At its heart, coaching is about change. And as most organizational learning professionals know, goals for learning and change go hand in hand. So how can coaching advance the goals for workplace learning? Recent research in the neurosciences (Rock 2006; Schwartz and Begley 2002) has shown that it doesn’t take as long to neurologically create new thinking patterns and new habits as we previously thought. Positive feedback and continuous reinforcement make a tremendous difference in helping people hardwire these desirable changes in the brain and sustain them over the long term (Schwartz and Beyette 1996).
Numerous change strategies are available to the workplace learning and performance (WLP) professional at the individual, team, and organizational levels. It is important to understand how coaching compares to these existing strategies. Some of the different strategies overlap, yet there are important distinctions. These distinctions will help you ascertain whether your coaching client can truly benefit from coaching or perhaps needs another form of development. The definitions and examples in table 1-1 compare coaching to the following change strategies: therapy, training, mentoring, and consulting.
As you can see from table 1-1, coaching differs from other related behavioral strategies and yet overlaps in some ways. You may find that coaching easily pairs with some other strategies. For example, coaching is an excellent follow-up to some training programs. And many leadership development programs include training, mentoring, and coaching. Keep in mind that coaching has more guidelines than hard and fast rules. Consider how you can make coaching work in your organization.
Once you have distinguished the uniqueness of coaching in relationship to other organizational change strategies, you should begin to define exactly what coaching means to you. Given the explosive popularity of coaching, you can find numerous resources, definitions, and models. You will find it useful to start your own library of coaching resources, tools, and references. Different authors have different perspectives and theories. Develop your own way of thinking about coaching by integrating several approaches and adding your own ideas.
If we look for themes in the definitions of organizational coaching throughout the chapter, you might note the emphasis on partnership or relationship between the coach and the client. It is also evident that organizational coaching focuses on both organizational goals and personal needs. You may note other points that hold interest for you in your organizational coaching role.
A growing number of WLP professional coaches argue for what is termed evidence-based coaching. “The term evidence-based coaching was coined by Grant (2003) to distinguish between professional coaching that is explicitly grounded in a broader empirical and theoretical knowledge base and coaching that is evolved from the ‘pop psychology’ personal development genre” (Stober and Grant 2006).
Coaching
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Therapy
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Example: LeeAnn participates in her company’s leadership development program. One of the program’s tools was an emotional intelligence assessment that gave her feedback on her strengths and challenges as they related to her leadership competencies. She set goals with a leadership coach on how she could leverage her strengths and improve in her challenge areas. She now knows what she needs to do to achieve her career goals in the next five years. | Example: Pat could be a candidate for a leadership position in her company. However, she has developed a reputation for being a loose cannon. She easily becomes angry and volatile and has embarrassed herself and others on several occasions. Lately, she has developed a drinking problem. She can’t seem to get control of her problem on her own and doesn’t know why she gets so angry so easily. |
Coaching
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Training
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Example: A team asks a coach to help it transition to working with a new software system. The team has to develop new ways of working together and across team boundaries. The coach gathers data from team members, as well as stakeholders, to help the team set objectives and create an action plan. | Example: A team is adapting to a new software system. They attend a two-day training class on the new system, which includes both technical and application protocols. |
Coaching
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Mentoring
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Example: Walter has a career coach who helps him identify his strengths, weaknesses, interests, and needs. They explore various areas for a career transition. | Example: Patricia has a mentor in her field of wildlife management, and he is helping her identify what certifications and training she needs to advance in her organization. |
Coaching
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Consulting
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Example: Li’s coach conducts an image study to determine how she is perceived by members of her team. The data will either confirm or disconfirm Li’s belief that she provides excellent development and participative opportunities to her team members. | Example: Yusuf hires an information technology consultant to determine why the various systems are not providing the kind of data the chief executive officer needs to make certain financial decisions. |
Adapted with permission from Bianco-Mathis, Nabors, and Roman (2002, 5).
