What is coaching?

The term and practice of coaching developed in the sports world and has been subsequently imported into the world of business. It has been argued that it is THE most important practice in which any leader can engage.

Coaching should provide motivation, structure and effective feedback. As coaches, managers believe that people can succeed, that they can contribute to their success and that they can identify what people need to be able to do to improve their performance. Whilst coaching may form part of the performance management process of an organisation, it should not be part of the disciplinary process!

Learn more about the importance of coaching on our Coaching & Mentoring Course

The coaching process

It is possible for some managers to be trained counsellors or appointed mentors, but ALL leaders can be coaches (and should be!).

It is important to remember that:

• The purpose of coaching is always to enable the individual to develop.
• It is not a control measure
• It should not be used as a substitute for appraisal

An employee may approach you for coaching but it is more likely that you will wish to use coaching as part of your people management strategy. If you try to force coaching on an unwilling member, it will not be very productive for anyone!

Ideally coaching is not a one-off but a series of planned interventions where you concentrate time to your member of staff for their development and you do not cancel or change the appointment except in extreme emergency!

Coaching skills

The basic skills you need for coaching are the basic skills you need for all people management:

• Active listening
• Questioning techniques
• Feedback skills
• Goal setting

A typical coaching session

Once you have the person’s agreement to participate, the coaching session follows a basic four-step process:

• Establish contract
• Explore development needs
• Suggest alternatives
• Set goals

Establish contract

This is an important step at the beginning of your first coaching session and can be reiterated at subsequent sessions. A contract in this sense is not a formal written contract but is a way of establishing the ground rules for your sessions. It is above all the time when you can reassure your staff member that you are not using the contents of the session for appraisal purposes.

So you need to voice the purpose of the session, your role and theirs in the coaching process, the duration and the frequency of the sessions.

Explore Development Needs

The ideal way of determining development needs is by asking what the person being coached needs to learn and wishes to address. You can then together agree what is feasible to work on in one session. Do not try to force too much on the individual in one go, for they will stand little chance of achieving their goals.

Suggest alternatives

When you are exploring ways forward with your coachee, allow them time to discuss their ideas. You may wish to give them some constructive feedback on performance already achieved if this is appropriate and helpful to them. If they get stuck you may wish to suggest other alternatives; options they may not have considered or may not be aware exist.

DO NOT impose these ideas however, or you are straying out of coaching; suggest them, and ask the person what they think.

Set goals

In the final part of the session the person makes a commit to themselves (and to you) of further action.

Encourage and motivate them to set realistic targets which are clear and concise and have a time scale attached. Remind them that they will be coming back to discuss the outcome with you at the next session.

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Leadership Training on April 3rd, 2007 | No Comments »

Feedback is often mentioned, either as part of the performance appraisal process or as a stand-alone means of assisting your staff development. But it can be an important source of information and understanding of yourself as an effective leader. It is certainly an essential tool for the effective leader. Learn just how important feedback can be on our Leadership Skills training course in Brighton, Sussex. We can also arrange Appraisals Training on a private basis, with content tailored to your organisation’s processes and policies.

What is feedback?

Feedback is a way of helping another person change their behaviour. Feedback helps the individual to keep their performance on target in order to achieve certain standards and goals. It is a developmental process for the individual who wants to learn how well their performance matches expectations.

For performance to improve, three types of information must be conveyed:

• what is considered to be the appropriate standard of performance
• how their performance measures up to this standard
• how they might improve their performance.

Clearly if you expect a member of staff to perform to a certain standard, then the standard needs to be explained first before giving the task! This is obvious, but how often does it happen?

Guidelines for giving feedback

Focus on performance, not on personality

• Telling someone that they “don’t seem to be able to relate very well to the public” could sound, to the individual in question, like a comment on their personality. Concentrate feedback on the behaviours required in order to dispel this perception (such as giving full attention to customers, making eye contact with them, using their name when possible, returning calls promptly, etc.) will be much more helpful.

Give feedback when the behaviour occurs

• Praise is most effective when it occurs close in time to the praiseworthy behaviour; so is criticism, for stored-up criticism can lead to massive defensive mechanisms being brought into play when it is tackled. Frequent informal feedback is much better than infrequent formal feedback.

