Leading and coaching
This theme examines how you can maximise the contribution of your teams and the individuals within them. We focus on:
the role your leadership style can play in encouraging development, and
choosing an appropriate style to develop individuals’ skills, confidence and commitment.
One of the tools at your disposal is coaching. We will explore two other tools in the next theme on mentoring and delegating. Coaching is recognised as a powerful tool for learning and development. According to Johnson (2001), more than half of the Fortune 500 corporations offer their managers some form of performance coaching. With clear goals and supportive relationships, coaching can be a very effective technique for developing individuals and improving performance.
In this theme you will:
Explore the role of leadership in people development
Identify the leadership style you tend to use and evaluate the effects of your style on the development of your team members
Explore the role of coach and how this can be used when developing people
Improve your performance as a coach.
Leading people for competitive advantage
Influential management writers such as Rosabeth Moss Kanter in The Change Masters (1985), and Tom Peters and Robert Waterman in In Search of Excellence (1982) have stressed the importance of continuous development and creating empowered workers who can take responsibility for their work. They argue that the quality of staff is a key differentiator for organisations – and development can help to deliver the skills, knowledge and understanding that are essential to building competitive advantage for the organisation. As a manager you are well placed to maximise the contribution of your teams and individual staff members.
This theme focuses on the role your leadership style can play in encouraging development. It helps you to choose an appropriate leadership style to develop your people's skills, confidence and commitment.
How people respond to leaders
People respond to leaders in a number of ways and their responses are often influenced by:
their feelings about themselves and their situation
their feelings about the leader
their relationship with the leader
the style of leadership that the leader adopts.
Some of the factors above will undoubtedly be affected by the organisational and team cultures within which the individual and the leader operate.
The following short case study highlights different styles of leadership and their effect on an individual:
Julie was really happy in her job – the team had been together for nearly two years and everyone worked well together. One of the main reasons for this was Dennis, the team leader, who was a great guy – friendly, approachable and always around to help with problems. He had time for everyone and on the occasions when quaIity suffered or targets weren't met, it didn't really matter as Dennis always smoothed things ova with his boss. The team and their partners socialised regularly.
Because of a new product development project, Julie was transferred to a new team. She immediately felt uncomfortable with Sanjit, her new team leader. Sanjtt was pleasant enough, but he was very tight on quality and gave the team a hard time to make sure that they met all standards and targets. The team members all had different interests and didn't socialise very often. Sanjit also spent a lot of his time with his manager and other managers and less time with his team, saying they were perfectly capable of getting on with their jobs without him being around all of the time. Julie wasn't sure about this, although she liked the additional responsibilities she had been given by Sanjit.
From this short case study it is clear that Julie had mixed feelings about her transfer. She got on better with her previous team leader, but she was enjoying her new responsibilities. Over time, maybe after a chat with Sanjit or at her next appraisal, Julie may begin to recognise that her future career will be enhanced by demonstrating that she can do a good job when given additional responsibilities. She will also settle into the new team's way of working. You may be able to relate Julie's experience to your own experience of joining a new team.
Leadership styles
The leadership style you use influences the manner in which you communicate with the team and the degree of control which you exercise over decision making with the team. Figure 2.1 is one well-known model of leadership and shows the range of leadership styles you can adopt.
Figure 2.1 The leadership Continuum
Source: Adapted from Tunnenbaum and Schmit (1973)
You can see from Figure 2.1 that if you make full use of your authority and are directive in your approach by making decisions and announcing these to team members, you give them little freedom of action. If you operate at the other end of the continuum, on the other hand, you give your team members a high degree of autonomy and scope to make their own decisions.
Many managers have a preferred style and feel comfortable operating in one part of the continuum, however, in practice most people tend to use different styles, depending on a number of factors.
Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1973) suggest that there are three main forces which affect the types of leadership that are practical at any time:
forces in the manager, such as personality, background, confidence in staff, feelings of security in a particular situation
forces in staff members, such as their experience and readiness to take responsibility, interest in and concern with a situation, desire for independence
forces in the situation, such as the nature of the problem, the urgency attached to it, the consequences of getting it wrong, the predominant culture and management attitudes towards staff in the organisation.
It is important to understand that there is no one best way to make decisions within, or on behalf of, a team. A good leader will assess the needs in each situation and, within a relatively short space of time, may operate at opposite ends of the continuum. The leader must also communicate effectively with the team at all times. People should understand a manager's motivations for making decisions if channels of communication remain open and are used appropriately. For example, you may choose to operate at the autocratic/controlling end of the continuum when there are cases of urgency, safety, specialist knowledge, or regulatory or quality standards that cannot be compromised. It is always worth considering the impact of your style on your workload and on the attitudes of individuals and teams.
Who knows best?
