COACHING MANAGERS
TO
BECOME COACHES

• Coaches & Managers as Coaches
• The Manager/Coach
• The Program

One of the many factors that have been recognized as the hallmarks of successful management behavior is the ability of Managers and Executives to develop their Direct Reports and staff. This attention to and interest in their professional growth is perhaps the most significant factor in the loyalty and commitment of personnel to their company.

In general, the Managers and Executives who demonstrate this ability are frequently the ones to be found at the top levels of successful firms. They become the leaders in these organizations. They exhibit a zest for recognizing and nourishing the talents of their staff while building a strong, dedicated and loyal team. Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric, is the living embodiment of this principle not only in his own behavior but, also, in what he expects of his Executives. A considerable amount of his personal time is devoted to this.

However, the design in the majority of management development programs omits the details of how Managers and Executives are to accomplish staff development, though their performance evaluation frequently includes how well they perform in this respect.

These programs in general expand upon the knowledge base of Executives. In addition to technical and industry-specific knowledge, a great deal of emphasis is usually placed on individual and team psychological theory. Frequently feedback to the individual Manager or Executive (in the form of 360 degree and management assessment instruments) is part of these programs.

The intent of most management development programs is to broaden the individual's view of what constitutes good management practice, with the expectation that the insight the Executive acquires will lead to the development of talent among his or her staff. They are expected to apply this knowledge without further training. To repeat, what is not stressed is the formal coaching of these future leaders in the "how" of how to develop the talent of staff members.

Frequently internal and/or external consultants are called upon to train staff on behalf of the management team, inadvertently depriving Managers and Executives of the opportunity to expand upon their skills in this area. The implication of this practice is not so much that these tasks are beyond the ability of Managers (though, of course, in some cases they may be), but that it is assumed that Managers are too busy to undertake the learning of these skills. They have other things to do that are more pertinent to their responsibilities.

Our program, "Coaching Managers and Executives to Become Coaches", is based on the assumption that this skill is a major prerequisite in becoming a successful leader and that its inclusion in a succession planning process is crucial for the long-term success of any organization.

COACHES & MANAGERS AS COACHES

The goals that external Coaches and Managers/Coaches mean to accomplish - the personal development of the individual staff member --are similar. However, their approach by necessity differs in many respects.

Coaching is a process based on a developing relationship where:

• The more the "Coachee" feels that he or she can trust the Coach (to be helpful, to have her best interests at the forefront, etc.), the more she can utilize the Coach as a sounding board (for thoughts not expressed, feelings not acknowledged, etc.) and take advantage of the feedback the Coach offers.
• The more accepting (as opposed to being critical and judgmental) the Coach is of the Coachee, the more he or she can recognize and value the strengths of the Coachee.
• The more these two simultaneously occurring states grow, the broader becomes the behavioral and psychological arena that the Coachee can explore in him/herself.
• The broader this arena grows, the more strengths and skills are discovered and the more creative the Coachee becomes (in decision-making, problem-solving, learning, etc).

There are at least two responsibilities of the Manager and Executive that interfere with the coaching process as described:

• The Manager has to evaluate staff members and judge their performance and competency.
• The Manager is responsible for achieving the strategic goals assigned her department

These responsibilities can result in a host of contradictory aims.
How can a Manager/Coach elicit the kind of trust that is a Coach's mainstay when the staff member knows that the Manager/ Coach is at the same time evaluating him? How difficult is it for an Executive/ Coach to invest time and energy in a staff member she finds to be an under-performer when the pressure is on her to get the work out? Will a staff member, knowing that her Executive/Coach is himself being evaluated on the basis of his ability to develop staff, use this as a way of controlling the Executive?

There are many other such questions that arise from the fact that there is an apparently inherent conflict of interest in the dual role of Executive/Coach.

THE MANAGER/COACH

Can an Executive function as a coach for his Direct Reports? One means of exploring this issue is to determine what those significant abilities are that are shared.

What makes for an excellent Manager and Executive? There are obviously innumerable factors, issues and viewpoints that can be promoted, but the following stand out the most:

• The ability of Managers to develop those professional skills of their Direct Reports that go beyond the simply technical
• Exhibiting an exuberance that motivates his/her staff and an enthusiasm for the goals of the department or division.
• Developing and being able to present to staff a teachable point of view that is uniquely his/hers, a theory and vision of what it takes to succeed in the business. (The discussion about a teachable point of view is based on an excellent article co-authored by Carole K. Barnett and Noel M. Tichy entitled, "Rapid-Cycle CEO Development: How New Leaders Learn to Take Charge", Organizational Dynamics, 29, #1, 16-31.)
• Developing teams and sustaining teamwork even in the face of untoward situations like mergers, downsizing, poor company performance and the like.
• Making meaningful assignments to staff members that are challenging and demanding and being able to provide feedback that expands the perspective of the staff member.