Most coaches agree that part of their role is to serve as caring, compassionate partners in the coaching relationship. A cognitive approach requires that they also be thought partners. Coaches who use cognitive approaches assist their clients to identify errors in their thinking and aid them in adopting more accurate, useful reasoning and thinking patterns. Coaches who adopt cognitive approaches (influenced primarily by Burns [1980], Ellis [1979], and Argyris [1990]) believe that eliminating thinking errors leads to better relationships with others, improved decision making, and higher levels of performance (Stober and Grant 2006).
Perhaps the most powerful cognitive tool in coaching is the mental model. Mental models are our beliefs about how the world works and how people operate. Mental models can be useful, or they can get in the way of our progress toward our goals because they may limit us to habitual ways of thinking. Some examples of mental models are, “People can’t be trusted,” “If I graduate, I’ll get a good job,” “Only technical people get ahead here,” and “Being controlling is the only way to get things done.” Coaches can have a powerful effect on their clients by questioning mental models in the coaching dialogue. A process for addressing mental models during a coaching conversation would include recognizing the mental models at play, understanding how unexamined mental models are affecting the client’s decision making and behavior, learning how to slow down and reflect on mental models, and engaging in conversations that test assumptions and inferences (Auerback 2006, 114).
Another useful tool that can be used in helping clients become aware of their thought processes and the effects on their behaviors is the ladder of inference, as shown in table 1-2. The ladder of inference is a tool you can use to help your clients see how they often make subjective interpretations or inferences from an observation that leads to an inaccurate conclusion or behavior. When you use the ladder of inference in your coaching, you help your clients discover errors in their reasoning and ways to prevent and re-evaluate resulting behaviors and actions—in essence, ways to stop the unconscious mind from falling into the same conclusions again and again.
You can see how this works by studying the example in table 1-2. Given Susan’s one experience with a working mother, Susan assumes all working mothers are the same. This affects her behavior to the point that she does not reward nor hire working mothers. Whenever she encounters a working mother, Susan immediately climbs her ladder of inference and reinforces her original belief—despite any information to the contrary.
Action Take action based on beliefs. |
Susan gives Tom and Lakeisha better job assignments; her next hire is a middle-aged person with grown kids; she does not offer Laura any promotions. |
Belief Adopt beliefs about the world. |
Susan believes that working moms are not a good fit for her team and decides to keep this in mind when hiring people. |
Conclusions Draw conclusions. |
Susan concludes that she is better off developing Tom and Lakeisha because she can rely on them. |
Assumptions Make assumptions based on the added meanings. |
Susan assumes she can’t rely on Laura. |
Meaning Add meanings (cultural and personal). |
Laura doesn’t make her job a priority. She has trouble managing her life every morning with getting her kids off to school. She isn’t organized. |
Selected Data Select data from what is observed. |
Susan notices that Laura again saunters in 15 minutes late. This is the third time she has come in late with no explanation. |
Observable Data Observe data and experiences. |
Susan holds weekly scheduled staff meetings. |
"Ladder of inference" adapted from Peter Senge et al., The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook (New York: Doubleday, 1994), p. 243; see also McArthur, Putnam, and Smith (1999).
All of us climb up our ladders of inference hundreds of times every day, usually unaware that we are going through the process. During coaching conversations, we can help our clients slow down their thinking long enough to reflect on their reasoning and the effect their choices have on themselves and others.
These two cognitive tools—mental model and ladder of inference—represent the kind of theoretical underpinnings that support the organizational coaching model outlined in chapter 2. The use of these and other cognitive models presented in this book will help you create a strong coaching base, move beyond superficial coaching practices, and produce evidence-based results.
Refer to table 1-2. Think of a workplace conversation or situation that did not go as you would have liked. Fill in table 1-3 with your own example of the ladder of inference, applying your reasoning from the example you have chosen. Then consider the questions below.
My Ladder of Inference | My Reasoning at Each Rung of the Ladder |
Actions |
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Beliefs |
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Conclusions |
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Assumptions |
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Meanings |
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Selected Data |
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Observable Data and Experiences |
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