101 Life Changing Questions.

Questions are the tools of the coach. We use words to bring about change. We don’t use hammers, pliers, nails, saws, jacks, screws or whatever else there is to change people, just words. And when we put words in a particular order, you get questions. Pretty amazing don’t you think?

We use those questions to help our coachees in the problem solving process. Those questions are supposed to dig-in deeper and open up their thoughts to explore ideas even further.

It would be a mistake to think that there is an ultimate list of ’killer questions’. Coaching interactions always need to be appropriate to the individual in his or her unique position, and thus a coach who falls back on a predictable set of tried and trusted questions is likely to be mechanical and out of tune with the coachee. Having said this, the questions in this book are based on thousands of hours coaching, have a high probability of value to the coachee, particularly if embedded in language that fits for both the coach and the coachee.

Thinking critically involves a process of reason and discernment through a set of questions. When we respond to the questions we discern a set of answers. This in turn leads to more questions until we come to a point which does not appear to present a new question, or which seems to answer all previous questions. This becomes the basis for discovering the truth about an issue.

Asking questions in order to bring out the truth is nothing new. It’s called the ‘Socratic Method’ and derives from the Greek philosopher Socrates. By asking questions he triggered thinking in the right direction. Questioning continued until the listeners provided the most logical answer to a particular problem and discovery followed. The intention was not to guide the listeners into the direction which was perceived as ‘right’ by the one asking questions. It was about discovering the truth. There is no right or wrong, only the truth.
I have a gift for you today. I have written a booklet that you might enjoy. It’s called 101 Life Changing Questions. These are the questions that seasoned coaches use during the different stages of their coaching sessions.

The questions Top Coaches ask during their sessions.

It’s a gift from me to you for reading my blog and you can pick it up here: http://www.youcoachnow.com

I hope you will enjoy it!

Principles of coaching.

There are three principles which I consider fundamental to coaching.

Principle One: Suspend Judgment

As a human being, you will have judgments about your clients and what they should do. To coach your clients correctly, you must coach them from where they are now, not from where you are at. Get your judgments out of the way and be present mentally with your client. Examples of when to suspend judgment:

• Client has an alternative lifestyle

• Client has different spiritual beliefs

• Client has an open marriage

• Client has a criminal record

During the initial trial session, if you feel for any reason you would not be a good coach for the client, refer them to another coach. As a coach, we must be aware of our own judgments. If we cannot put them aside, then we should not coach the client.

As a coach how would you handle this situation? A client is considering getting a part-time job to make extra money for a backpacking trip she wants to take with her two life partners, Bob and Cindy, through Europe. She is considering several ideas. Her ideas include working as an exotic dancer, bar tending, or being a telephone psychic. All of which she did while attending college. What would you do to move beyond your judgments in order to coach the client in making a decision on what to do for a part-time job?

Principle Two: Focus on the future

People love their stories! We love our past, our reasons and our complexities; perhaps because it validates who we think we are. As a coach, however, we’re not interested in 90 percent of the past. We are not as concerned as to why a client spends five years in an unhappy marriage; or in the list of past complaints about the people in their life. As a coach, we are grounded in the present with a focus on the future. A coach is interested in what the client wants to create in their life now, the changes they are willing to make, and how they will go about doing that from now on. Coaching is a conversation about the future, rather than the past. If a client is stuck in the past, coaching may not be what they need at this time. Our job as a coach is to work together with the client towards a compelling future which pulls them both forward into action.

Principle Three: Action oriented

It is true that people receive value from increasing awareness and gain insight about their life. There are probably coaches who help their clients gain clarity during a session. Then leave it to the client to decide what – if anything – they will do before the next session. However, a generally accepted principle of coaching is about being in action. Without action, results do not occur; and many of your clients will be seeking results. Action provides the opportunity for new experiences. Without action no new insights, awareness, or change can occur. It’s been said, “If the client is not left in action, coaching did not occur.” A strong statement but I agree.

You don’t have to be sick to get better!

