While there are plenty of skeptics out, Coaching does get results. Documented research and the hands-on application of coaching, has proven this. If the coaching process is done properly and effectively coaching can yield a return on investment far greater than most people realize. What does successful coaching that gets results look like? Consider this rare inside look at how a Coach took an outside-in approach to helping an employee increase and maximize performance, not to mention saving his job.
Dear ________
I wanted to take an opportunity to thank you [again] for the workshops a few years back that have proven to be extremely valuable to me as a manager, mentor and coach and would like to share a recent success story with you if that’s OK?
We had an employee who has been with the company for many years – in fact he celebrated his 12th anniversary w/the Company on July 6th. He had slipped into a ‘rut’ over time and in coaching sessions had revealed to me that while he was “happy and content” with his current position and responsibilities, he felt he had been overlooked in compensation and promotion opportunities over time. (My perception based on his behavior and demeanor was quite the opposite – that of unhappiness and discontent.) I committed to him 2 years ago that I would personally do what I could to move him up, but that he had to “buy in” and take greater initiative before I could advocate any advancement.
As he continued to make some improvement, I recommended him for an officer promotion (with no additional compensation) a year ago, but was denied by leadership since they hadn’t observed the initiative necessary for advancement. I felt this would compel him to accelerate his efforts, but realized then and especially now that “rewarding” with an expected improvement isn’t likely to have the same impact as “rewarding” for observed improvement.
In the meantime, he continued to do just enough to get by and with a change in leadership, it was suggested that we let him go (outright w/no relocation or reassignment to another department). While this might have been justified at the time, I felt 11 years tenure w/the Company had some value and that he had untapped talent and skill that would undoubtedly add value to our department and to the company as a whole. I appealed for one last chance to coach him up, we put him under a stringent “performance plan” with required dates to reach expected competency in various areas.
The short story is that we are meeting at 3pm today to review his progress. As a result of his efforts, I have recommended and gained support from 3 levels of management (up to the Chief Credit Officer) to not only promote him from_______ to ______ but to promote his functional title resulting in a pay grade advancement in addition to a slightly more aggressive incentive plan – conditional upon a 9-12month timeline with increased responsibilities and expected competency in specific areas every 90 days. (This is an “open-end” comp change plan that may be extended if thresholds are not met as timely as expected.)
The end result will be that his salary will increase over time by ____ potentially within a 12 month period… Beats the heck out of 2.5% per year in my book! We now have a committed associate who is punctual, smiling when he reports to work and smiling when he leaves. Where he was once very stand-offish and unapproachable, he now exhibits a sense of humor and positive banter among his fellow associates.
In my opinion, today’s environment is much different than that of ______. No longer (at least for now) do our associates “choose” to work for us due to plentiful opportunities elsewhere. Unemployment is at unexpected levels so if we lose them today, they could potentially be unemployed for quite some time.
The outcome could have been quite different had this associate not accepted accountability and made sure that he reached deep within himself to make some personal changes. I am proud of the progress he has made and will be delegating and depending on him much more heavily in the months and years to come. His peers within the department and across the company have noticed, commented and documented the positive changes they have observed, up to and including the same leaders that advocated his termination only 5 months ago.
My intent w/this email is NOT to boast (for in fact I am humbled), but to testify to the effectiveness of the “Coach Approach” rather than dictatorial management style. What a great tool to bring out the best in others, and what personal satisfaction comes from it as a result.
I sincerely hope that all is well with you and yours. THANKS again! I APPRECIATE YOU!!
Respectfully,
_____________________
The testimonial above clearly shows that coaching does get results. Factor in the value of not having to hire, train, and develop a new employee, that you didn’t lose an employee with 11 years of experience, and that the person is an “officer level” candidate, you can see a cost savings of six figures — potentially getting close to seven figures by the time everything is said and done. Coaching can directly and indirectly affect the bottom line. Take the time to coach and get the results you need.
