Coaching: A global study of successful practices

The American Management Association recently published their latest research report: Coaching: A global study of successful practices.

 

Highlights include:

 

·     Coaching is used by about half of today’s companies.

·     Coaching continues to gain in popularity.

·     Coaching is associated with higher performance.* Organizations that use coaching are more likely to say they are performing well in the marketplace (measured by revenue growth, market share, profitability and customer satisfaction).*Please see report for research details.

A Secret? Really?

Gravity exists whether we believe in it or not, as does the Law of Attraction, which the movie The Secret has popularized.

 

Now, I recognize there is a great deal of debate about the movie, and perhaps even more criticism regarding how the movie communicated the law, however, what cannot be debated is the evidence for the law’s existence.

 

Like gravity, the Law of Attraction does not need you to believe in it in order to operate. And, I have to say, I am extremely doubtful there is a single successful person who does not realize that what they put out they will get back (otherwise know as the Law of Attraction). Approach people with mistrust, and you will be mistrusted. Approach others with disrespect, and will be disrespected. Thankfully, the opposite is also true.

 

This is not rocket science and, it should not be a secret.

 

What I believe is not well understood is at what fundamental level this law operates: the thoughts we think matter! People know what we really think of them – just as we know what others truly think of us. We can feel it. We know when others think well of us – and we know it when they do not. Consider the vast implications of this.

 

Hurt, Help or Impress?

It has been said that when we communicate with others we are doing one of three things. We are either trying to:

• Hurt
• Help, or
• Impress

Today, pay attention to your communication with others. Notice how often your truest intention in that communication is to either hurt or impress those involved. Also, notice the result when your intention is only to help another.

Caution:

People know when we are genuinely interested in them and their success. They know when our truest intention is to help, and they will always respond by genuinely caring about us and wanting to return the assistance. This is the secret sauce in business.  

Real Relationship Capacity.

Why are we so afraid to talk with our people about what is really going on with them?

Is it that we believe personal matters have no role in the workplace? Or, is the truth of the matter that we are afraid of the answers we might get if we dared ask the real questions begging to be asked; afraid of the discomfort we would experience at having to realize how ineffective we are at interacting with others on a personal level?

We reason that handling another’s personal challenges is not our job – and perhaps it is not. However, as often as professional challenges impede performance, personal challenges are at the root. Pretending the case is otherwise is simply naïve.

Coaching for Performance – A Perfect Partnership

Imagine that tomorrow you meet someone who you will readily welcome into your life. 

This is a very special kind of person, one who looks right past the superficial parts of your personality, your typical defenses, the insecurities you’ve worked so hard to mask, and the failings you’re ashamed to admit, let alone accept.

The Many Faces of Fear.

What is the number one fear for most people?  

According to some studies, public speaking. Curiously, speaking in front of others ranks higher than the fear of one’s own death, which reaches only second on such Most Feared lists! 

What about the number one fear of most senior executives?  

Earning the Right To Coach

Are you the kind of person from whom others want to receive coaching?

Think seriously about this question.  

As managers we cannot automatically assume the mantle of coach. Hiring, planning, performance management and other such tasks naturally accompany the role of manager – but coaching does not.

Becoming a Leader Coach is a welcome we must earn.

It requires that two choices be made:

1. The first is a decision we make to help another person create personal change;

2. The second is the choice another person makes to include us in his change effort.  

Think back on your own career.

The New Competitive Advantage: Leadership Capacity

Today’s Chief Learning Office states that inadequate leadership development is a threat to business growth.  

According to Corporate University Xchange’s latest study, 97% of companies surveyed are concerned about their leadership strength and 73% believe they do not currently have the leadership capacity to support their companies growth initiatives!

Has your company got the leadership bench strength it needs to compete? Do you?

What can you do:

1. To further develop your own leadership capacity?

2.  To foster the development and capacity of others?  

Sales Success: The Right Way Around.

For several years now (seven to be exact) I have been toying with an idea I call the right way around. Let me explain.

Many of us, in our desire to achieve something in business (or in life), drive straight towards our desired target, afraid that if we do not control every aspect of the situation, we will not reach our goal. This is the Type A approach, with which I must say I am intimately familiar.

Whether our goal is to achieve a specific sale or reach an overall business objective, the tendency is to focus on it and direct all our thoughts and efforts toward achieving that exact result.

This method, however, does not necessarily lead to the results we seek, and in my experience, I have often found it to be counterproductive to doing so.  

Cultlure.

 

In a recent email to a colleague I misspelled culture “cultlure”. My colleague was kind enough to point out the mistake, adding that perhaps my slip of the keys was a subconscious act, and that I would do well to consider coining the word.

Cultlure: that exciting element which draws people to a company.  

The interaction prompted me to think more about culture and what it is exactly that draws people to one organization over another, especially when the competition to attract and retain top talent is becoming increasingly critical to organization leaders.