The 2010 report answers critical questions:

• • What is executive coaching?
• • Who gets a coach?
• • How are services delivered?
• • Who becomes a coach?
• • How do coaches get their training?
• • Do coaches follow a published process?

The Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey is in its fifth year. Based on an ever-increasing body of knowledge, the 2010 survey accurately identifies changes and trends in industry practices. Each year, questions are refined and questions are added, allowing for more precise isolation of trends and their root causes.

Enjoy.

Peter

Zig Ziglar (1974)

WHAT IS A GOAL?

‘A goal or objective is a projected computation of affairs that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve—a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development. Many people endeavor to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. ‘  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Although we don’t realise it we set goals several times a day – from time to get up, tasks to complete, places to go, things to buy, etc. If we want to be even more successful than we are at present we will want to use specific goal setting tools but which ones? There are a number to choose from. I’ve attached a document that sets out a number of tools for you to use as you see fit GOAL SETTING TOOLS. If you want further information about any of the tools covered contact me.

Regards.

Peter

I have pulled together some of the coaching research findings and have summarised them in the attached PDF (The Effects of Coaching). Where available I have included a link to the material. Other findings will be updated as necessary in the future. I think you’ll find the coaching material useful. Enjoy.

Peter

COACHING-IDIOT OR SCHOLAR

“Mediocrity is Excellent in the Eyes of the Mediocre” (unknown)

I saw this story in a publication recently and thought I would share it with you all.

Worried About the Sky Falling In.

There was this village idiot whom everyone used to laugh at because of the things he would say…

One evening as he was sitting by the porch staring into the distance, he suddenly said to himself, “oh my!  See how the hills and the sky are joined together, if the sky was to fall in, surely the grounds will give way, and we will have nowhere to stand!”

Following this catastrophic proclamation, the village idiot had literally worried himself sick. One day, he was visited by the Village Scholar, known as such not so much for his intellectual prowess but his infamous smugness!

The Village Scholar was comforting him by his bedside, “My friend, I overheard what you said the other day and thought I would come and clarify a few things for you.  You see, the sky is made up of gases and air, which is why it’s blue.  As long as we are all breathing in and out, there will always be air, and the sky is never going to fall down!”

The Village Idiot felt somewhat assured by this seemingly scholarly explanation, but soon let out another big sigh, “that’s fine, but how about the moon and the Sun, they are so heavy, surely they can’t just be floating up there in the sky?  I am worried they might fall down!”

The Village Scholar thought for a little while and said, “oh don’t you worry about that; you see, they are made of gases themselves, that’s why they are up there.  Even if they were heavy objects, the sky is so big, what are the chances of them falling on our heads?”

With this elaborated reassurance, the Village Idiot felt a whole lot better and began to regain his composure.

The Village Scholar, on seeing such wonderful results, took much delight in congratulating himself on his own learnedness.

So what does it mean?

Which one do you think you are? The scholar or the Village Idiot. Are the opinions you give based on fact, appropriate knowledge or experience or are they based on little else but thin air? How up to date is your management and business knowledge, skills and attitudes?

It is critical for our success and well being to consider whom we benchmark ourselves against.  There will always be organisations and people out there who will make us look and feel superior; but feeling and looking superior is not necessarily the same as being successful; it may, however, instil complacency – a false sense of security.

A final question – What happens when the Village Idiot discovers that the scholar got it wrong?

Peter Mackechnie

1. What is coaching?

There are a number of variations – this one is perhaps is one of the clearest.

‘Coaching is a participative partnership designed to develop an individual to their full potential. It is a one-to-one process, which typically focuses on personal development and problem solving, whereby the coach and individual agree on the issues involved and jointly consider solutions.’ (Coaching for Growth – Peter Bolt- 2000)

The benefits of coaching using the above definition are as follows:

Participative partnership – both coach and coachee work together – the coachee responsible for the decisions being taken and the coach providing essential support and feedback along the way.

Full potential – the coachee is enabled by the coach to excel in their chosen area. The area/s chosen may be personal or within the business context, or both. To reach their potential the individual will be fully aware of, and will have aligned their values and beliefs.

One-to-one process – either by phone or face-to-face. The relationship is focussed on the agenda of the coachee and all the coaches effort is concentrated in this area. It may be that the coach will be will work with a group, the process and concentration is the same.

Problem solving – the coachee is supported and enabled by the coach to appropriately identify problems and issues and develop meaningful solutions and then take action in the necessary areas.

2. What are the benefits of coaching?

To the individual

• Personalised, one-to-one support focussing on the individual;
• Provision of a safe environment in which the coachee can work;
• Provision of a sounding board for new ideas and suggestions;
• Deals with specifics, not generalities;
• Identifies specific goals and objectives – either personal or organisational (could be both);
• Managed career and personal development;
• Work within a non-judgemental environment;
• Feeling of trust and value within the organisation; &
• Work toward work/life balance.

To the organisation

• Creates a continual improvement environment;
• Increases innovation, productivity, creativity and communication across the organisation;
• Cost effective personalised development;
• Fosters commitment and initiative;
• Provides an effective way to implement major change initiatives;
• Enables effective problem solving across the organisation; &
• Demonstrates management commitment to staff.