The growing popularity of coaching in business has led to some important advancements in coaching research and Return On Investment studies. Companies are evaluating the results of their coaching initiatives and industry leaders for coach training and accreditation are compiling data that clearly points to the advantages of coaching in today’s competitive and rapidly changing, economy. Noteworthy numbers include the following:

A study of Fortune 100 executives found that coaching resulted in an ROI of almost six times the program cost as well as a

· 77% improvement in relationships

· 67% improvement in teamwork

· 61% improvement in job satisfaction

· 48% improvement in quality

(Manchester Consulting Group)

An International Personnel Management Association survey found that productivity increased by 88 percent when coaching was combined with training (compared to a 22 percent increase with training alone).

A study of a Fortune 500 telecommunications company found that executive coaching resulted in a 529 percent ROI. (MetrixGlobal)

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company found that productivity among salespeople who had participated in an intensive coaching program rose by an average of 35 percent

80% of executives say they think they would benefit from coaching at work.

Staggering facts don’t you think? It might be a good thing to engage in a coaching program.  If you are looking for a certified and experienced coach, start with visiting the members directory of the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (www.wabccoaches.com). Here you will find the best of the best, like me

Remember: you don’t have to be sick to get better!

How to engage your managers in these challenging times.

Right now, many businesses may be considering reacting to the current economic environment by cutting coaching, despite the significant impact in the short and medium term. Ensuring middle and senior management are engaged and enthusiastically committed to a business’ strategy is more important than ever. Yet there is no need for massive coaching programmes – with a little dexterity, managers and their business can both win.

“In the organisational vehicle, [middle managers] are not simply the oil in the engine, but control the brake and accelerator as well.”

Giving front-line people training for skills and inter-personal training is expected. Similarly, ‘leadership coaching’has slid across the Atlantic and become a recognised way for executive teams to sharpen their own approaches by observing others in their or other markets. Each is important/valid/essential (pick your preferred adjective) but between the bread in this particular coaching sandwich are those with ‘middle management’ roles whose coaching, especially in small and medium-sized businesses, can often only be described as ad hoc. Yet middle managers are the interface between front-line people and senior management. They can sense the mood ‘on the shop floor’ and feed that upwards, or translate senior management vision into tangible objectives that can be delivered. Their attitude, behaviour and approach acutely influence their direct reports, especially if their approach is predominantly negative. A great vision can only be delivered by an engaged group of middle managers. In the organisational vehicle, they are not simply the oil in the engine, but control the brake and accelerator as well.

Pick your tools

So how do you help your middle managers? A clear approach for their entry and exit strategies is a good starting point. How do you prepare people to move into middle management roles, or enable them to move up to more senior levels currently? Any coaching intervention must deliver significant benefits and quickly, and combining formal coaching programs and a coaching/mentoring approach is the dexterous way to proceed. You can start coaching programmes with candidates before promotion and see how they react. However, your company’s culture, and commitment levels to this approach must be both positive and clear to everyone for this approach to be a success. Above all, be clear about what you want to achieve.

“Combining formal training courses and a coaching/mentoring approach is the dexterous way to proceed”.

The following points outline thoughts on how to be more dexterous in developing the right behaviours in your middle managers.

First thought – leadership v management

Ensure your business has clear views on the difference between leadership and management and make sure middle managers extol this. Leadership means that new ideas or approaches are welcomed, evaluated and implemented if they will work. Leadership means getting out of the way when necessary by encouraging the right people to lead a team when their competencies are best suited to the particular task or phase of a piece of work. Leadership also means taking responsibility and is more concerned with behaviours than with functions. Warren Bennis said “Leaders do the right thing, managers do things right”, so be clear on where leadership is appropriate and when simple management will do and make sure everyone knows.

Second thought – use project work intelligently

Project work comes up all the time and with some care you can use this to develop people. If your executives are revising the company’s five-year vision and plan, get a middle manager to help investigate options and write it. With a little care, you can incorporate sub-objectives in projects to stretch people. For a competitor review, why not mandate the middle manager to get input from all departments in the business? Perhaps you might ask for three of your competitor’s strengths from each department’s perspective and for options on how those strengths could be countered by your own company? The most important aspect here is to have the individual work outside their normal domain and communicate across the business. This will develop their horizontal management skills. Just don’t try to run your own version of ‘The Apprentice’.