How many people report to you? The number of people reporting to a particular manager is called the span of control. In the early 1950s, a leading authority on organisation, Lyndall Urwick (1952), suggested that the span of control should be no more than five or six people.
Technological advances, particularly automation and information technology, coupled with flatter, delayered, organisational structures, has tended to increase managers’ span of control. For example, managers at Chrysler in the US at the beginning the 1980s had a span of control of 20, by the 1990s it was 50 and was set to rise again (Crainer, 1998). This increase in span of control means devolved decision making, with workers being encouraged and motivated to take responsibility for the task.
The more people you have reporting to you, the less able you are to retain close control over the work of your subordinates – especially if you want to go home at night. The implication of this is that organisations and managers must devolve decision making, encouraging workers to take responsibility for the quality of their work. They are closest to the job, know it better than you do and are best placed to make decisions about it. Consider the following:
When doctors listen to nurses, patients recover more quickly; if mining engineers pay more attention to their men than to their machinery, the pits are more efficient. As in athletics and nuclear research, it is neither books nor seminars from which managers learn much, but from here-and-now exchanges about the operational job in hand.
Source: Revans (1996)
The idea that employees tend to know their job best has a resonance with employees themselves. They tend to expect and welcome consultation. The post-Second World War baby boomer generation gave way to Generation X (people born between 1965 and 1981) and we now have Generation Y (1978–1994) in the workforce. Writers such as Douglas Coupland (1996), Jay Conger (1998) and more recently Cates and Rahimi (2001) have described the generational differences in workers’ expectations. From their research and analysis, it seems clear that workers today tend to be less willing to take straight directions and instructions than their predecessors. They want to know why they have to do something; they want to be consulted.
As a manager, then, you are likely to want to use your leadership style so that people are encouraged to become more self-managing and autonomous in their work and decision making. Your role is to facilitate work – providing support and assistance whenever required.
Using leadership styles to develop staff
Hersey and Blanchard's situational model of leadership style (1993) is concerned with the needs of the tasks and the people who must carry them out. Managers can use the model to diagnose these needs and adapt their style to suit the situation – see Figure 2.2.
Figure 2.2 Situational leadership styles
Source: Hersey (1984)
The model shows that a manager's leadership style for attempting to influence team members is a combination of task behaviour and relationship behaviour:
Task behaviour is the extent to which the manager needs to focus on the task by providing direction and control over the work. High task behaviour involves a high level of control and direction from the manager.
Relationship behaviour is the extent to which the manager needs to support, listen, provide encouragement and engage in two-way communication. High relationship behaviour suggests the manager is focusing on people – interpersonal relationships.
The leadership style adopted will depend on the readiness of staff members or groups to carry out a particular task. This readiness is characterised by two factors:
their competence or level of development
their motivation and willingness to tackle a particular task.
The motivation and willingness factor may be related to intrinsic aspects of the job – whether it is seen as worthwhile, for instance. However, it is reasonable to assume that if the working environment is not conducive to increasing levels of commitment – for example, if staff perceive there are no rewards for taking on new responsibilities – then motivation and willingness will not increase.
The combination of the two factors suggests four key leadership styles:
Style 1: Directing. Individuals and groups who have a low level of development and low motivation for the task need careful direction, and the manager has a high level of control – for example in setting objectives, planning, monitoring, reviewing and evaluating.
Style 2: Coaching. This style is appropriate for people who are willing to take on a task, but have low to moderate competence. The manager needs to direct and monitor performance, but at the same time to focus on supporting staff – agreeing objectives, discussing and explaining the task and how it can be carried out.
Style 3: Supporting. As people develop, the manager is likely to be able to step back from taking control. Staff may have the competence needed to do the job but as they are taking more responsibility for its completion, are likely to be low in confidence and apprehensive. Here the manager needs to provide a high level of support to encourage and facilitate individuals and teams in making their own decisions.
Style 4: Delegating. As teams and individuals gain experience in taking responsibility and do so successfully, their willingness and motivation increase. Managers can give them responsibility for carrying out the job. They can stand back, but be available to lend general support and specific assistance.
The situational model highlights that to maximise the contribution from individuals and teams, you can modify your leadership style from 1 to 4 to help develop competence and confidence.
Leadership and group decision making
As your teams become more competent and willing, they are likely to become self-managing and able to take decisions as a group. The quality of group decisions may improve as the team becomes aware of the way it makes decisions, and also because of the possibility of the following:
the availability of more information and expertise to inform the decision
fewer errors in using information
the generation of more ideas and alternatives
fewer instances of individual bias
appropriate assessment of risks.
As a manager you will tend to stand back from the group or team and allow it to make its own decisions. However, your role is not wholly hands-off, it may involve offering consultation, facilitation and support. A key part of your role is to help the team enhance its group decision making. Table 2.1 lists common symptoms that inhibit effective group decision making and the preventative measures that you can take.