While there are plenty of skeptics out, Coaching does get results. Documented research and the hands-on application of coaching, has proven this. If the coaching process is done properly and effectively coaching can yield a return on investment far greater than most people realize. What does successful coaching that gets results look like? Consider this rare inside look at how a Coach took an outside-in approach to helping an employee increase and maximize performance, not to mention saving his job.
Dear ________
I wanted to take an opportunity to thank you [again] for the workshops a few years back that have proven to be extremely valuable to me as a manager, mentor and coach and would like to share a recent success story with you if that’s OK?
We had an employee who has been with the company for many years – in fact he celebrated his 12th anniversary w/the Company on July 6th. He had slipped into a ‘rut’ over time and in coaching sessions had revealed to me that while he was “happy and content” with his current position and responsibilities, he felt he had been overlooked in compensation and promotion opportunities over time. (My perception based on his behavior and demeanor was quite the opposite – that of unhappiness and discontent.) I committed to him 2 years ago that I would personally do what I could to move him up, but that he had to “buy in” and take greater initiative before I could advocate any advancement.
As he continued to make some improvement, I recommended him for an officer promotion (with no additional compensation) a year ago, but was denied by leadership since they hadn’t observed the initiative necessary for advancement. I felt this would compel him to accelerate his efforts, but realized then and especially now that “rewarding” with an expected improvement isn’t likely to have the same impact as “rewarding” for observed improvement.
In the meantime, he continued to do just enough to get by and with a change in leadership, it was suggested that we let him go (outright w/no relocation or reassignment to another department). While this might have been justified at the time, I felt 11 years tenure w/the Company had some value and that he had untapped talent and skill that would undoubtedly add value to our department and to the company as a whole. I appealed for one last chance to coach him up, we put him under a stringent “performance plan” with required dates to reach expected competency in various areas.
The short story is that we are meeting at 3pm today to review his progress. As a result of his efforts, I have recommended and gained support from 3 levels of management (up to the Chief Credit Officer) to not only promote him from_______ to ______ but to promote his functional title resulting in a pay grade advancement in addition to a slightly more aggressive incentive plan – conditional upon a 9-12month timeline with increased responsibilities and expected competency in specific areas every 90 days. (This is an “open-end” comp change plan that may be extended if thresholds are not met as timely as expected.)
The end result will be that his salary will increase over time by ____ potentially within a 12 month period… Beats the heck out of 2.5% per year in my book! We now have a committed associate who is punctual, smiling when he reports to work and smiling when he leaves. Where he was once very stand-offish and unapproachable, he now exhibits a sense of humor and positive banter among his fellow associates.
In my opinion, today’s environment is much different than that of ______. No longer (at least for now) do our associates “choose” to work for us due to plentiful opportunities elsewhere. Unemployment is at unexpected levels so if we lose them today, they could potentially be unemployed for quite some time.
The outcome could have been quite different had this associate not accepted accountability and made sure that he reached deep within himself to make some personal changes. I am proud of the progress he has made and will be delegating and depending on him much more heavily in the months and years to come. His peers within the department and across the company have noticed, commented and documented the positive changes they have observed, up to and including the same leaders that advocated his termination only 5 months ago.
My intent w/this email is NOT to boast (for in fact I am humbled), but to testify to the effectiveness of the “Coach Approach” rather than dictatorial management style. What a great tool to bring out the best in others, and what personal satisfaction comes from it as a result.
I sincerely hope that all is well with you and yours. THANKS again! I APPRECIATE YOU!!
Respectfully,
_____________________
The testimonial above clearly shows that coaching does get results. Factor in the value of not having to hire, train, and develop a new employee, that you didn’t lose an employee with 11 years of experience, and that the person is an “officer level” candidate, you can see a cost savings of six figures — potentially getting close to seven figures by the time everything is said and done. Coaching can directly and indirectly affect the bottom line. Take the time to coach and get the results you need.
One of the services I frequently provide organizations is a process called “Executive Coaching.” The process consists of me working with, or coaching/counseling, usually a senior person in a company. Most commonly the person coached is perceived by his or her boss as needing to improve in some area of performance. Or, the person has demonstrated difficulty in being effective within the organization. I typically work with a person for six months, sometimes longer. During this time we meet at least monthly and discuss personal leadership/managerial effectiveness along with other issues that usually surface during the discussions.