Third thought – be consistent and give support

Being consistent is not about giving everyone the same thing, it’s about giving similar things to similarly competent people, over and over again. If someone has potential then do give them some project work, but make sure that when a similarly skilled person comes along the following year, you find some project work for them as well. Potential leaders also need support more often than skills. A coach or mentor within the business is good, but an independent coach can bring new approaches, ideas and a much broader context. Regular coaching sessions are ideal, but often a 15 minute ‘phone conversation is all that is required, so look for that sort of flexibility in any coaching/mentoring model you deploy.

Final thought – let them make mistakes

Few people get things right every time. Make sure your middle managers understand what went wrong and can picture a different way that will work. Let them try new things and experiment – you may be surprised at the result. One business I know measures the success of their innovation programme by the number of ideas that, once investigated, will not work. That, at least, guarantees they are investigating novel ideas. In conclusion If your business doesn’t look after its middle managers, you’ll discover the extent of that failure in about four years time. When you come to promote into or out of middle management roles, the successful candidate will need to unlearn the behaviours of their old role and start displaying the behaviours required in their new role to be successful. Give them a chance to learn these behaviours as early as possible. Functional training generates managers – you need leaders as well. Change your emphasis and the costs should be minimal. In fact, this will lead to timely benefits that will far outweigh the resources used to set them up, by improving engagement and performance now, and delivering a better developed management team that are more suitable for promotion in the future.

Coaching is not therapy, counseling, mentoring or psychology.

I like to keep it simple so to me there are three kinds of coaching: Sports, Business and Personal coaching. the difference between the latter two being workrelated or not work related. And that’s it.

Coaching is not therapy, counseling, mentoring or psychology. Although the coaching process may have roots in the field of psychology (and intervention often follows some psychological models), the actual process of coaching should not be mistaken for a therapeutic intervention. One of the most obvious differences between the two approaches is that therapy tends to focus on feelings and experiences related to past events. Whereas coaching is oriented towards goal setting and encourages the client to move forward.

A consultant usually is a specialist in a given area. They are hired to give recommendations and provide solutions. A consultant usually works with a client to solve a particular problem. Coaching uses a more holistic approach. With the client, the coach examines the situation, creates a plan of action, and works side by side to resolve the issue. The coach does not have to be an expert in the client’s business. The client is the expert. The coach does not have the answers. They have the questions that allow the client to find their own answers and clarify their own values.

A therapist typically works with a dysfunctional person to get them to become functional. A coach works with a functional person to get them to become exceptional. Therapists typically work with people who need help to become emotionally healthy. They often deal with past issues and how to overcome them. A coach works with functional people to move them to magnificent levels. Coaching does not rely on past issues for achieving growth, but rather focuses on goals towards the future. Coaching is action-oriented. The focus is on where the client is right now, where they want to be next, and how to get them there. If you are working in the past, then you are involved in therapy. Part of being a good coach is knowing when and when not to coach. If the client needs therapy then a coach has to refer them to a therapist.

While a counselor provides information and expertise, the relationship is normally hierarchical, perhaps even authoritarian. It is based in the past and focuses on fixing a problem. A coaching relationship is present and future based, action-oriented and not hierarchical in nature. The client and the coach partner to create a better future for the client.

Mentoring is a relationship which is established with someone who is an expert in their field. The mentor is usually older and more experienced than the person being mentored. The mentor bestows their knowledge and wisdom onto the student. The student looks up to the mentor and seeks guidance and advice from the mentor. A coaching relationship is a partnership whereby the coach walks side by side with the client.

 The coach supports the client in drawing on their own wisdom and following their inner guidance.

Carl Rogers said in order to truely help someone we must be able to enter their lives, help them resolve their issues and then exit their lives without them ever knowing we were there.

The Wart Theory.

Have you ever heard about the Wart Theory?

Is a coach really a wart remover?

No? Chances are that you too have been a victim of it.

It’s about hiring people for a vacancy. And more specifically about hiring a stranger over a very suitable internal candidate.

Sometimes a manager decides to hire a complete stranger over an employee who is well known, a good worker, great team player with the right competencies, just because the job interview was not 100 percent perfect.  The manager expects that a complete stranger is going to do a better  job just from talking with him (or her) during a 1 hour interview. That stranger might just be a good actor or BS artist.