Symptom of a problem in group decision making |
Preventative measures you can take |
Illusions of group invulnerability |
Encourage open expressions of doubt |
Collective rationalism |
Accept criticisms of your opinions |
Belief in the inherent morality of the group |
Encourage high status members of the team to offer opinions last |
Stereotypes of other groups |
Elicit the opinions of other groups |
Direct pressures on dissenters |
Periodically divide into sub-groups |
Mindguards |
Assign a member to be devil's advocate |
Self-censorship |
Get reactions from outsiders |
Illusions of unanimity |
Invite outsiders to join discussions periodically |
Table 2.1 Leadership role in enhancing group decision making
Source: Jennings and Wattam (1998)
In the practical activities that follow you will look at your current leadership style and your approach to leadership. You will also be able to carry out a survey of your team's views on development. The final activity provides a development planning approach to use with your team.
Leading people for competitive advantage
Objective
Use this activity to consider your approach to leadership and the styles you currently tend to use.
Task
1 Make copies of Tannenbaum and Schmidt's leadership continuum, which appears in Figure 2.1, for yourself and your team members.
2 Consider your own approach as a team leader and place three crosses (X) on the continuum:
Place the left and right X to show the limits within which you believe yourself to be comfortable when dealing with staff situations
Place the middle X to show the leadership approach that you believe you adopt in most situations.
3 Give copies of the model to your team members and ask them for their views on your leadership. Ask them to place three crosses as in 2 above. Ask people to undertake this activity individually, without conferring.
4 Evaluate the responses and note differences from your own response. Be open to the responses – remember that other people often see us differently from the way we see ourselves. Give feedback to the team the consensus in their responses, also noting the extremes of their ranges (if different from the consensus), compared with your own.
If there are marked differences, seek feedback from the team and ask for examples of behaviours/occurrences which illustrate their views. It is important that the team recognises occasions when you may have to adopt a more autocratic approach.
It is also important that you are sensitive to the needs of individuals as well as the team. Individuals may have different expectations of you as their leader, and some may be more comfortable with you operating in one mode, rather than another.
5 Think about the effects of your preferred style – bearing in mind the development level of your team and individual team members, and what development is needed. Consider how you might modify your leadership style. You may like to discuss this with trusted colleagues, or seek the guidance of your manager.
Figure 2.1 The leadership continuum
Feedback
The diversity of tasks facing today's busy team leaders/managers means that you may have to act autocratically to resolve one situation and be completely democratic in another situation, within the space of a few minutes. However, your overall preferred leadership style will be clearly visible to those people closest to you in the workplace, and their feedback on your style is well worth receiving – even if it doesn't agree with your own perceptions. Consider how far you can maximise the contribution of your team members by modifying your style from controlling to delegating. This may be a key part of your work to develop autonomy in team members and to make your work more manageable.
Team development survey
Objective
Use this activity to:
survey your team members for their views on development
analyse the results of the survey
discuss the results with your staff and your manager.
Here you need to understand your team's view about development in your organisation. This will help you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current process and identify any action you can take to make team development activities more effective.
Task
1 The questionnaire provided here is for you to give to individual team members for them to complete, without conferring with other team members. You could get a response to these questions in one-to-one discussions, but avoid asking them in a group setting as some team members may feel inhibited. It is important to explain the questionnaire's purpose and how you will use the information you discover.
Make sure that your team members understand that development includes a whole range of on-job and off-job activities and events, not just courses.
2 Evaluate the responses. Consider what you can learn about individual team members’ needs from their responses. Look for trends or patterns in the information you get from the responses as a whole. Summarise your findings:
What development activities/events seem to work well? |
Where are there problems? |
What support do team members need to make the most of development opportunities? |
What do team members think are development priorities? |
What action can you take as a result of your findinqs? |
3 Discuss the results of the survey with your manager and your team.
Feedback
Your manager may be able to help you to identify your priorities and any action you can take to improve development in your team. Your team will be especially interested in what you can and will do about areas that they believe need attention. You need to pay careful attention to dealing with their expectations. The golden rule is: Do not promise anything which you do not have the personal authority to agree or deliver.
Development planning
Objective
Use this activity to carry out development planning with members of your team.
Your organisation may provide forms and a process for doing this. If so, you should adapt the task in this activity to suit. If not, you can use the self-assessment form and process outlined in the task.
Task
Read through this task first and discuss with your manager how best to complete it, and when you should do it.
To identify the development needs of each member of your team, work through the following steps:
1 Meet with each individual or the team and explain the process – see the Notes for Guidance.
2 Give each individual a copy of the Development Plan form overleaf and ask them to complete the Development Needs sections – agree a date by when they should return the completed form to you.