All of these factors are requisites for management success. Most of them do not require elaboration to highlight their importance as determinants of Executive success in developing staff. The one that does is the last, i.e., providing feedback to staff regarding the assignments they undertake.

Making meaningful assignments and debriefing the results bridges the apparent gap between Executive and Coach. This is one aspect of coaching that both Executives and external Coaches utilize, the former in a much more formal, structured and influential fashion than the latter. Their respective sets of assignments are understandably of a different order of magnitude and influence with respect to the welfare of the company.

For example, the Coach assigns "homework" tasks that have to do with interpersonal relations, self-organization, handling assignments, etc. - all very important in the personal development of the Coachee. The Executive's assignments have to do with creating a new department, turning around the fortunes of a division, implementing a strategic design, restructuring a department, etc.

What they both share is the enormous value that comes from the debriefing of the staff member's actions after the fact. For external Coaches the debriefing is the most fundamental, if not the most definitive, means of evaluating progress and planning interventions. This also holds true for Managers and Executives in their work with staff. The insights the Coachee derives from feedback in debriefing sessions with either Coach or Executive is a crucial element in his/her development.

The assignment process has many elements to it that offer the groundwork for personal development: the choice of assignments, the matching of assignments to the developmental needs of the person, the stringing together of assignments over time, how the debriefing is conducted, the decisions made by the Coachee in undertaking the assignment, the consequences of the decision, the impact on the team, etc.

The in-depth discussion between Coach/Manager and Coachee regarding any one (or more) of these factors can yield important insights regarding the latter's personal style as leader, her thinking process when assessing a difficult situation, how she generally goes about problem-solving, her usual assumptions and pre-suppositions when evaluating different types of situations, etc. Bringing these issues to the fore allows the Coachee to make the necessary adjustments that allow for continued professional development. What is required, however, is a skilled Manager/Coach whose focus is precisely on these types of issues.

In contrast is the typical debriefing by a Manager of his Direct Report's behavior in an assignment. The spotlight is typically and (usually) exclusively on the end product, the result. Rarely will a Manager parse the specific actions taken by his Direct Report and, if he does, he usually does not have in mind the goal of professional and personal development. The Manager's stance is understandable - he is responsible for the performance of his division or section and the assignment's main function is to contribute to that.

The Executive/Coach, on the other hand, has to consider both functions - the end result and staff development. Referring to the characteristics of the excellent Executive listed earlier, his strategy and vision of what works, his enthusiasm, his ability to lead a team all contribute to ensuring performance and a successful result. However, it is his assignment skills that facilitate the developmental process of his Direct Reports.

Melding these abilities is the hallmark of the successful Executive/Coach.

Our program is designed to facilitate their integration.

THE PROGRAM

(A). THE ELEMENTS OF THE PROGRAM

The following are the major ingredients of our program. They comprise what a Coach or Executive needs to possess to be successful.

1. Understanding of self and one's impact on others, and, a desire to continual learn about oneself.
2. Understanding others and their personalities, including:
1. Recognizing the strengths and talents of his/her Direct Reports.
2. Recognizing the limitations and personal impediments of each Direct Report.
3. Being able to diagnose personality problems that require forms of intervention other than coaching.

These abilities are succinctly captured in the chart (next page) devised by those in the "emotional intelligence" movement.

3. Developing a team which involves:
1. Understanding team dynamics.
2. Conveying goals, expectations and priorities clearly and directly so that the entire team is pulling in the same direction; creating a strategic vision that is both compelling and motivating.
3. Ensuring that the team knows how its performance is related to the overall corporate objectives and strategy.

