Coaching Businesses to Success News Update

In this belated entry to the blog (the 4 weeks I spent in Australia were wonderful - thanks!). I want to return to the good value I got from a recent episode of 'The West Wing' reruns.

This time it's about how feedback can really, really help.

In the show, a document was being circulated that came from one of the leading characters prior to being appointed and showed a strategy how to defeat the current president - embarrassment all round!

The interesting thing was that this secret document, created whilst working for the opposition party, was not, initially seen for it's hugely positive value, but as a critical, negative and naive thing that was to be feared and run from.

In fact, once the two main members of the cast got into it, it seemed like perhaps one of the most useful things that they could ever have asked for. A critical report providing them with all the clues they could ever ask for if they wanted a heads-up on how they needed to change.

They listened and at the end of the show were taking radical action to develop and change.

Truth is, this report was the best possible clue to what they needed to do.

For you, you can do the same, with your own people. Ask them what you need to do differently, whatever it takes; whoever they are.

Likely as not, people won't want to be honest with you, so you do have to provide a very safe place for people to contribute in this way - or they won't trust you.

Being prepared to ask for, listen carefully to and finally respond courageously to changes you, yourself have to make is a woinderful development tool.

Don't miss the opportunity - seek it out pro-actively and follow through all the things you need to have change - especially if it's about you.

February 12, 2007 12:22 - Leading the Team - and More!

Cricket! For those from England, the Australia tour has been a rather sorry experience.

Indeed on my holiday there during January, I was at great pains to avoid the subject, as you might imagine!

So, with some excitement, I have been catching up with the recent minor improvement in form during the three-way one-day series.

Which we won, earlier today! Yea!!!

The improvement in team performance has been since Michael Vaughan, captain during the last series in England where we regained the Ashes, returned to the squad.

Vaughan has been out of action for the whole of the Ashes and had just come back to lead the team for the one-dayers, only to be injured after their first victory against New Zealand.

In discussion on radio this morning Graham Gooch, cricket commentator and ex-England Captain was discussing the value of Vaughan, as proposed captain for England's venture into the cricket World Cup - the one day tournament to be played over the next few weeks.

Gooch made the interesting comment that a leader isn't just enough as a leader, he/she has to take their role in the team as well.

In the cricket context, he was saying that Vaughan, with his long-term absence due to injury, couldn't just be in the team to 'be the leader', (although he might be good to have in the squad).

He had to perform at least adequately with the bat (his speciality) - and this was still a challenge for him as he recovers his form after injury.

Truth is, there is no place for any of us in our teams if we just want to lead - our role, if it is to be effective, is to show that we deliver value.

Especially with our people, it isn't good enough to be on a pedestal, however good we might be.

Making a difference tangibly is vital too.

BTW. For those of you to whom cricket is something of a mystery, let me tell you that it's the only international sport that has meal breaks planned in - so, for anyone, it can't be all bad!

February 12, 2007 23:44 - Accentuate the Positive

Managers are demanding people - by default - we are there to 'manage' the results of our business, so we need to be demanding to make things happen and to achieve the outcomes required.

So, we can be fussy, 'picky' and downright unreasonable in our expectations - quite right too!

With your people, they need to clearly understand (and it's your job to make sure this is clear) what your expectations of them are.

Challenging as you are, it needs to be clear enough for them to shape their activities to make their performance match requirements.

Whilst it is tempting to ever increase the challenge, it can be demotivational to them for you to seen never satisfied.

There are ways to manage this which will extend performance and build confidence and self-belief - without seeming to be never satisfied and always hunting for more.

The language you use, as you have informal conversations with your people on a regular day-to- day basis, can be adjusted to 'accentuate the positive' rather than be construed as negative.

And it's all around what you ask and how you ask it.

By seeking information though asking 'enquiring' questions (who, what, why, where, when, how), we seek to develop thinking and solution finding through discovery.

And that self-discovery builds belief and confidence, moving individuals along the path of personal skills development - which, is a really good thing!

Sometimes, we have to act a bit 'clueless' ourselves. It's easy to know the answers, and it's then a small step to finding out those answers again though the eyes and ears of your people - by asking questions that draw those very answers out of them.

And it helps if they know some of the answers and also a few of the ones they aren't so sure of.

When they are able to demonstrate what they do know to you, they will develop far more positive thoughts about themselves than ever before.

In doing so, they will not step over the shortcomings they have - in fact, they will be more likely to discover them for themselves as well as the options that can be tried to solve problems and make progress.

And then, with the power of recognizing (both themselves and seeing you do), what they are doing right, they will be able to apply that again and again to those areas of their work where they struggle - and make that work too!

Time this week to help your people discover the positives in their activities and then lead that into further performance improvement too.

That will truly accelerate their development!

February 18, 2007 21:03 - Ready and Waiting

It's a curious thing.

From time to time, I notice unusual sayings; adverts; press maybe, that ring a sort of bell.

Right in the moment it happens and it kinda fascinates me.

The chance to spin a valuable idea out of almost fresh air is such fun - and it is, of course, great to share it with you all!

So, there I was, just yesterday afternoon. minding my own business, when I saw a sign in a store saying, 'Ready and Waiting'.

Whilst it was about something as pedestrian as the store was just hanging around on the assumption that someone (maybe everyone) was looking for their services, it struck me as meaning, in a bigger context, I think, something quite different.

And then it built on a couple of days I spent this week, training a group of managers and employees on the benefits of developing coaching skills, to make the most of themselves and their team.

In "The Inner Game of Work", Timothy Gallwey, pretty much the father of 'coaching', talks about the balance in the workplace that is finely defined between challenge and security (of job).

Employees who are too secure get bored and ultimately unfulfilled and demotivated, so leave.

On the other hand, employees who are too challenged, get fearful and anxious - and leave.

The balance of exactly the best amount of challenge (new stuff, stretching capabilities, etc,) and just enough security (safety, non-judgemental managerial attitudes, support not failure), for people feel able to be stretched, without fear, is pretty tight.

Which brings me back to the main thrust of what I have to say, short and simple.

Who, in your immediate team are 'Ready and Waiting' to be asked to do more.

To be challenged and grow?

Today would be a good day to sit up and take notice - for all those folks who you see, day in/day out and don't recognise how much they are looking to you for the push; the encouragement; in fact the courage to give them their moment.

It costs nothing and you will, fear not yourself, most often be well rewarded for the risk you take.

February 25, 2007 23:17 - Yes, Sweat The Small Stuff!

Working in a large retailer this week, I came across something so horrible that I had to share it with you.

The 'Staff Satisfaction Survey'. Curiously geared to assess how their people were feeling, was full of strange inconsistencies, rather than simple detail, questions that staff need to have right, before the bigger issues.

Who, for example, as an employee, focuses on the organization's 'mission', when they haven't been paid properly for all the extra work they did to bring the Christmas business in?

Who cares about corporate 'shared values', when they have a rodent infestation that no-one has resolved for months?

And what about the employee who hasn't been provided with the right size workwear for months, because they are a little 'oversize'?

Organizations who like to show that they are in touch with their people, but they do it on their own terms, really are hiding a potential problem in the longer term.

Their business will become more and more unsustainable as they plow on regardless of the real issues their people are becoming fed up with.

For a really simple checklist of these things you really must have right, there is a nice article on the website, right here.

Check it out and see if the simple stuff that your people need to be right are right - or whether you are self-satisfying your own agenda and hearing only what you want to hear, rather than listening to what your people are saying.

Or people leave.