialogue involving questions and answers without providing tips or instructions
a. Specific form of dialogue means that the conversation largely involves questions and answers where the coach does not provide any tips or instructions. The coach’s questions serve to give the coaching user food for thought and, where possible, an opportunity for holistic reflection. This gives rise to a rhythmic triad of question-silence-reply until the coaching user arrives at a new, enhanced insight.
b. The dialogue focuses on specific, measurable goals. This therefore requires a clear definition of the intended outcome of coaching before getting started. Each objective should be laid out clearly, followed by an agreement on specific goal-achievement indicators so the coaching user is able to clearly determine – without the need for additional interpretation – that their coaching was successful in the end. Alongside this, a specific goal – a session goal – is to be agreed upon at the start of each session. Once the session draws to a close, the coach and coaching user agree on whether this goal has been achieved during the session and how this specific goal has contributed to the overarching goal of the coaching process.
The coaching user chooses the coaching goal, the individual session goals, and the subjects to be discussed. The coaching user is solely in charge of the subjects to be discussed, while the coach is responsible for the steering process. As a result, the coach and coaching user interact with one another on an equal footing.
Fig. 2.1 The effect of coaching
Results are made measurable thanks to specificgoal-achievement intdicators
The coaching user chooses the subjects The coach chooses the process
c. The roles and duties assigned within the coaching dialogue are clearly definded and never change during an ongoing coching process. Dialogues directly involve a coach and a coaching user. The terms coachee and client are often used to describe the person who receives coaching, but we have specifically and intentionally opted to coin the term ‘coaching user’ as it is indicative of the person’s active involvement in the process. The terms coachee and client convey a somewhat passive undertone that gives the impression the person is merely ‘receiving coaching’ rather than actively shaping the dialogue and participating in the process as a whole. The company that commissions coaching, i.e. the coach’s formal contracting party, is referred to here as the customer or the client.
The duties involved in the process are also clearly defined. The coaching user tasks the coach with helping them to unlock their skills and volition in order to achieve goals within an ever-changing environment. The coaching user chooses the pace and subjects to be covered during individual sessions and as a whole. The coach then provides a structure for individual dialogues as well as for the entire coaching process that empowers and enables the coaching user to arrive at insights. Put simply, the coaching user chooses the subjects, while the coach chooses the process. This ‘division of labour’ makes the two parties equal partners throughout the coaching process. Since the potential of coaching can only really unfold when there is a dialogue in the true sense of the word, the coach also benefits from the process. As part of the coaching user’s cognitive process, the coach also uncovers new circumstances and opportunities in life they otherwise would not have been aware of. This means that the coach may also experience a shift in paradigm. Nevertheless, the concurrent interest the coach exhibits in the form of curiosity during each dialogue is always secondary to the coaching user’s interests and therefore of marginal importance during any given dialogue.
d. When it comes to the steering process, the coach focuses their attention on the dramaturgical process, both during individual sessions and as a whole.
2.2 Dramaturgy of the coaching process
Fig. 2.2 Process and session dramaturgy during coaching
The dramaturgy of the coaching process (cf. Fig. 2.2) mainly consists of three phases:
- Start of coaching – This is the phase where a coaching agreement is entered into, followed by initial interventions to ensure that the coaching user has no doubts about their expectations for success.
- Main body of coaching – This is the phase where dialogues aim to guide the coaching user to new insights, in turn enabling them to release potential.
- Conclusion of coaching – This is the phase where dialogues reflect upon the outcome of the coaching and then bring the working relationship to a close.
Arc of suspense for the coaching process and sessions
On a smaller level, sessions also consist of three phases:
- Start of session – This is the phase where the aim of the session and the subjects to be discussed are agreed upon.
- Intervention phase – This is where the coach provides the coaching user with cognitive stimuli so as to enable them to reflect upon the agreed subjects.
- Conclusion of session – This is the phase where the coaching user reflects upon the session and both users then bring it to a close.
This description covers the purely formal aspects of dramaturgy visible from the outside. It outlines when scope is to be provided for a certain subject within a dialogue. However, this dramaturgy can only achieve its aim if the coach follows the coaching user’s path of findings and insights rather than simply working through each of the dramaturgical points.
Find unconscious knowledge in the coaching user’s inner realms
A really good coach who can do their job in their sleep will use this dramaturgical process to steer the dialogue away from a conscious decision about the session subject. Instead the coach will guide the coaching user towards the deeper realms of their as yet unconscious knowledge and towards a certain degree of self-obliviousness. Stimulating questions then help the coaching user to dig deeper into their unconscious knowledge until they reach a point where they discover a new insight that is beneficial to the issue at hand. When an insight occurs, both the coach and the coaching user share a moment of silence until the coaching user begins to describe this new insight in their own words. This step enables the coaching user to be fully aware of and to retain their newly found insight. Once the insight is enhanced, both the coach and coaching user slowly resurface with the coaching user moving on to describe how they can apply their new insight to their coaching goal. At the end of this journey, which leads both the coach and coaching user to the inner realms of unconscious knowledge and back again, the coach encourages the coaching user to decide whether and how they will use their new insights when working towards their goal. This then gives the coaching user a brief opportunity to draw a conclusion in regards to the outcome of the session, followed by both the coach and coaching user bringing the session to a close.
If we add Fig. 2.2 to this process, we arrive at the image provided in Fig. 2.3.
