I have been reflecting the past few months about this idea of Coaching as a way of leadership. I have been reading books and articles that talk about how while many will call their management style Coaching yet not really let go of the control, and how that coaching is just traditional management in disguise. I have been thinking and discussing this with friends and coworkers. What is Coaching really, and why are we doing it?
If you have not seen David Marquet speak, or you have not read his book Turn the Ship Around, you are missing out on a great first hand experience a Navy nuclear submarine Captain had at changing his own leadership approach and underlying beliefs on leadership. I highly recommend that you watch the video above prior to continuing to read, it’s only about 10 minutes and is well worth the time.
Now, from this video and from his book, I noticed that within the story he tells (a true story corroborated by sailors that served under his leadership) he discusses this idea of giving over control. In order to give control he talks about two things that must happen. First, there must be competency. The people you are working with must be trained well and have a good knowledge of what they are doing. This goes back to the idea from Disney that I discussed earlier (Being a More Human Leader) where we must be able to ensure people have the knowledge needed to do their jobs well. If there is something missing with the competency, then as a leader we must build up the person’s capability. Once this competency is build, we must then check for clarity. This is in an organizational sense as much as it is in the clarity of thought. Is there a clarity to your role and responsibility to do the things you are doing? In this video, David describes communicating intent rather than orders. If the competency and clarity are set, then giving intent allows the person to think through what needs to be done in order to meet that intent. As David describes further, listening to the individual’s plan to fulfill that intent then allows the leader to search for blind spots or expand on their thinking. He states that everyone starts to think like him (in his position as Captain). What would a Captain do here? What would the Captain be thinking about here? I think this gives a bit about what we mean when we talk about Coaching.
There is probably more to say about clarity and why this is so important in the learning environment. Organizationally if it not clear the roles of the Coach and learner we can face the situation where frustration gets in the way. This goes along with the books and articles that I have read where managers continue with their traditional management style, yet use questions to drive people to do things rather than direct statements. We have to be careful then to ensure that we have set the clarity within the organization. This can be done as David Marquet describes in his video - basically set the direction as the leader. Define the roles and responsibilities, give expectations of how this new relationship will work, and communicate intent. Then we must follow on with giving up control. I think this is where a lot of struggles may be with those that are just starting to practice coaching.
Coaching is the ability to help others learn. If the organizational clarity is set on learning, then it becomes ever apparent that the role of the leader is to help people learn. As Deming talks about in his leadership model, we must break down barriers that strip away the pride of work for our employees. By focusing on the learning we begin to do that. We think about the psychology of the individual and how giving the ownership of learning over to them is a huge deal when it comes to pride of work. Now we have shifted the organization’s motivations to intrinsic motivating factors. We do well because it gives us pride to do well.
How then do we become a Coach leader that focuses on the development and learning of others? There are many models surrounding this, but I like simplified versions of things just to get the thinking behind the models down. The following things are just reflections on my own readings and experiences.
Understand the current way of thinking.
This is pretty basic. As a leader focused on the learning of others, we must understand where their thinking is currently. What is their current competency? What questions do I ask to get a better understanding of this? We don’t blame the person for their current competency, we use it as a step for us to take in order to grow the individual. Typically, people are a lot more capable than we think. In this part I take the position that the person knows what to do, but I’m just asking questions to get my own understanding of the situation. I am not asking the questions to feel superior, only through curiosity. During this I am getting a better understanding of their own thought process, and they are getting a better understanding of mine.
Common Questions:
What is the current situation?
How do you know?
What seem to be some of the reasons for that?
How will you find out?
Walk in their shoes. Have the other person do the same.
Next is the simple idea of walking in another’s shoes. We have to, as leaders, be able to experience situations from the perspective of other people. In order for us to treat people as individuals and give them respect, I need to understand their struggle. A common practice for me then is to do just that. I ask if I can shadow the person, or if they can show me the issue with which they are dealing. This extends beyond just understanding what event or process or problem is occuring, this also allows me to help allow the other person to develop this skill on their own. If we are discussing an issue in the process, I will often ask “What seem to be the struggles that person is going through? What are their frustrations?” This allows the person I am coaching to build up their own idea of humility. Doing this expands our perspectives on what we are seeing in our own eyes to the eyes of others. It also opens up our mind to taking more feedback from others. Because I have already tried to see it from your perspective, I am now more interested in knowing what your perspective is. This builds relationships, trust, and teamwork.
Common Questions:
What do you think the person doing the work is experiencing?
What seems to be their struggles?
Do you mind if you show me what you are going through?
Can I try that?
What do you see as a struggle (or obstacle, or burden, or frustration)?
Discuss and reflect on what happened.
This part allows us to complete the learning loop. In some way, whether it’s part of the PDSA (PDCA) cycle, or any other improvement cycle, we must think about how we gain feedback. Transparency of this feedback also builds trust among people. Because I give you respect, I want you to learn and grow. Because I want you to learn and grow, I must be honest with you about your growth. I must better understand you in order to help you learn. If you learn well, and if we all learn well, then there is nothing that is holding us back from continuously improving. Another great part of this feedback loop is to allow the person I am coaching to coach me. I will ask, “What do you think I (or a certain other role) would be looking for here?” This allows the learner to think a little more critically of their own learning. On top of this, as a Coach I will also ask for feedback. “What might be something I can do better as your Coach?” At the start this usually is answered by “nothing.” That’s easy, simply pry, “What do you think I did so well that there is nothing for me to improve?” or “Why can I not do any better for you?” We must be able to show people that it is alright to seek out feedback, especially in the leader role. Seeking out feedback shows humility, but it also allows you to learn. We are constantly learning how to be better leaders and learners. This grows each other, and as an organization, the culture becomes more about the learning and growth rather than solely on the outcomes.
Common questions:
What went well with what you tried to do?
What do you think you could have done better?
What could I do better for you?
What else do we want or need to learn?
What’s next?
This really is just a simplified idea based on how I have been learning about Coaching for learning as the new way of leading (or managing). We have to allow people to develop themselves for many reasons. We must give ownership and pride of work back to our employees in order to create the culture of continuous improvement.
Σχόλια