"The F.O.C.U.S. of
Business Coaching"
by Barry K.
Zweibel, CEC, PCC
Certified Executive Coach, Professional Certified Coach
Coaching is still fairly new,
but its value, impact, and popularity are all growing rapidly. Certainly the press
things so, as this sampling of excerpts indicate:
The Harvard Business Review - "The goal of coaching is the goal of good
management - to make the most of an organization's valuable resources."
Newsweek Magazine - "Part consultant, part motivational speaker...
coaches work with managers, entrepreneurs, and just plain folks, helping them
define and achieve their goals."
Money Magazine - "The benefits of coaching appear to win over even the
most cynical of clients within just a few weeks."
The Wall Street Journal - "THE EXECUTIVE says his fears disappeared when
his supervisor described the proposed coaching as an opportunity 'to get some
outside points of view on what we do'."
CNN.com - "Once used to bolster troubled staffers, coaching now is part
of the standard development training for elite executives and talented
up-and-comers."
Business Week - "As for coaching, having someone listen to you and
encourage you, and break everything down into easy concrete steps is rather
nice."
WHAT BUSINESS COACHING ISN'T!
For the uninitiated, those quotes help explain what coaching IS. It might be
even more instructive, however, to look at what coaching ISN'T:
Coaching ISN'T about fixing "broken" people - Organizations that
hire coaches tend to see their people as already successful. Still, they believe
their employees could be even more successful if given the opportunity and
resources to do so.
Coaching ISN'T just pleasant chit-chat - Although coaching
conversations can be quite enjoyable, a coach's job is to help you move forward
in a way that's in keeping with who you are and what you want. And since a key
goal of coaching is to facilitate deep learning and lasting change, coaching
conversations are designed to be both relevant and resonant (read: worth your
while). To that end, it's essential that both the coach and coaching participant
attend the coaching call ready to work. (Yes, perhaps surprisingly, most
coaching is done by telephone!)
Coaching ISN'T something everyone is good at - Sure, anyone can
try to coach. (And many do!) But not everyone can coach well because it requires
a mastery of advanced communication and relating skills, coupled with solid
business experience, know-how, and a special commitment to helping professionals
flourish. That's why talking with co-workers, a spouse, friends or even your
boss doesn't always work. A fully trained and certified business coach has both
the will, and the skill, to help you figure it all out.
Coaching isn't therapy, either - Although it can be quite therapeutic.
It's not about giving you the answers, as a consultant might, or bullying you
into something, as some managers might try to do, either. No, coaching is about
helping you figure out your own answers. It's about helping you become a better
communicator WITH YOURSELF because when you do, you naturally work harder and
smarter to maximize the value you provide to your company, the people you work
with, the customers you serve, and yourself.
HOW A BUSINESS COACH HELPS YOU F.O.C.U.S.
It's about focus. And the very word, focus, serves as an excellent acronym for
how a business coach can help you - and your direct reports - better F.O.C.U.S.
on achieving great things:
F stands for FACE IT - All too often people in business sell themselves
short by avoiding what they don't already know how to do. This is a natural
tendency, but one that makes us more and more risk averse over time. And that
can spell disaster in today's business climate. What coaching allows you to do
is learn new skills in the safe, supportive, and confidential way so that when
you're given that new assignment, or seemingly impossible challenge, you have
the confidence and creativity you need to face it head on and really hit the
ground running.
O stands for becoming more OPEN-MINDED - The very things we do that make
us successful are often exactly what keep us from being more successful still.
Attention to detail may have solidified your reputation for quality work, but it
might just be what's stopping you from improving your delegation skills and
fully utilizing your employee resources. Similarly, your natural ability to work
independently may be what's undermining your efforts to improve your staff's
teamwork. A coach helps you understand how you get in your own way, to recognize
your default behaviors, and to re-tool your actions to be more consistent with
what you're really trying to accomplish. It's what flexibility was meant to
mean!
C stands for identifying CHOICES - For many, the question is, "What
choices?" Or at least it seems that way. They know what SHOULD be done, but
they'll be the first to tell you how impossible it is to do it that way. And
since the only other choices they see are "less than that" - and therefore not
worth doing - well, it's no surprise why things don't get done. A coach helps
you break out of this rut. Through thought-provoking questions, comments,
brainstorming, role-playing, and a variety of other 'homework' assignments and
accountabilities, your coach challenges you to find new possibilities - ones you
haven't already discarded - ones that are really worth trying.
U stands for UNAMBIGUOUSLY moving forward - In business, it's about
making things happen. As such, your professional success is determined by your
ability to make good things happen SOONER - or not. So getting real clear on
WHAT it is you want to do, HOW it is you're going to do it and WHEN it is you're
going to do it, is why working with a business coach makes so much sense. It's
about your success - no ifs, ands, or buts.
S stands for SOLIDIFYING the learning - We've all made mistakes. Big
ones, too! But that won't determine your future as much as what you learn (or
don't learn) from those mistakes. Same too with your successes. What enabled
that to happen? What would have facilitated things further? What do you want to
try next? A business coach will ask you these questions - and ones like them -
so that you can find insights and discoveries that come from them. It may sound
counter-intuitive, but hindsight is a great planning tool! By looking back at
the challenges you've faced and the lessons you've learned, you can't help but
be smarter and more capable for it. But you have to do it. And a coach makes
sure you do.
WISHING IS NOT A STRATEGY.
If you think a business coach can help you, don't wait - write out your reasons
why. List some specific goals and objectives a coach could help you with.
Identify the upside potential in terms of time, effort, productivity, customer
service, or profitability, as example. Think in terms of hard- and soft-dollar
savings, if you can. Make your case as compelling as you can and then send a
copy to your boss ... with a request for approval to proceed. (And send a copy
to me, too, if you don't mind!)
Whatever you do, don't give up before even trying. Keep the F.O.C.U.S. and good
things WILL happen sooner!
Barry K. Zweibel, CEC, PCC, is a certified
business/personal life coach, president of GottaGettaCoach!,
Incorporated, and
columnist for the WSTA Ticker magazine. He helps smart, capable, people improve
their confidence, resolve, and creativity, through business/personal life
coaching!
Email:
bz@ggci.com; Phone: 847-291-9735; Web:
www.ggci.com.
©2003, 2004 GottaGettaCoach!, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
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