Summarise and check

• Ask the individual to summarise the feedback they have just received and try to make sure that they remember both the positive and the negative. Then ask them to reiterate the action plan that you have agreed to remedy any performance deficits/develop themselves for the future.

Feedback is a two-way process!

It just as important that you as the leader receive feedback from your staff as it is that you give feedback to them. You also need to know where your behaviour could change so be prepared to ask for constructive feedback from staff and do not be defensive when you receive it. Listen attentively to what is being said and be prepared to change if necessary.

In other words, do not expect your staff to do something you are not prepared to do yourself!

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Leadership Training on April 3rd, 2007 | No Comments »

Leadership is a challenge for most people. Being an effective leader when you are in the midst of change is even more challenging! Learn how to lead in changing times on our Change Management Course in Brighton, Sussex.

Remember the following:

1. Accept when change is needed

• Assess and identify the need for change
• Acknowledge the reality and the requirements of change

2. Be positive about new opportunities

• Look for ways to overcome obstacles
• Demonstrate personal flexibility and adaptability to change

3. Proactively promote change

• Take the initiative to shape the business by managing and contributing to its development
• Communicate new developments to others and adopt new approaches they might suggest

4. Reassure and sell the benefits of change to others

• Build confidence by takings things a step at a time
• Explain why change is required

5. Generate relationships of trust

• Be open, honest and supportive and listen
• Recognise when others need support, offer help and regular and constructive feedback

6. Provide a role model for others

• Display confidence in decisions and provide clear explanations for the decisions taken
• Display a positive and proactive approach to achieve outcomes that make a difference

7. Take ownership for resolving issues

• Use your initiative to solve problems
• Ensure all decisions are fair and unbiased

8. Support others in their jobs and development

• Praise and reward innovative behaviour that makes a difference
• Promote skill development for self and others

9. Encourage others to take on new responsibilities

• Encourage others to contribute their skills and opinions and to take responsibility
• Encourage people to be involved and ask them how they want to be involved

10. Focus on delivering good outcomes for internal and external customers

• Communicate and consult with key stakeholders
• Ensure continuity of professional service

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Leadership Training on April 3rd, 2007 | No Comments »

Many managers are called upon to lead project management teams and achieve specific outcomes. But how effective are these teams generally? Is their success assured or more or less hit and miss? How can the leadership of these project teams play a vital role in the success of the project?

Project management software is of course available but the best software in the world will not help you if you can’t do the key task of leading a team! Our comprehensive Leadership Skills training course will help develop your team leading skills.

What is a project?

Let’s be clear from the start about what we’re talking about. A project is a temporary activity undertaken to create a specific outcome.

When you, as a project leader, accept responsibility for a project, you accept the schedule, timeline, deadlines, resources, and expectations set out at the start. You need to have the details and plans in place to handle whatever arises during a project’s duration – setting appropriate expectations for timelines, milestones, and deliverables. And, to ensure success for each and every project you need to have the right team.

Leading a project team

The success of a team and its overall effectiveness is obviously going to be influenced by the quality and skill of the person who leads it. So what makes an effective project team leader?

As with all aspects of management, the styles used by individual leaders vary. Leaders are individuals and as people will have a tendency to be more task oriented (their main concern is to get the job done) or more people oriented (their main concern is to ensure that people work well together). Effective leadership requires a balance between both task and people orientation.

As a project manager you know that your team has been set up to achieve a particular set of deliverables and the team must commit to this goal.

But teams are made up of individuals, each of whom must share the team’s common objective but each of whom will also have personal objectives, which they want to satisfy through membership of the team. One team member might want to impress the boss, another might be looking for skills enhancement, and another might want to work with another particular team member. Also teams have the group dimension; they are co dependent or inter-dependent.
Take a moment to answer the following questions:

• What type of project leader are you?
• Are you more task or more process oriented?
• How effective is this to your leadership of current projects?
• How can you develop balance in your team leadership?

Building the ideal project team

Do you have a choice of whom you have in your team or are they imposed on you by the project brief? Obviously this will have an effect on the team’s effectiveness.