Trust and empathy are required from the very beginning
This description shows that dialogues require a set of parameters. Right from the outset, the coaching user needs to trust the coach, while the coach needs to demonstrate empathy. As a result, the setting and framework for the dialogues have to enable the coaching user to trust the coach, and must also enable the coach to bring the required empathy.
Fig. 2.3 Insight process during coaching
2.3 Real-life questions
I own a company. Do I really need to understand coaching before introducing it at my company?
No, that’s not necessary. However, you should be open to coaching in such a way that you’re able to ‘promote’ it in a credible manner. I once worked with a managing director who was well-known for his critical attitude towards coaching. Even he was able to convince his upper management team of the benefits of coaching by introducing a participatory process which saw the upper management team involved in developing and adapting a coaching model to suit the company’s needs. The introduction of coaching at the company even saw the managing director develop an interest in coaching.
I always thought coaching was for staff who were causing problems and where superiors are unable to sort things out?!?
You’re not alone in that assumption. Society at large often considers coaching to be a means of correcting personal deficits. However, coaching is only highly effective for both individual users and for corporate development if it involves committed employees faced with particular challenges and goals who are prepared to leave their comfort zone to achieve greater things. Employees with minimal motivation levels who see little benefit in leaving their comfort zone will not get much out of good coaching.
In your case it makes more sense for the superior who ‘can’t sort things out’ to take advantage of coaching with the aim of enhancing their own managerial skills and achieving more drive.
The idea of introducing coaching at my company is new to me. If it’s not intended to rectify deficits, why should I go to all that effort?
I’d like to reply to this with an insight we gained from the leadership study we conducted in 2014. We saw that companies were underperforming given the level of knowledge, skills and volition on the part of the executives and staff. This potential can be tapped into and released during dialogues enabling employees to reflect upon their unconscious knowledge and associated skills. Key aspects of sustaining a company in the long term are to provide managers with dialogue skills training and to provide staff with an environment for dialogue where they can discover their unconscious knowledge. Coaching provides people with experience in such dialogues. One of my clients explained coaching to his managers as follows: “We don’t know what exactly will help us survive the battle against our competitors, but one thing I do know is that we need you and everything you have to offer. Please use coaching as an opportunity to tap into your full potential.”
You often hear tales of strange-sounding methods apparently used in coaching, such as painting, moving toy figures around on a board, or hugging trees in Tuscany. Is that really necessary?
No, of course not. There may be some coaches out there who use additional tools and methods to help coaching users to tap into their unconscious skills and knowledge. Such tools are generally used if the coach chooses not to get involved in the coaching user’s discovery process (as a means of self-protection). A good, experienced coach doesn’t require any such tools, although they’re likely to be aware of them and may even use them from time to time if it helps the coaching user to gain access to their inner mind.
2.4 Chapter 2 checklist:Achieve a mutual understanding of coaching and its intended purpose
Does everyone involved in developing a coaching concept for the company have a clear understanding of …
If it is not possible to clearly answer “yes” to all of those questions, the people affected/involved should meet up to arrive at a common understanding before moving on to work on the concept.
3
Coaching compared to other useful forms of dialogue
3.1 Coaching is not consulting
3.2 Coaching is not supervision
3.3 Coaching is not psychotherapy
3.4 Coaching is not training
3.5 Coaching is not mentoring
3.6 Coaching hybrid
3.7 Real-life questions
3.8 Chapter 3 checklist: Choose the right kind of dialogue
Summary
Not everything offered out there under the label of coaching is really coaching. This means there is often a large gap between expectations on both sides, with the service on offer failing to align with the user’s interests and opportunities. This kind of service can only reach its full potential once the expectations of such a service coincide with the specific purpose of the service and this purpose meets the user’s intentions. This is why it makes sense for the contracting company to make those involved aware of the differences. It is always a good idea to sensitise purchasers of coaching services to the differences between the various types of dialogue, so they are able to commission coaching only for requests that are best served by this dialogue format. Being able to distinguish between the various types of dialogue makes it easier to choose the right option. Anyone who understands the difference between coaching and other kinds of dialogue is able to identify excellent coaching by the description of the service.
Anyone using coaching should want coaching
For coaching to succeed, the coaching user has to want coaching and the provider has to actually offer coaching. Is the user looking for a reflection and cognitive process where they decide on the overarching goal of the coaching process as well as the questions they would like to address and the specific results they would like to achieve after each dialogue? Or is the user simply looking for a series of conversations where a competent service provider points out potential areas to be worked on using different methods with the aim of improving a situation?
As a well-known figure on the German consulting scene always says: “Anything that helps is justified. And what helps is generally anything offered with the intent of helping or which the user deems helpful.” Experience shows that once people understand coaching, they often choose to take advantage of coaching as a supportive form of dialogue. This is why we would like to point out the differences between the various types of dialogue so you are able to make an informed decision as to the right kind of dialogue.
Choose a type of dialogue to suit the purpose
There are various types of dialogue. Each approach has areas where it is most effective and, logically, more effective than the other approaches. It is fair to say that each approach has its own specific purpose (cf. Fig. 3.1). The following analogy makes it easy to show just how important it is to match the purpose with the means.
If you go to a bakery and ask for fruit, all you are going to get is fruit baked into pastry. You will probably find it difficult to make a fruit salad with that.