3 Review the forms and make your own notes regarding their comments and your views. If your views differ, consider how you will address this and discuss each area of difference. You may wish to seek advice from your manager or from the training and development department.
4 Arrange meetings with each member of your team to discuss development needs and priorities. Agree outcomes and complete the form.
5 Consolidate individual development plans into a team plan, and discuss individual and team needs with your manager or the training and development manager, as appropriate. With their agreement, you can proceed to the next stage of the development cycle.
Development for High Performance |
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Name: |
Job Title: |
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List below areas in which you consider you need to be developed in order to perform more effectively. Then provide possible development solutions:
Development Needs (1) |
Possible Solutions (2) |
1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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Development Needs (3) |
Possible Solutions (2) |
1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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Completion Date (5) |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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Agreements (as appropriate) to the above: (6) |
Date Completed |
Individual |
1 |
Manager |
2 |
Senior Manager |
3 |
Other Manager |
4 |
Notes for Guidance
The following numbers relate to the numbers on the Development Plan.
1 This part of the form is your assessment of your development needs, based on your understanding of your current role and/or future role(s).
2 Examples of possible development solutions include the full range of development activities, such as:
reading books/research
coaching on the Job
assignments
project experience
secondment to another team or department
job swap
short courses/programmes
technical/professional qualification.
3 These are development needs that arise from other sources, for example company-induced development, special projects, change events, to meet company or industry regulatory standards (health and safety, quality, etc.).
If you are aware of these needs write them down, or your manager should confirm them at your development discussion.
4 Agreed development is the outcome of the development discussion between you and your manager. If your views and your manager's views differ, this will be covered in the development discussion.
Your manager will have to take into account budgetary considerations and, if appropriate, plan attendance on courses, absences from work, etc.
5 The completion date may be a fixed requirement, for example to receive training on new technology or processes in conjunction with a change project, or it may be notional.
The important point here is to plan for the development to happen by the completion date.
6 The development plan needs to be agreed by you and your manager. But before development can go ahead, agreement is probably required from other sources, for example senior management or the training and development manager. If there are specific technical needs, a specialist's agreement may be needed.
Feedback
The key to development planning is to allow sufficient time to complete the process, to explain it to individuals, and keep them informed of team and department plans and needs. Bear in mind that it can take time to get development plans agreed, and that they may need to be changed if new priorities for the team emerge.
Remember staff expectations and be prepared to deal with them. It is your responsibility to ensure that the agreed individual and team plans (agreed with your manager and the training department) are translated into actions and you should conduct regular reviews to ensure that development planning leads to appropriate development.
The manager as coach
Coaching is the process by which you help a colleague to explore ways of tackling problems or to change their perspective on work issues, leading to an improvement in their ability to perform. Coaching is not just about helping people to improve practical skills it can be used successfully to develop people and help them become more assertive, communicate more effectively and improve their ability to influence others.
Antonioni (2000) identifies two types of coaching:
The most common is called performance management coaching, and this occurs when there is a gap between an individual's current performance and the way she or he should perform. In these cases, the coach is always the one who initiates the conversation. Performance enhancement coaching, on the other hand, occurs when an individual is meeting performance requirements but wants to perform at a higher skill level or desires coaching to build a new skill. In this case, either the coach or the individual can initiate the coaching process. Unfortunately, most managers spend most of their time doing performance management, leaving little time and attention to help high performers enhance their skills.
Source: Antonioni (2000)
How people learn
To understand coaching, it is helpful to recognise the links between coaching and the way people learn.
Much research has been undertaken into how people learn and the early work of Kolb (1985) produced the learning cycle, shown in Figure 2.3. This argues that the process of learning, which is usually passive, should be combined with problem solving, which is defined as active learning.
Figure 2.3 Kolb's learning cycle
Source: Adapted from Kolb (1985)
Each of the four stages of the learning cycle is critical to effective learning. Honey and Mumford (1982) argue that few people are strong in each of the four areas, and that each of us has a preferred learning style:
Activists – learn by doing. These people like to have a go, touch, feel and learn experientially. They may attempt a task with no prior training or knowledge and may be risk takers in the workplace.
Reflectors – prefer to listen and observe. They reflect on and analyse both their own and others’ experiences to further their own understanding.
Theorists – build their own understanding through the exploration of theories and concepts. They are also good at integrating different pieces of information to form their own mental madds of how things fit together or operate.
Pragmatists – like to use their learning and apply it in a real (work) situation or plan how they can apply it. They often value information in terms of how useful it will be to them in their real world.
It might be construed from Honey and Mumford's descriptions that only one group of people (pragmatists) are naturally predisposed to take their learning and apply it in the workplace. However, the other three groups should also be keen to apply their learning, albeit in different ways.