Clearly it is better if you can hand pick your people. However, these will probably include employees of the organisation as well as contractors, freelancers, associates, stakeholders, quality controllers, contract compliance managers, consultants, suppliers, partners and so on. You may have the final say in who they are but you probably won’t have complete control over the selection of this range of personnel.

It makes it even more important therefore to get them on board as soon as possible.

Bear in mind these key points:

• Get the group to meet together as soon as possible
• Establish your rules for working together; hours of work, reporting lines, decision making procedures
• Clarify your terms of reference; reiterate the expected deliverables of the project
• Get commitment from all team members
• Discuss and iron out any concerns

Above all you need to work out ways to co-ordinate your team by getting everyone to agree on the objectives and schedules for the project.

Don’t imagine that teams only need to be full of paid and official project team members. You can have valuable assistance from informal advisors, mentors, and helpers. This can help project management on a tight budget as long as everyone’s roles are clearly agreed at the outset.

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Leadership Training on April 3rd, 2007 | No Comments »

Leadership exists in all walks of life and at all levels in organisations. As a leader in any situation you need to understand these basic principles of leadership:

• Successful leaders have the ability to vary their style according to the context
• A more participative style seems to be most effective in most situations
• Real effectiveness depends on each leader creating and developing their own unique style

Learn how to develop these skills on our comprehensive Leadership Skills course in Brighton, Sussex.

Here are some comments on leadership from three very individual (and successful) leaders of recent times.

Peter Bakker

Peter Bakker is CEO of TNT, a global business with total operating revenue of £10,060 million in 2006 and 165,000 employees worldwide

Leaders need VISION and MOTIVATION which comes from within and to know how to COMMUNICATE this

Leaders must:

• MOTIVATE, STIMULATE and INSPIRE.
• Create the environment for motivation
• Take honest feedback on themselves from the people around them
• Have an open culture
• LISTEN

How does he do this?

COMMUNICATION: he has developed a cascaded system for communication with three main aspects:

1. An annual meeting with 250 people at his base
2. He tours the world and visits 15/16 locations a year. Meets again 200/300 people each time. Holds sessions called ‘Burning questions, Straight answers’ where he spends 2/3 hours answering ANY questions his employees put to him (personal as well as business)
3. Monthly ‘chat’ session on Internet with 500+ people of all ranks joining in all over the world

Jack Welch

Jack Welch, ex-CEO of General Electric. During his tenure, GE increased its market capitalisation by over $400 billion

Leaders must have PASSION, INTENSITY and COMPASSION

Leaders have to:

• Galvanise people to follow their vision
• Energise
• Make decisions
• Get the job done

His advice for successful leadership?

Take care of the middle 70% of your personnel.

In any organisation you have:

Top 20%
Middle 70%
Bottom 10%

Top 20% – take care of them, give them rewards (more money)
Bottom 10% – they are non-productive so tell them where they stand and they will leave of their own accord; you won’t have to fire them!
Middle 70% – they are the bulk of your workforce doing the bulk of the work. So you must:

• Motivate them
• Train them
• Give them options

Give them the chance to get into the top 20%

Julian Metcalfe

Julian Metcalfe, Co-founder of Pret-a-Manger, UK company voted one of Top 10 best companies to work for in Europe, with a turn over £192m in 2006

Leaders have to care about people and love and believe in what they’re doing.

Leaders must:

• Ask for honest feedback
• Tell staff what is required of them
• Give pride in the business
• Give responsibility to people

Why is his company so successful?

• Staff hire each other
• Management do not control the staff; if people have responsibility they tend to work more
• Staff are trusted. People can’t be trained to care so they have no customer care training; people have to care from within!
• The company promotes from within (over half of the managers are promoted from within)
• They have a lot of bizarre guidelines for example, if someone looks unhappy, give them a coffee and don’t charge them!

What can you learn from these very different leaders?
What do you think of their methods?
Is there anything you can adapt to improve your own leadership?