I find executive coaching to be a challenge and an incredible training experience, not only for the person I’m coaching, but for me as well. Many techniques and principles I teach in workshops have been learned in coaching sessions. It’s interesting how the differences in people create such a wide variety of behaviors, feelings and attitudes. But I guess that’s what makes us human beings and not animals.
I would like to describe two people whom I have coached in recent months. Obviously, I must conceal their identities, but the people and their situations are real. There are leadership principles represented in these cases that are so compelling to me that I welcome this opportunity to share them in this article.
The first person is a store manager of a regional grocery chain. He has been a store manager for over 15 years and from a first impression a person could assume that he is effective. He has a public persona of charisma and up-tempo happiness. I’m sure that many customers know who he is and might even believe he is a good manager. The truth is, however, that his boss is very close to terminating him. Let me describe why termination is a near possibility, because after we understand why, we can learn from his mistakes.
The district manager and the store employees have a very different opinion of this manager. instead of a charismatic leader, they see a person who procrastinates, doesn’t follow-through on assignments, gets lost in the trees and can’t see the forest, is a poor delegator, and either avoids confrontation at all cost, or is overly dictatorial and sometimes even abusive.
Now remember; this store manager is clearly aware that his continued employment is in serious jeopardy; he has been told by his district manager that if specific issues don’t immediately improve that he could lose his job. So if you were in this manager’s position, what would you do? How would you behave? What would you do to save your job? Those are questions I think I would ask myself, if I were in that position. Wouldn’t you?
Nonetheless, in a recent coaching session I conducted with the district manager, I watched this store manager say anything he could to please his boss. Rather than taking notes on what he needs to do differently, he spent his time trying to say whatever he could to merely get through the meeting and leave the room. It seemed to me that the prudent thing for him to do would have been to make a list of specific action items that needed to be accomplished in order to improve his job situation; instead, he nodded agreement to everything he heard and did whatever he could to shorten the meeting. Although he had a note pad and pen in front of him, he didn’t use them. When asked for a deadline to complete an assignment, his response was, “I’ll have to get back to you on that.” His nervousness was apparent and lie was obviously uncomfortable with the two of us trying to pin him down on specifics. At one point I observed him rocking back and forth in his chair—a clear indication of profound agitation. After the manager left the room the district manager turned to me and said, “He doesn’t get it. And I didn’t get any impression that anything will be different tomorrow than it was yesterday. I’m locked into a course of action that I don’t want to do.”
Why? Why did the manager behave this way? What could be motivating him to be so self-destructive? Before I give my interpretation of the answer, let me describe the second person. She has 35 employees and is the manager of an important department in a manufacturing company. With a master’s degree in engineering and almost 27 years of experience, she commands an impressive salary and position in her company.
Her problem is that she behaves like she is seven feet tall and bulletproof! She is openly defiant of her boss’s instructions and on occasion says things that approach insubordination. For example, her boss told her a few months ago that she needed to attend an important planning meeting in Mexico. When she concocted an excuse why she couldn’t attend on a specific date, her boss changed the date of the meeting to be more convenient for her schedule. So out of a dozen people to attend the meeting eleven adjusted their calendars to agree with this woman’s wishes.
Then, believe it or not, a week before the meeting in Mexico this massager announced to her boss, “The Mexico meeting is unnecessary and stupid. I’m not going!” Let me repeat the same questions I asked about my first example: Why? Why did she behave this way? What could be motivating her to be so self-destructive?
After her announcement I had an unfortunate conversation with this second manager’s boss. He said that he is fed up with her lack of cooperation and unprofessional behavior. He concluded by adding, “If you can’t get her back on track, I only have one final option, and she’s not going to like it.”
So why? Why do some people choose to behave in such indescribable ways? What could cause a person with a great job, including future career possibilities, to either fail to act (as in my first example) or openly rebel against all reason (as in my second example)? What do you think? Have you experienced someone similar to either of these managers?