When you are coaching, it is helpful to be aware of the learning cycle and the preferences for different learning styles people may have. You can build on people's strengths, but you need to ensure that, whatever their preferred learning style, every member of the team converts their learning into practice in the workplace.
The coaching environment
Two key elements within a coaching environment are the learner and the type of workplace in which they work.
The learner
The individual needs to possess a willingness to learn and improve and a willingness to take advantage of the many opportunities that may be available. Above all else, individuals have to take responsibility for their own learning. This means that although the manager and the organisation can provide the environment, support and opportunities, nothing will happen unless individuals have a desire to learn.
Johnson (2001) identifies two groups of people for whom coaching can have positive results:
First: Strong, talented executive interested in improving her or his decision making, teamwork skills, or other proficiency. Superstars use coaches. Tiger Woods worked intensively with his coach to re-engineer his swing and succeeded spectacularly. Encourage top performers to have a coach.
Second: Someone who is in some kind of trouble at work but wants to salvage the situation and learn what to do. Again, we see great results from this situation. One of the most common is a person who moves from a technical position, such as an engineer, into a supervisory role and doesn't have the people skills to make that work. Classes don't reach the problem like coaching does.
The workplace
A productive workplace is an environment where people are relaxed and feel supported in whatever they do and where mistakes are viewed as an opportunity for learning. This may be seen as a learning environment in which coaching plays an integral part. A learning environment is likely to have the following characteristics:
People have clear objectives and know how their jobs fit into the bigger picture
Mistakes are seen as events from which people and the organisation can learn
Individuals are respected and their inputs to process improvements are encouraged at every level
Regular feedback is provided, including praise for work well done
People are encouraged to talk, ask questions and seek clarification
Collaboration within and across teams is encouraged
Managers are available to provide advice and assistance when needed.
This case study illustrates coaching in action:
Sally was the new team administrator. It soon became evident that she was uncomfortable with some computer applications, although she had passed tests on them at the recruitment agency. Of particular concern was her apparent unwillingness or inability to file electronic correspondence and find it when asked by her team. In addition, any material initiated by her on behalf of the team often went astray.
Her boss discussed this with her and Sally admitted that although she could type, print correspondence and send e-mails, she had never been trained or learned how to operate an electronic filing system. She was frightened to mention this in case she was sacked in her probationary period. Although her boss was busy, he spent the first 20 minutes every day for one week demonstrating how the applications worked. In the second week, Sally used the system herself but he was on hand to answer queries. One positive aspect of this arrangement was that each morning Sally showed her boss the changes and improvements she had made during the preceding day. At the end of the two-week period, Sally was so confident and competent that she was suggesting improvements to the team's filing system.
The coaching cycle
There are a number of models for coaching but most of them follow the same four basic stages, shown in Figure 2.4.
Figure 2.4 The coaching cycle
Stage 1: Discussion between the coach and the individual in which the outcomes are agreed
An important element of the coaching process is the development discussion which normally occurs in the first stage of the development cycle. Development discussions should be about determining what development needs have arisen and what may benefit the learner in the future.
These discussions focus on:
gaps in an individual's current competencies that need to be addressed so that they can perform better at work
an individual's career aspirations and options for career development.
Some organisations undertake these discussions as part of the formal appraisal process, combining performance review with development analysis in one interview. Other organisations have separated the two: managers discuss past performance in one interview and future objectives and development needs in a separate interview.
At this stage, make sure that objectives are clearly defined and achievable. Using a simple SMART analysis will help both you and the learner to agree on outcomes.
The SMART acronym is often used to remind us of the recommended features of objectives. You may come across different interpretations of what SMART stands for: Specific or stretching, Measurable, Agreed or achievable, Realistic or results oriented, Time-bound.
Throughout the development discussion process, your role as a coach will be crucial to ensure individuals participate in the next three stages. You may have to explain the rationale for a business need that they do not consider important. Furthermore, you may have to persuade individuals of the benefits of coaching to both them and the organisation; there is little point in arranging development activities for people who are not convinced of their usefulness.
Stage 2: The coach explains or demonstrates how an action should be undertaken
When you coach someone, remember that you are working in a partnership until learners can do the tasks themselves. Avoid being judgemental, impatient or finding fault. One of the most valuable characteristics of a good coach is patience.
Many coaching interventions take place in informal settings such as walking to the car park or over lunch. These informal encounters often amount to no more than a brief chat between individuals, in which one or more of the elements of the cycle are discussed. Antonioni (2000) favours this approach:
Coaching is a process that works best when it occurs daily; it should not be a formal event that happens only a few times a year. It is not about giving a performance review or an annual appraisal. Most coaching conversations are brief, lasting five to 15 minutes. Brief conversations have more impact, while longer conversations tend to open the door for issue jumping and excessive feedback that can lead to defensive conversations. Short periods of coaching are also more realistic to schedule because they leave time for other high-priority tasks.
