JDA

How coaching should be viewed

by Joan Cook

If an Olympic figure skater doesn't take to the ice without their coach, why should a senior exec (one of the "Olympic athletes" of his/her organization), someone who's out on that figurative "ice" every day and whose performance is critical to business success?

I have a colleague who's teaching in a coaching skills certificate program at a major university in New York.  She recently told me that when she suggested to her students that they should each hire a coach so they could experience what it's like to be coached (which in my opinion is as important as being trained), the class was taken aback, with the response being,  "Why would I need a coach?"

I've become aware over the last several years that coaching is increasingly being viewed as the tool you use for "people who need help," with the obvious connotation that if you wind up working with a coach you're somehow lacking or need "fixing."  I'm not sure how we got to this perception because nothing could be further from the truth, and it's an important distinction to understand.

Leaving a Legacy

by Joan Cook

Marshall Goldsmith’s most recent post is about dealing with being a “lame duck” in an organization—those senior, influential leaders who are either retiring or moving on. As usual, he hits the nail on the head.  Rather than holding off on announcing a senior departure until the last minute (which can be operationally unnerving and is what tends to happen in a lot of organizations), announce with plenty of time for the exec to be a “happy and productive lame duck” – making decisions, aligning people around goals, coaching their successor, etc.  I posted a comment to the effect that, having coached a couple of “lame ducks” in my time (including the executive administrator of a large hospital), I’ve found that framing the conversation about leaving around the concept of leaving a legacy has been both useful and helpful in keeping the exec on track as they move towards the exit.

I got a nice comment back from Dr. Goldsmith, and thought no more about it until I got an email from a colleague who was very much struck by the idea of “focusing on one’s legacy” (she called it an “amazing point”)—and encouraged me to blog about it.

Making the Six Month Review a Priority this Year

By Stephen Giordano

I know that many managers, myself included, can create a multitude of excuses why not to hold six month reviews with our staff members--the time it takes to prepare and reflect on the past six months, the time it takes to hold the discussions, the myriad of other activities that populate our to-do lists, the clients that need our attention, the projects that we have due.  The list goes on.  At the heart of it though is the critical question - Are our people worth our time? - and the answer is unequivocally yes.