Everyone has “warts” (so-called weaknesses, challenges, areas that need improvement). With an internal candidate, the company already knows what their warts are. Even though we all know (intellectually) that a stranger could have much bigger and worse warts, there’s a certain denial at work, and managers sometimes engage in some magical thinking that maybe, just maybe, the stranger doesn’t have any warts at all.

How can a company prevent this from happening and make sure that the best person is hired for a job?

I have worked in the past for an insurance company where we tackled this phenomena successfully with an assessment center.

The hiring managers first had to explain to the HR manager why an internal candidate was not suitable for the job. Only if those reasons were legitimate, the search for an external candidate could be started. When the hiring manager then presented his ideal candidate for the job, this candidate would be invited for an assessment day.

All new employees were assessed during a one day assessment called “The Close-up”. Two assessors ( a senior manager from a different department and a professional external assessor) monitored the new candidate closely during the entire day. At the end of the day each candidate would be presented with a signed contract when he, or she, successfully finished the assessment. Those who were less successful received a detailed report with the findings of the assessors. This presented them with some significant and valuable feedback.

During the assessment, candidates were confronted with ‘live’ situations in which the company’s core competencies could be measured. Surprise situations, where candidates had to react or respond immediately, proved to be a valuable test for the ‘everyday’ situation.

BS artists or great actors would have a very hard time fooling the assessors for the entire day.

You might be interested in the effects of this process over the years. Since I was the senior manager in charge of the assessment center, I had this researched by a prominent University.

Of all the candidates that were invited for the “Close-up”, 25% did not make it successfully through the day and were not offered a full time contract. Mind you that these were the favorite candidates of the respective hiring managers!

Another significant result surfaced from the research. The competence that stood out as most significant for a successful career in the company was: learning ability. Those who paid attention, were open to feedback and were able to adapt to changing circumstances quickly during the Close-up, were promoted faster in the next few years than others. Needless to say that these candidates would also be great candidates for coaching to leverage their learning curve and work on their ‘warts’.

Come to think of it, wouldn’t it be a great nickname for an assessor? The Wart Detector! And for a coach: Wart Remover?                                                     

Do certified coaches make more money than non-certified coaches?

Today I answered a question on LinkedIn’s International Coaching Network. The question was if certified coaches make more than non-certified coaches and if certification actually helped to get deals or allowed to charge more. This is what I answered:

Coach training programs and designations are flooding the market
On the one hand, this is a good indicator signaling positive growth and demand. On the other hand, it can also mean lots of market confusion. The proliferation of designations–the vast majority of which are not affiliated with any professional association–is leading to market confusion about the quality, focus and nature of services the coaching industry offers.

There is growing need for some sort of quality mark for coaches and coach training programs. Building a profession means building and maintaining public trust. This is achieved through self-regulatory activities such as creating a professional code of ethics, a well defined set of professional standards, a body of knowledge, and a standard of training and credentialing.

The two best known associations in the world are the International Coach Federation (ICF) and the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC). Both have an accreditation (for coach training providers) and certification (for individual coaches) program in place.

I have been a Business, Executive and Life Coach Trainer at the International Coach Academy where students are trained to become Certified Professional Coaches (CPC). Since the International Coach Academy is ICF accredited, students will be ICF certified when they successfully finish their training.

I have also been an full member of the WABC for a number of years. Two reasons to join: 1. I wanted to be a part of a business coaching community which allows me to stay on top of my game and 2, all the big names from the business coaching community were there, which had to mean something.

Now what does certification mean anyway?

Being certified by an accredited body means that you know your business. The public (individuals and organizations) want some kind of assurance that the money they are about to spend, will be spend wisely. When they can chooce between a certified coach and a non certified coach, the first one will be more likely to be chosen than the latter one. Today many coaches are hired through ‘word of mouth’. But soon that won’t be enough.

I have invested heavily in certification. Although I have achieved the highest level of certification (Chartered Business Coach™), I still continue to invest in my education because I owe it to my clients to be the best coach I can be.

I have landed my first Fortune 100 client because I’m a member of WABC. They found me through the members directory. This means that I have earned back my investment and membership fees at least a hundred fold back.

I know many coaches who were able to double or even triple their fee after they became certified. They have come to understand the value of a certified coach and were able to prove it to their clients who happily paid for it.