Source: Antonioni (2000)
Stage 3: The individual undertakes the task or practises the skill
Coaching is not simply a repetitive process. Ideally, the coach starts off in a hands-on role, demonstrating and explaining a task, but eventually assumes a hands-off role. The learner will then assume complete control and feel confident in their command of the task.
Stage 4: The parties review the outcomes and discuss what went well and possible improvements
Giving feedback constructively, so that it does not feel like criticism and thus stimulate a negative reaction, is not easy. It demands a high degree of tact and diplomacy. Holmes (1999) suggests employing the following techniques:
Discuss specifics and avoid making general statements. Focus on particular areas that went well or need improvement.
Look for solutions and encourage the learner to develop thew for themselves rather than imposing your own ideas.
Listen more than you talk. Ask the learner to interpret the learning process and share their opinions with you.
Negotiate new targets that both of you are confident can be achieved within a given period of time.
Above all, you must remain objective and focus on the task or aspect of behaviour that can be improved rather than the characteristics of the person.
Antonioni (2000) believes that coaches benefit from knowing each individual's preference for the sequence of positive and constructive feedback.
To be an effective coach demands certain skills and attributes, and effective coaches generally share the following characteristics:An informal survey indicated that at least 80 percent of them want to hear constructive feedback first. This is feedback that is designed to help people improve their performance. Yet we tend to assume that most people want to hear positive feedback first. Since performance management coaching involves giving constructive feedback, some individuals may get defensive because the feedback feels like personal criticism. In some cases, coaches need to develop strategies to help individuals learn how to accept constructive feedback in addition to developing an action plan for improvement.
source: Antonioni (2000)
Characteristics of effective coaches
To be an effective coach demands certain skills and attributes, and effective coaches generally share the following characteristics:
They are people centred – they demonstrate an interest in people and their development
They look for potential in people, in their skills, knowledge or attitude
They set and demand high performance standards and expect people to achieve them
They delegate responsibility and trust people to perform well
They allow people space to try out new activities
They operate in an open, approachable, participative style that encourages people to contribute, express their opinions and share experiences
They are good communicators, able to put over their points clearly
They are good listeners.
Factors which hinder effective coaching
There are a number of cultural and behavioural factors that hinder effective coaching:
Cultural
The organisation does not value coaching and therefore does not support managers in their roles as coaches
There are no organisational processes or programmes to train coaches
The organisation espouses coaching, but the reality is that it doesn't happen except through the efforts of committed managers
The organisation has a formal coaching process and advocates it, but manager workload is so high that coaching happens rarely and often only as a reaction to a problem that has arisen.
Behavioural
There is a lack of trust and little respect between the manager and the staff member who is being coached
The manager does not make sufficient time to coach staff properly
The manager may not have explained the need and context for the coaching
Staff may not be open to learning new skills or acquiring new knowledge
Staff may lack confidence in their own ability and may, therefore, revert to old ways of operating rather than embrace the new ways
Staff may not practise their new skills or apply their new knowledge sufficiently often to show improvement
Some staff may not want to improve.
Who coaches the coach?
Coaches and managers also need coaching. This may be the responsibility of their own line managers or external coaches may be hired to provide specialist support.
Antonioni (2000) suggests a number of ways in which you can improve and expand your coaching role:
Get the training you need to develop your coaching skills,particularly in listening, interviewing, giving and receiving feedback, negotiating, managing difficult people, and influencing and training individuals with different learning styles.
Define your role and responsibilities as a coach; this may improve others' willingness to be coached.
Determine how and when people would like to receive positive and constructive feedback.
Get a coach for yourself. This will help you to become familiar with the process, you gain professional development in your own weak areas and you learn by observing your coach in action.
Practise coaching daily by taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves.
Reflect on your coaching experiences. Ask yourself: What should I have done more of? What should I do less of? What should I keep doing?
Ask the people you've coached for feedback.
Finally, Antonioni (2000) suggests that you discuss your goals as coach with your manager during your own performance evaluation:
Managers who have discussed their coaching with their managers reported that they have increased their managers’ awareness of the importance of coaching work and the positive outcomes associated with it. As a result, they received recognition and rewards for coaching. Unfortunately, the management of most organizations say that they want managers to coach, but then they don't back their talk up with recognition or rewards.If this is your situation, then you have an opportunity to demonstrate your leadership on this issue.
Source: Antonioni (2000)
The activities that follow examine three key elements of coaching: giving and receiving feedback; The coaching process; planning and holding a coaching session.
Giving and receiving feedback
Objective
This activity asks you to:
assess your current skills in giving and receiving feedback
plan to use guidelines for giving and receiving feedback.