Put yourself in my position for a minute, what would you do if you were coaching either of these managers? How would you approach the situation to effect change? What techniques or tactics might work better than another? Or, what about this question: is either of these managers salvageable? Are they worth saving? Is it best for all parties to merely terminate the person and start over again with a replacement? Think about these answers and in Part No I’ll describe what actually happened.
One of the services I frequently provide organizations is a process called “Executive Coaching.” The process consists of me working with, or coaching/counseling, usually a senior person in a company. Most commonly the person coached is perceived by his or her boss as needing to improve in some area of performance. Or, the person has demonstrated difficulty in being effective within the organization. I typically work with a person for six months, sometimes longer. During this time we meet at least monthly and discuss personal leadership/managerial effectiveness along with other issues that usually surface during the discussions.
I find executive coaching to be a challenge and an incredible training experience, not only for the person I’m coaching, but for me as well. Many techniques and principles I teach in workshops have been learned in coaching sessions. It’s interesting how the differences in people create such a wide variety of behaviors, feelings and attitudes. But I guess that’s what makes us human beings and not animals.
I would like to describe two people whom I have coached in recent months. Obviously, I must conceal their identities, but the people and their situations are real. There are leadership principles represented in these cases that are so compelling to me that I welcome this opportunity to share them in this article.
The first person is a store manager of a regional grocery chain. He has been a store manager for over 15 years and from a first impression a person could assume that he is effective. He has a public persona of charisma and up-tempo happiness. I’m sure that many customers know who he is and might even believe he is a good manager. The truth is, however, that his boss is very close to terminating him. Let me describe why termination is a near possibility, because after we understand why, we can learn from his mistakes.
The district manager and the store employees have a very different opinion of this manager. instead of a charismatic leader, they see a person who procrastinates, doesn’t follow-through on assignments, gets lost in the trees and can’t see the forest, is a poor delegator, and either avoids confrontation at all cost, or is overly dictatorial and sometimes even abusive.
Now remember; this store manager is clearly aware that his continued employment is in serious jeopardy; he has been told by his district manager that if specific issues don’t immediately improve that he could lose his job. So if you were in this manager’s position, what would you do? How would you behave? What would you do to save your job? Those are questions I think I would ask myself, if I were in that position. Wouldn’t you?
Nonetheless, in a recent coaching session I conducted with the district manager, I watched this store manager say anything he could to please his boss. Rather than taking notes on what he needs to do differently, he spent his time trying to say whatever he could to merely get through the meeting and leave the room. It seemed to me that the prudent thing for him to do would have been to make a list of specific action items that needed to be accomplished in order to improve his job situation; instead, he nodded agreement to everything he heard and did whatever he could to shorten the meeting. Although he had a note pad and pen in front of him, he didn’t use them. When asked for a deadline to complete an assignment, his response was, “I’ll have to get back to you on that.” His nervousness was apparent and lie was obviously uncomfortable with the two of us trying to pin him down on specifics. At one point I observed him rocking back and forth in his chair—a clear indication of profound agitation. After the manager left the room the district manager turned to me and said, “He doesn’t get it. And I didn’t get any impression that anything will be different tomorrow than it was yesterday. I’m locked into a course of action that I don’t want to do.”
Why? Why did the manager behave this way? What could be motivating him to be so self-destructive? Before I give my interpretation of the answer, let me describe the second person. She has 35 employees and is the manager of an important department in a manufacturing company. With a master’s degree in engineering and almost 27 years of experience, she commands an impressive salary and position in her company.
Her problem is that she behaves like she is seven feet tall and bulletproof! She is openly defiant of her boss’s instructions and on occasion says things that approach insubordination. For example, her boss told her a few months ago that she needed to attend an important planning meeting in Mexico. When she concocted an excuse why she couldn’t attend on a specific date, her boss changed the date of the meeting to be more convenient for her schedule. So out of a dozen people to attend the meeting eleven adjusted their calendars to agree with this woman’s wishes.
Then, believe it or not, a week before the meeting in Mexico this massager announced to her boss, “The Mexico meeting is unnecessary and stupid. I’m not going!” Let me repeat the same questions I asked about my first example: Why? Why did she behave this way? What could be motivating her to be so self-destructive?