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Leadership Training on April 3rd, 2007 | No Comments »

Being a leader is a stressful job, and it is decision making which people often find the hardest. What is often the case is that you will find yourself always sticking to what worked before and not taking each problem on its own merits. However here are five easy steps to help you in making your decisions:

1. Understand the problem: Make sure you realise what exactly is wrong before you try and fix it, you may just make matters worse otherwise.
2. List the potential approaches that could resolve your problem: This way you will have had to look at the situation in more detail than you might have otherwise and, with more options, are better equipped to solve it.
3. Select the best approach: this takes time, don’t rush.
4. Carefully monitor the plan’s implementation: Have everyone know, clearly, what they are doing, and make sure that they are doing it correctly.
5. Check that the problem is fixed: It is important to make sure that the problem has been resolved and that your solution has worked and that the problem isn’t recurring.

Develop your decision making skills on our Leadership Skills training course in Brighton, Sussex.

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Leadership Training on March 27th, 2009 | No Comments »

At one point or another in the course of your professional career, it is more than likely you will have witnessed or even been subject to some sort of conflict in the workplace. Conflict in the workplace is never a good thing and will have a negative impact on all involved. If you are in a position of responsibility and/or leadership within your work then it is your job to prevent any conflict and resolve any conflicting issues. Doing this can be a hard thing to accomplish but if you follow these three simple tips you should find it a lot easier – our comprehensive Leadership Skills course in Brighton, Sussex, also covers resolving conflict.

Be aware of what is going on.

Take an active interest in what is going on in workplace, don’t let any potential rifts continue that could have easily been amended sooner. Being aware of what is going on is an important step to controlling and understanding the issue at hand in turn will allow you to find a resolution quicker.

Act fast.

Don’t allow the situation to get out of hand in the hope that it will resolve itself, take responsibility of the situation and directly address the conflict between the two opposing sides. The longer you leave it the more likely it is to get worse and become more of a deep rooted and unresolvable problem.

Address the situation directly.

Hold a meeting between the two conflicting sides and come to an agreement in a calm and controlled manner. The situation must still be workable and make sure that there are no feelings of  harbored resentment after the conflict has been resolved. The quality of work should not be affected and you need to make sure of this through monitoring the situation to check for any reoccurring issues.

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Leadership Training on April 17th, 2009 | No Comments »

Good leadership is not just about managing and maintaining what is. Great Leaders need not to be afraid to make mistakes. They need to have the confidence to take risks. Our Leaderships Skills training course in Brighton, Sussex, will help you develop your outside of the box thinking.

Consider the following quotes:

“640K ought to be enough for anybody.” – Bill Gates, 1981, rejecting proposal for larger computer memory.

“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” – Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” – H.M. Warner (Warner Brothers) before rejecting proposal for movies with sound in 1927.

“The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C,’ the idea must be feasible.” – A YALE UNIVERSITY professor in response to Fred Smith’s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

“The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” – David Sarnoff’s Associates in rejecting a proposal for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

It is important not to be confined to the present but to look to the future. Organisations today need to be organic, they need to grow and change. When the movie camera was finally accepted and became main stream, the camera did not move! The actors would run around the static camera like the theatre or still camera. The idea that the camera could move around the actors took a while to develop. To see great opportunities you need good leadership skills. Great Leaders look beyond current practises and markets.

Try this test to see if you can think outside the box! – Draw nine dots to make a square – three rows of three. Try and join the nine dots with 4 straight lines.

Do you need 5 lines?

The correct answer is shown here in this diagram

Did you restrict yourself – impose the restriction that lines cannot go outside the box. Try not to give yourself self imposed restrictions that prevent you and your organisation from reaching your goals and developing new ideas that will keep the company growing and changing.

This way of thinking is commonly called thinking outside of the box. Inside the box thinkers are very skilled at killing ideas. For example, Charles H. Duell, Director of the US Patent Office, said in 1899, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”

Great Leaders think outside the box by displaying the following qualities:

• Listening to others
• Supporting others when they come up with new ideas and respecting them
• Valuing new ideas and not being afraid to act on them
• Willingness to look at new perspectives to day to day work
• Openness to different things
• Openness to doing things differently

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Leadership Training on May 30th, 2008 | No Comments »