Task
1 Assess your skills for giving feedback against the checklist of good practice in the chart that follows. Read each statement and ask yourself how often you do what is described. Tick the relevant box in the adjacent column.
Giving feedback |
Do you do this? |
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Good practice checklist |
Always |
Sometimes |
Rarely |
1 Offer feedback on observed behaviour, not on perceived attitudes |
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2 Offer a description of what you saw and how you felt, rather than a judgement |
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3 Focus on behaviour which can be changed |
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4 Choose which aspects are most important and limit yourself to those |
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5 Ask questions, rather than making statements |
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6 Comment on what the individual did/does well, in addition to areas for improvement |
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7 Before offering any feedback, consider its value to the recipient |
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8 Be forward looking – encourage the person receiving the feedback to look at what they can do to improve next time |
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2 Now review your responses. In which areas can you make improvements? Choose up to four areas for improvement and note what you can do to improve.
Areas for improvement |
Plan for action |
3 Giving effective feedback is just one half of an effective feedback process. You must also use good practice when receiving feedback. Read the good practice statements in the chart that follows, and tick always, sometimes or rarely for each statement.
You may wish to think about this both from your own viewpoint, for example when receiving feedback from your manager, and from the viewpoint of your staff – how they might respond when receiving feedback from you.
Receving feedback |
Do you do this? |
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Good practice checklist |
Always |
Sometimes |
Rarely |
1 Listen actively – concentrate on what is being said |
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2 Clarify – make sure you understand what is being said, ask questions and seek specific examples |
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3 Accept feedback in the spirit in which it is given – there is no need to justify or defend when the other person gives an honest and constructive account of their experiences of what you did or said, even if you disagree |
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4 Reflect – think about what has been said. Does it sound familiar or is it new feedback? |
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5 Say ‘thank you’. Many people are uncomfortable about providing direct, honest and open feedback and they should be encouraged to do so |
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6 Take time for further reflection and to determine your considered (rather than instant) reaction to the feedback |
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7 Consider options for change. Can you change, should you change, do you want to change, how can you change, etc.? |
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8 Seek further feedback on any changes/improvements that you have instituted |
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Feedback is a continuous process – ensure you have a feedback session planned for the future; it may help to motivate you to implement/practise a change. |
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3 Now review your responses. In which areas can you make improvements? Choose up to four areas for improvement and note what you do to improve.
Areas for improvement |
Plan for action |
Feedback
You could take this activity further by giving a copy of these good practice checklists to either a close colleague or your manager and asking them to assess your ability to give and receive feedback. Compare their responses with yours. Who knows, you may have been too hard on yourself, or you may have missed an important aspect of giving or receiving feedback (a blind spot) where another individual's views will provide a event and valuable perspective.
You may also like to think about how your team members receive feedback, and about how to develop good feedback practice within your team.
Coaching works
Objective
Use this activity to:
review common areas (not just work areas) where you know coaching works
link coaching opportunities to bath yourself and your staff.
Task
1 You may be more familiar with coaching in areas of your life other than work. List some common areas where you know coaching works.
Coaching – has made a difference to: |
2 Now look at coaching from your personal work viewpoint. Using the chart provided, list two or three areas where coaching you have received at work has made a difference, and the results (what it was that you got out of it).
Coaching you have received |
Results – what you got out of it |
3 For one of the successful instances of coaching that you have highlighted, consider the following questions.
Was it enjoyable? |
Were the skills and/or knowledge you developed applied in the workplace? |
What were the characteristics of the coach that you found most useful? |
Did the coach give you ongoing informal reviews or regular feedback? |
Feedback
Coaching is used in many areas of life. Here are some examples:
Sports: coaches take people with little or no knowledge or capability and help them to perform better at all levels – up to world or Olympic champions. Nobody is born a champion, it is a combination of talent, hard work and good coaching.
Hobbies and interests: many people take up hobbies or interests in which they receive advice and support from people with greater knowledge, from expert practitioners to experienced individuals, for example yoga, pottery, gardening, motorcycle riding, painting, etc.
Bringing up children: parents, teachers, older children, grandparents, etc. may all coach young children to help them acquire a wide range of skills and knowledge.
Rehabilitating people following illnesses or accidents, for example nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, counsellors, osteopaths and therapists.
Is is worth reflecting on your experiences of coaching – what went well and what you found to be less successful. These reflections can help you in your work as a coach.
Planning and holding a coaching session
Objective
This activity asks you to plan and carry out a coaching session.