After her announcement I had an unfortunate conversation with this second manager’s boss. He said that he is fed up with her lack of cooperation and unprofessional behavior. He concluded by adding, “If you can’t get her back on track, I only have one final option, and she’s not going to like it.”
So why? Why do some people choose to behave in such indescribable ways? What could cause a person with a great job, including future career possibilities, to either fail to act (as in my first example) or openly rebel against all reason (as in my second example)? What do you think? Have you experienced someone similar to either of these managers?
Put yourself in my position for a minute, what would you do if you were coaching either of these managers? How would you approach the situation to effect change? What techniques or tactics might work better than another? Or, what about this question: is either of these managers salvageable? Are they worth saving? Is it best for all parties to merely terminate the person and start over again with a replacement? Think about these answers and in Part No I’ll describe what actually happened.
Whenever I watch a business show on television, I am amazed at the number of times the word “expectation” is used to describe the performance of a company’s perceived value and stock price. It seems that investor “expectations” often drive stock prices in the market. When a company exceeds expectations, the stock price skyrockets and when a company does not meet or is below investor expectations, then prices plummet reflecting the dissatisfaction of investors in the performance of a company.
This same drama plays out on a much smaller scale with leaders and their individual team members. Expectations play a big part of an effective relationship. The only problem is that all too frequently expectations in the mind of the leader versus expectations in the mind of the follower are unclear, confusing, and ambiguous. Yet, everyone wants to know what is expected of them. We want to be clear about our obligations and duties. We want to be able to anticipate the outcomes and requirements necessary to be a good performer and add value to an organization.
Expectations bind us together; they are the fabric that forms a relationship. Expectations play a key role in building trust and confidence as we anticipate the probability of someone executing necessary duties. When trust is high, we value and leverage our relationships more. When expectations are not achieved our trust bank account is depleted.
Expectations are a key driver in the motivation and engagement levels of people. When people understand expectations and buy in to them, they work harder to fulfill those expectations just like a company does in the financial market. People want to know what is expected of them so they are then able to make decisions about the intensity and discretionary performance they are willing to give towards a task or job. When coaches create a two-way agreement with their team members about expectations, they set the stage for the extraordinary performance necessary in a highly competitive world
CMOE is an advocate of a simple process that we call “the alignment meeting” as a tool to define and clarify expectations. The alignment meeting or discussion should occur periodically with any team to maintain a clear picture of everyone’s expectations. These alignment meetings only take one or two hours with a typical team. They should occur more often for teams that are in a state of change or are in conflict, and less often for stable and harmonious teams. Every time CMOE associates have facilitated an alignment meeting, the topic of feedback coaching and mentoring always surfaces. People have a thirst to know how they are doing, where they stand, and where they are going. They don’t want to be a non-performing asset in the enterprises portfolio of resources. Most people want to be productive contributors, but in order to do that, they need information, feedback, and guidance from a coach. This dynamic creates a “perfect storm” for the leader. If the leader is able to capitalize on the need people have for feedback on their performance, and solidify an “expectation’s agreement,” the leader will then be in a position where people seek out and expect coaching and feedback. This creates a legitimate reason to coach people on key factors that will drive performance for the team and the individual. Coaching then becomes one of the central expectations of the team’s culture. When a leader needs to courageously engage anyone on the team about an important topic or situation, they have an expectation platform or a “license” to operate from. The leader has an understanding that it is their duty and obligation to share information, direction, and feedback. It becomes the normal thing to do; no one feels singled out or targeted. In turn, when feedback is lacking, people on the team are more likely to ask for it and hold the leader more accountable to perform coaching tasks.
The license to coach makes it easier to give and receive coaching. It becomes a natural process. Everyone buys into it because everyone understands that to run a business, you need to be able to talk to people about their performance. When leaders create a license to coach by bringing sound skills to the process, people will excel and even exceed your wildest expectations.