3. What research is available to demonstrate the outcome of coaching?

A summary of Executive Coaching as a Transfer of Training Tool: Effects on Productivity (Olivero 1997) states that:

‘…while their training intervention with managers increased manager productivity by 22 percent, adding a one-to-one (8 week) coaching intervention after the training pushed productivity to 88 percent.’

In research by the Chartered management Institute (2002) found that:

80% of executives say they think they would benefit from coaching at work and dismiss the suggestion that it is just another fad;

Virtually all mangers (96%) think coaching should be available to every employee;

The number of managers receiving coaching had increased from 58% in 1996 to 77% by 2000;

85% of managers identify the main value of coaching as enhancing team morale and 80% say it is good at generating responsibility on the part of the learner.

4. What is the difference between Coaching and Counselling?

Focus of attention in therapy typically focuses on the past; coaches focus more on the future, on tapping potential and linking awareness to action

Coaches are more likely to initiate topics for discussion, and to disclose information about themselves.  The relationship is more of a partnership, a friendship, where control is shared.  In therapy, the therapist is much more in control of the relationship, and could be viewed as the “healer”.

Coaching is more structured and task focused, involving concrete action plans. Therapy is often wandering and undefined, and works at a deeper level.

Coaching is often based on very specific behaviours or goals, therapy tends to be more open and diffuse in focus.

As ever happy to discuss.

Kindest Regards.

Peter Mackechnie

Now you’re here there are a number of things you can do – read the new posts, check out the archives, read other peoples comments, and so on. You can also leave your own comments, share the posts with your contacts and friends, and ask me questions. I have a wide range of coaching experience (see the About page) and I’m very happy to answer your coaching and/or mentoring questions and, where possible give you answers, some direction (where appropriate) and tools (relevant to your question.)

So please enjoy what you find and let me know what you think and give me some idea as to what you’d like to see here.

Kindest Regards.

Peter

Therapy V Coaching-what is the difference?

I’ve been involved in a range of discussions both physical and on line as part of some research I’m conducting on coaching and, as expected, a number of key points have arisen. One of them is the difference between therapists and coaches. It’s clear that there are a wide range of views from people who align themselves with therapists and those to coaches, there are a few who claim to be both.

However, I’d like a view from both sets of specialists as to why you think you are what you call yourselves.

I’d like to express a couple of points as a starter for ten and to get the discussion rolling.

DEFINITIONS.

The range of definitions (a different discussion I’d like to start later) for both therapy and coaching is very wide. The lack of any one, or small number, of accepted definitions makes it difficult to be explicit in what you do. This is an area that is being widely debated across both approaches and seems likely to continue for a while. However, a flavour of the definitions available includes:

COACHING

Starr – defines coaching as ‘a conversation, or series of conversations, one person has with another’.

AC Grant – Coaching was defined as a collaborative, solution-focused, result-orientated systematic process, used with normal, non-clinical populations, in which the coach facilitates the self-directed learning, personal growth and goal attainment of the coachee.

Stober – Coaching is a collaborative process that facilitates the client’s ability to self-directed learning and growth, and is evidenced by sustained changes in self-understanding, self-concept, and behaviour.

THERAPY (including counselling, etc)

Princton University – the treatment of mental or emotional problems by psychological means.

Merriam Webster – Main Entry: Psychotherapy (also called counseling) any form of treatment for psychological, emotional, or behavior disorders in which a trained person establishes a relationship with one or several patients for the purpose of modifying or removing existing symptoms and promoting personality growth.

INTENTION

There seems to be significant language differences as well as similarities between the two approaches of therapy and coaching.  That’s not to be unexpected but I feel there the main unstated difference is that of ‘intention’. I suggest the following for discussion purposes:

THERAPIST

The intention of the therapist is to heal, treat, fix, etc. problems (past/present) that the client has. The focus of their intention is based on a medical/treatment model in that a problem exists that is damaging, or restricting a person’s mental and/or physical health. Therefore they will work with the client/patient to fully explore the problem, identify the underlying cause and provide a medical, treatment based solution. This may, or may not include movement toward a future learning and development goal.

COACH

The intention of a coach is to identify the clients future based point of development, present position in relation to the area the client wants to develop, identify the gaps and enable the client to take the necessary action. This focus is on learning and development in that a problem does not, necessarily, have to exist for the client to want to develop. Work may, or may not include solving a pre-existing problem (this is dependent on the level of barrier it’s causing to the move toward the desired development goal).

PROBLEM AND OVERLAP

The issue of term ‘problem’ seems to be a sticking point and seems to sit in the overlap area on the continuum of therapy and coaching. At one end of the scale sits therapy dealing with, and concentrating on, the past/present problem. On the other end of the scale sits coaching with its focus on future solutions and development. Each specialism will work comprehensively with clients within their sphere. However, the overlap comes in the middle. Both therapist and coach can, and do deal with problems but how far along the line can each other go before the intention changes, and the role changes?