4. Making assignments (as appropriate) to both individuals and teams:
1. The list of tasks and their descriptions are offered as an important part of the developmental planning process of the Center for Creative Leadership. Types of assignments:
• Scope: an increase in responsibility that is broader and different than what has gone before. Three core features: bigger scale, bottom-line accountability, new required skills or knowledge.
• Fix-it: fixing or stabilizing failing organizations or projects.
• Scratch: building something from almost nothing; taking action under uncertainty.
• Line to Staff: moving from line operation to a corporate staff role.
• Project/task forces: discrete projects or temporary assignments done alone or as part of a team or task force with recognizable end points indicating success or failure.
• Hardships: trials by fire, demanding situations sometimes resulting in great successes and sometimes feeling like setbacks or failures. (demotion, missed promotion, lousy job, personal trauma).
2. Planning the assignments with respect to:
• The learning goals to be derived.
• The values and attitudes to be learned.
• The performance goals and standards to be achieved as a result of the assignment.
3. Debriefing the assignments, i.e., providing feedback to the staff member for developmental purposes keeping in mind the following:
• Performance outcomes.
• The hierarchy of knowledge and skills required to perform the task.
• The sequence of steps used to perform the task.
• Special environmental conditions or concerns that had to be handled.
• How efficiently and productively the person functioned throughout the assignment.

(B). THE PROGRAM'S STRUCTURE

1. Knowing Oneself

There will always be a discrepancy between our self-image and how others perceive us. "Knowing oneself" entails being able to bridge that gap and to narrow it as much as possible. The successful Executive/Coach knows who he is, how he appears to others, what impact his style has on others. He is able to appropriately modify his behavior to achieve the results he wants. In particular, he is aware of his own developmental needs and ensures that they are satisfied. Since his feedback to Coachees in debriefing assignments is a major fulcrum on which the development of staff depends, all the more important is his self-understanding. To that end, we will utilize the following procedures:

1. A 360º feedback assessment at the beginning and at the end of the program.
2. Management assessments utilizing standard tests administered at the beginning of the program.
3. Personal one-on-one meetings with Managers/ Coaches both at the beginning of and throughout the program. These meetings will be devoted to reviewing the candidate's own developmental process and progress.
4. Periodic team feedback (see below) to the Managers/ Coaches

"Knowing oneself" is also demonstrated in an Executive/Coach's strategic vision of management, in being able to articulate, utilize and teach his philosophy of management. Therefore, another aspect of our program is:

5. The development by each participant of a written and tested strategic vision of management.


2. Knowing Others

We each have a philosophy of personality and of interpersonal behavior that is usually implicit and sometimes explicit. We use this philosophy to explain why people do what they do and, therefore, it molds how we respond to others. The danger is not in having one - we really don't have a choice in the matter. Rather, it is in not being able to modify, change and expand it with experience. To be successful, the Executive/Manager has to be aware of his philosophy and its limitations and has to be willing to continually expand upon it. Accordingly, part of our program will be devoted to the Executives:

1. Making explicit their philosophies of personality and how they arrived at them.
2. Reviewing different personality theories, the object being to modify their thinking about people and people's motivations.
3. Reviewing different theories of personal and professional development and their application to their work situations.
4. Utilizing this knowledge in discussing the developmental needs of their Direct Reports.


3. Team Dynamics

The value in having a strong team behind you is that much more can be accomplished than otherwise. Each person on a strong team becomes more productive than otherwise. They share information more readily, they are more supportive of and helpful to each other, they suggest ideas that a person working alone or in a non-productive team would not have access to, they each know their role and what is expected of them. Executives/Coaches will learn about the value of teams through:

1. A review of team dynamics.
2. Discussion of how each is functioning as a team leader.
3. Participating in their Executive/Coach team.

The Executive/Coach team is a crucial part of the training in that direct participation brings home the message more effectively than mere words. Being part of a team in which a person can trust expedites the learning and developmental process. In addition, our intent is for the Executive/Coach team to continue as a support group, a learning network, after the completion of training and, also, for its members to function as models and mentors for other Executives and Managers wanting to become Coaches.

4. Task Assignments

The major vehicle for a Manager/Coach's influence on the developmental process of personnel is the assignment and debriefing of tasks. Accordingly, the following issues will be dealt with in the program:

1. Determining the types of assignments that are available to be made.
2. Analyzing how they fit into the overall scheme of the mission of any particular Executive/Coach's division.
3. Deciding on the needs of personnel.
4. Fitting the assignment to personnel.
5. Specifying the issues to be debriefed for Coachees.
6. Giving feedback to the Executive/Coach regarding how he debriefs any one Coachee.

(C). THE PROGRAM'S TIMELINE

** The number of monthly all-day meetings will depend not only on the size of the group but also on the position and role of the participants. To illustrate, for a group of 10 Senior Executives approximately 16 monthly sessions would be appropriate.