In Part 1 and Part 2 of “Which Comes First, Coaching or the Need for Coaching?” it was discussed that most coaches wait for the need for coaching, rather than proactively coaching, which in turn reduces the actual need for coaching. From these two posts, new questions may have surfaced. Some of you may be asking, “If there aren’t any problems or issues, then what would I coach about or coach to?”
CMOE has identified four type of coaching opportunities, listed below in no particular order.
1. Improvement
2. Development
3. Reinforcement
4. Alignment
As you may have guessed, CMOE categorizes “the need for coaching,” under Improvement (1). Coaching of this type targets elevating performance and overcoming setbacks, shortcomings, issues, concerns, and problems. However, CMOE has identified three other types of coaching opportunities that will serve as a preemptive strike to such issues. Coaching for Development (2) is focused on enhancing potential, teaching skills, and clarifying expectations – your’s, the coachee’s, and the organization’s. Coaching for Reinforcement (3) involves helping the coachee sustain and expand strengths, successes, and achievements. Coaching for Alignment (4) deals with helping the coachee change and build commitment to new strategies, goals, and processes. After you have finished reading about CMOE’s four types of coaching opportunities, you may yourself realize that problems and issues aren’t the only reason leaders need to coach.
Despite the various opportunities, managers typically only coach for Improvement, or “the need for coaching.” I challenge all readers to make an effort to get out of this coaching rut and start coaching to the other three types of opportunities listed above. Managers will likely find that “the need for coaching” will actually diminish because the causes to such problems will be addressed early on, before a problem fully develops. Please keep your thoughts and comments coming and I welcome any follow-up questions.
We can all understand that it is important to help employees to improve their performance and increase in their skills, but sometimes it just takes too much time. There are too many employees and too much work to get done to be able to have a solid coaching session. Wrong! Take a look at the following video which demonstrates how an employee’s performance can be evaluated and his strengths encouraged in a natural setting. This method is so obvious and natural. Watch this demonstration of a One Minute Employee Coaching Session.
Motivation is an internal desire and force that drives us to accomplish tasks and goals. In the ideal situation, we learn, develop skills, and grow as individuals as we move towards these goals. So, as leaders, the growth and development of employees should be a major part of the planning process as we set goals with team members. But to do it effectively a leader needs to understand what motivates each team member. When a leader is able to motivate a team member and help them feel involved, positive results will begin to unfold.
Motivation Theories
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs categorizes some of the motivating factors in people’s lives as: Psychological Needs, Safety (Security) Needs, Social Needs, Esteem Needs, and Self-Actualization. The Hygiene Motivation theory by Herzberg continues with this idea with Maslow’s first three and a half being the hygiene.
A leader should keep in mind that motivating factors will change. If leaders are in tune with the current needs of their team members, they can more effectively motivate others. It becomes a win-win relationship when the organization can meet its own goals and tasks and the motivating needs of employee.
A Motivation Study
The Hawthorne Studies conducted by Elton Mayo is an example of how a change in the environment increased productivity. The scientists were studying the effect of light on production in a factory. They thought that light was a contributing factor to productivity levels but later realized, employees were producing more results because they felt needed, not they were a part of something, and were receiving attention. What these people wanted was social need and esteem rather than light. They needed to be involved and associate with others. Isn’t it extraordinary how powerful the need for social affiliation was in this situation.
When our own team members feel motivated, encouraged and cared about by their leaders, they will feel as though they can make a difference. The results will follow.
An Eyewitness Report
As part of my work with CMOE, I was involved in a training initiative for FedEx. There was one station in particular which experienced tremendous results year after year. We spent the day diagnosing why this station was so effective. We found that its success was directly tied to the leader’s ability to motivate the team. This stations manager would arrive daily at 8:00 a.m. But before going to his office and attacking his “in-basket” he would walk through the station and talk with his team members. It wasn’t necessarily about business issues. He would ask about their family, or joke about a recent sporting event. This leader was developing his team and motivating them through regular interaction. In turn, because they were involved and felt a part of a team, they produced extraordinary results. Basic human interaction and a sincere concern from leaders can motivate and develop followers. It is simple things that lead to tremendous results.
In 