TOOLS

When does a tool become therapy or coaching? I’m thinking of the likes of CBT, NLP, modeling, hypnosis, etc. all of which are used in both fields.  Both therapists and coaches have argued that whatever tool is used it is appropriate to them, a point I’d agree with (dependent of course on their level of proficiency in the use of that tool). Is then the argument of appropriateness of the tools being discussed more to do with the area of ‘intention’ rather than specialism?

What do you think?

Thanks.

Pete Mackechnie

What critieria will YOU use to select YOUR coach?

Coaching is now being adopted by far more UK Companies and is one of the most effective ways to develop the ‘business,’ the business leaders and managers. Coaching service provision includes helping businesses to be more creative in their financial management systems, improving poor performance across the business or with specific individuals or groups of managers, improving the effectiveness of decision making and increasing the levels of confidence and esteem of the company and/or individuals. There are literally thousands of people in the UK (unconfirmed figures suggest in excess of 40,000) who are now providing coaching as part of their service provision, some more professionally and effectively than others. This leads to huge variations in the level and quality of service. Presently the coaching industry isn’t very well standardised or regulated which means that, if you choose poorly, then you have little or no comeback if things go wrong.  So how, then, do you ensure that you get the best coaching service you can for the money you want to invest?

I’ve distilled a number of key deciding factors from the Chartered Institute of Professional Developments Coaching and buying coaching services handbook (Coach Buying Services Handbook) which, if applied appropriately as your coach selection tool will make your decision that much easier to make. I’ve also added a number of questions to ask. The seven deciding factors and questions are as follows:

1.                 QUALIFICATIONS.

Coaches should be able to demonstrate that they are competent in the provision of coaching services. One way of proving this is to demonstrate that they possess a relevant qualification/s. Has the coach been trained as a coach and was the course certificated. If yes, was it internally or externally certificated? If the course was part of an ‘in-house’ development programme what was the content and how was it assessed? Can they show you a certificate? Do they have any other related qualifications and how are these used to aid the client? Do they regularly update their skills, if yes, how, and if no, why not?

2.                 COACHING EXPERIENCE.

Different levels of coaching experience may be required, depending on the complexity of the issues being addressed, as well as the seniority of the individual being coached. The coach needs to be ‘fit for purpose’. What coaching have the coaches done, over what period of time and what have been the main outcomes? Do they coach full time or part time? Who have they coached over the past two years? What have been the managerial levels or the key business areas they have coached in? What coaching models and tools do they use? They should be able to tell you if they provide a directional approach (which is based on ‘telling’) or a non directional approach (based on the client figuring out what it is they want to do and where they want to go without being overly guided). Ideally, as client centred service providers they should have a range of models and tools that are best suited to you – one model does NOT fit all. What is the basis, and duration, of their coaching programme? Do they provide a ‘free’ initial assessment meeting?

3.                 BUSINESS EXPERIENCE

This aspect can be debatable in coaching circles as coaches are skilled specialists in developing people and as such it could be argued that they don’t need to know the business you are in. On the other hand if you have specific pieces of subject related work to be done then it could be useful to have a coach with an understanding of the key words you use. Ask them to outline their business experience, the businesses they have been in themselves, the type of coaching business they run at present and the types of businesses they have been involved in as a coach. This will give you an idea of the scope of business understanding they have.

4.                 REFERENCES

Coaches work on ‘best outcome’ for the client and should be able to demonstrate success in a number of areas. Does the coach have any written testimonials they can show you now and do they have clients that are willing to talk to potential clients directly? If they don’t have testimonials it’s worth asking why. You can ask if you can speak to a client/s directly for feedback.

5.                 MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL BODIES

There re a number of professional coaching bodies available that provides a number of ethical codes that coaches sign up to. It would be worth asking the coach what professional bodies they belong to and what codes and standards they abide by. As a minimum standard the reply should include factors such as: confidentiality; client feedback; continuous professional development; professional reputation; non bias perspectives; and client centered focus.

6.                 PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY INSURANCE

Coaching is a profession and a specialism and has far reaching outcomes for those people who receive the service. Very occasionally things may go wrong – are you, as the client, and they, as a coach, protected by appropriate insurance? They should be able to show you their insurance certificate. If they don’t have insurance it’s worth asking why.

7.                 BOUNDARIES

Is the coach able to tell you what their options are if they decide that coaching is not the right approach for you? If they come across aspects of work with you that they feel that they cannot manage what do they do? How do they assess your ‘readiness’ for acceptance onto their coaching programme?

SUMMARY

You want to employ a coach to enable you to progress a piece of work or develop a new skill. This article gives you a wide range of questions to ask within seven key factor areas to help you decide who is the most appropriate coach for you. The answers to the questions will give you a range of information that you can use to assess the level of professionalism of the coaches that you want to consider employing. Prices will be variable – some very economic and some very expensive, however, there is some merit in the view that ‘you get what you pay for’. Ensure you get the maximum quality for the money you want to invest.

I have over 18 years experience within the coaching profession and I am happy to answer any further questions you have.

Email info@exmt.co.uk phone 0845 458 2549  07881 598 681 www.exmt.co.uk