Understand That There Are Two Kinds of Coaching
Once we grasp the differences and the importance of the core three actives, we now need to turn our attention to coaching. First, there are two kinds of coaching, namely transactive coaching and transformational coaching. Transactive coaching is focused on the transferring of competencies, skills, and/or techniques from the coach to the person who is being coached. Transformational coaching, on the other hand, focuses on shifting an individual's perspective on a problem or issue. When done by an experienced coach, the shift between these two forms of coaching is seamless and effective. However, for those who want to improve their coaching, this level of work takes tremendous thought, concentration, and very attentive listening to what is and what is not being shared by the person who is receiving the coaching.
For example, I recently coached a department leader who was struggling with three problems at the exact same time. First, their team was not functioning well as a team. Second, systems based changes were not being implemented successfully. Third, her one on one sessions were mostly dumping sessions with her, as the supervisor, solving everyone’s problems.
In the beginning of our time together, we needed to define the difference between teams and single leader work groups. She was calling her team a “team” but in reality she was leading them like a single leader work group. (See the difference between the two in the following article: “Firing Up the Front Line” by Jon R. Katsenbach and Jason A. Santamaria in the May-June 1999 issue of the Harvard Business Review). Once I explained the difference, she completely understood the problem and how she needed to change her leadership style to create a real team, rather than just a team in name only. It was a transactive coaching moment. I knew something she did not know and once she did know this information, successful change could start to take place.
Next, we talked about systems based changes that were not taking place in her department. Through dialogue, it became clear that she was focused on what needed to happen by when. Her people on the other hand did not understand the why behind the changes. She, on the other hand, knew the why but had not communicated it clearly to her team. Thus, there was no ownership and understanding to commit to the heavy lifting of changing core systems within the department. Once she grasped this problem, she decided to spend more time on the why and to build ownership around the changes that needed to take place. It was a moment of transformational coaching, i.e. she needed to look at the problem from the perspective of the employees rather just her perspective as the supervisor.
Finally, we talked about her one on one coaching sessions. What became clear over time is that she was using these one on one sessions to do supervision, coaching and a check-in with the result being that not one of the core three activities were being done well or effectively. Here, I needed to teach her the difference between the three core activities and to explain their role in leadership, i.e. a transactive coaching moment. Next, I pointed out that by solving all their problems for them, she was not building capacity, but instead dependency. She also was perpetuating a single leader work group perspective rather than a team perspective, i.e. a transformational coaching moment. It was a combination of the two forms of coaching that resulted in sustainable changes over time. When a coach can do both forms of coaching in a conscious and attentive manner, they create the foundation for better coaching and better performance.
To be continued on Wednesday.
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