Here we use the four stages of the coaching cycle:
Stage 1: |
Discussion between the coach and the member of staff, in which you agree the outcomes for the coaching session |
Stage 2: |
The coach explains, or may demonstrate, how an action should be undertaken |
Stage 3: |
The individual undertakes the task or practises the skill |
Stage 4: |
The parties review the outcomes and discuss what went well and what could be improved. |
Task
1 Select a member of your team who could benefit from coaching. If coaching is new to this individual, you will need to explain what you are doing and why. Consider what your aims are in coaching, for example, ‘to enhance knowledge and use of a software application’.
2 Use the coaching record sheet below to plan, run and review your coaching session or sessions with the individual.
Coaching record sheet |
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Stage 1 |
Main points for discussion: |
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Coaching outcomes to be achieved: |
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What resources, equipment, etc. are needed? |
Stage 2 |
What do you need to explain or demonstrate? You may need to demonstrate the task yourself. Think about the steps involved in doing the task. It can help to break the task down into smaller, manageable steps. |
Stage 3 |
Here the individual undertakes the task, sometimes a step at a time. Here are some guidelines for appropriate coaching at this stage:
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Revisit the agreed outcomes and discuss performance, again breaking it down into steps. Ask questions like the following: ‘How do you think you did?’ ‘Where do you consider you can improve most?’ ‘What do you have to do to improve?’ ‘What aspect of the task gave you the most problems and why?’ ‘What aspect of the task did you enjoy most/least and why?‘ Agree how changes/improvements are to be implemented/practised before the next coaching session: |
3 When you have completed one cycle of coaching with a team member, reflect on the success of the exercise by asking yourself the following questions.
How closely did you follow the cycle as outlined in the coaching record sheet? |
Consider how to improve your coaching the next time: |
What will you do the same? |
What can you improve? |
Feedback
You can use your amended/improved coaching record sheet for all future coaching sessions. Although we recommend that you retain the essence of the four stages of the coaching cycle, you can amend and improve the record sheet and the way you use it to suit you, your learner and the situation.
Recap
This theme looks at the way leadership styles and coaching can contribute to higher performance in the team.
Explore the role of leadership in people development
The leadership style you use influences the manner in which you communicate with the team and the degree of control you exercise over decision making with the team.
Two models of leadership are illustrated: the leadership continuum and the situational model of leadership. Both include consideration of how you act as a leader in different contexts.
Identify the leadership style you tend to use and evaluate the effects of your style on the development of your team members
Your leadership style will reflect your own preferences, the nature of your team and your organisation, and your current situation.
It is important that you are sensitive to the needs of individuals who have a different expectation of their leader. Some may be more comfortable with you operating in one mode more than in another.
Team and individual development is about consultation, support and planning to meet specific needs. By modifying your situational leadership style from 1 to 4 you will help to maximise the contributions from your teams and develop confidence and competence.
Explore the role of coach and how this can be used when developing people
As a coach you need to be aware of an individual's learning style so that you can build on their strengths and develop new learning skills.
The four stage coaching cycle is a useful framework upon which to base a coaching programme.
Coaches tend to be people centred. They look for potential in people, set and demand high performance, delegate responsibilities well and are open, approachable and good listeners.
Improve your performance as a coach
Giving and receiving feedback are skills that are fundamental to the effectiveness of a coach. These still involve providing and receiving feedback on behaviour exhibited and on areas of performance that really matter.
Use the checklist provided for running a coaching session to jog your memory about what outcomes you need to achieve, how you can achieve them, how the skills can be practised and how the session can be reviewed effectively.
More @
Dixon, R. (2003) 3rd edition, The Management Task, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann
This book considers the nature of management and the environment in which management operates. The requirements for effective, successful management techniques are explored, covering leadership in Part 2, Chapter 6. It presents a concise overview of a wide range of leadership models.
Mullins, L. J. (1999) 5th edition, Management and Organisational Behaviour, Financial Times Pitman Publishing
Taking a managerial approach and demonstrating the application of behavioural science within the workplace, this text emphasises the role of management as a core integrating activity. This is a long-established text that is accessible in style and clear in presentation, making unfamiliar theory relevant and easily understood and showing how it can logically be applied to the world of work.
Parsloe, E. and Wray, M. (2000) Coaching, Mentoring: Practical Methods to Improve Learning, Kogan Page
This text focuses on two key techniques for managers today: coaching and mentoring. In all types of organisation, whether public or private sector, authoritarian styles of management are giving way to the use of managerial techniques that help staff to learn by the use of guidance and example.
Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt, W. H. (1973) ‘How to choose a leadership pattern’, Harvard Business Review, May/June
This is the original article on leadership styles upon which subsequent research has been based. It outlines the model of leadership based on a continuum from autocratic/controlling to democratic/sharing.
American Society for Training and Development – www.astd.org/astd
Try searching for coaching and leadership on this website. The site includes articles, discussion boards and surveys on key training and development issues.
Full references are provided at the end of the book.