In my humble opinion I think all serious coaches should get themselves certified and become a member of a professional coaching association. It will be good for them, good for the clients and good for our emerging coaching profession.

A strategic workforce perspective

Recent events in the financial markets have pushed the global economy deeper into an economic slowdown. As companies around the world have lost significant market valuation, they are revisiting their growth projections and bracing themselves against a worsening outlook. Already we are seeing a noted increase in the U.S. unemployment rate to 6.5 percent in October 2008, with more than 1,000,000 jobs lost during the year. The U.S. financial services industry has been significantly impacted by this turmoil and has, according to the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., lost over 102,000 jobs in the first nine months of 2008. Similarly, the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom rose in the second quarter of 2008 by .4 percent to 5.8 percent, with over 164,000 individuals displaced between June and September.

In previous economic downswings, strategic workforce issues have often been displaced by the short-term demands of quickly reducing headcount and other variable costs. However, in many industries, previous downturns and subsequent layoffs have already “trimmed the fat” and have left companies operating with fewer employees with greater responsibilities.

These difficult times require organizations to take a closer look at the current composition and capabilities of their workforce, determine their short- and long-term workforce needs and make more informed decisions about the talent they need to survive and, eventually, thrive. Organizations will need to take an integrated approach to their talent management activities, and more tightly link their planning, recruitment, development, motivation and retention processes. By doing so, organizations can use this downturn not just to reduce headcount, but to position themselves for future opportunities.

To stay one step ahead in these difficult conditions, organizations should:

• Make resourcing decisions based on capabilities and gaps

• Focus attention on core versus non-core work activities

• Differentiate high (and low) performers across the organization

• Transfer critical knowledge and stimulate social network development

• Consider the use of more flexible work environments

• Identify opportunities to improve HR and learning efficiency

• Enable leadership to guide individuals through the change.

Let’s get ethical.

 

The leaders I coach influence the behavior of others. Assuming that the culture of a business or organization is the behavior of the leader, the ethical behavior of the leader is critical—not only for those within her or his realm of influence, but indeed for all those peripherally connected to her or to his place of work. Therefore, the privilege of a coach working with a leader is potentially enormous and far-reaching.

All too often, leaders face complex business or organizational challenges which, at their core, are actually ethical dilemmas. We all know the examples. When they are not seen as such, leaders may eventually choose a course of action that leads to unintended and unethical consequences.

Knowing full well that such occurrences do happen, we, as coaches who work with businesses, organizations and governments, must be continually critical and competent observers of our clients’ behaviors. We must have the unshakable courage to challenge them to see what is really going on, so as to make the right choices in the first place.

How will we effectively coach within businesses, organizations, institutions and governments? What will be our intention, our method, our behavior, our result?

 

With our intention—

 

• we will forge and leverage the strengths of our clients

• we will awaken their responsibility

• and we will catalyze the fulfillment of their service to others

 

With our method—

 

• we will focus on our clients’ agenda, not on our own

• we will understand that we are there to serve and to support

• we will be willing to share or even relinquish a relationship if it is in the best interests of our clients

• finally, we will recognize that our purpose is to provide the right questions, born of appropriate knowledge

 

With our behavior—

 

• we will listen empathetically and fully

• we will stay open and present

• we will remain adept in our critical observation

• we will exercise courage to ensure that our clients’ decisions and actions are ethically sound

• and finally, we will continually ensure that our clients’ goals are inextricably linked to the goals of the business, organization or government that they serve

 

 

With our ultimate goal, our determined result—

 

• clients who are authentic, fully actualized, value-based and ethical in their behaviors

• clients who actively contribute to their community and to the world at large

• and clients who leverage their strengths in a collaborative effort to deliver enduring results to their businesses, organizations and institutions

 

 

Coaching leaders: How can I truly coach anyone who does not share my values?

I talked earlier about true leadership and earning the trust and respect from their clients, employees and shareholders.

 

What does that mean for me as an executive coach? How can I truly serve anyone who does not aspire and commit to my values?

 

As I was thinking about this question a dear friend came to mind. Wendy Johnson is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC).  In May of last year, during the WABC International Conference in Vancouver, Canada, Ms Johnson delivered a memorable opening speech in which she answered that question.

 

Here are a few of her thoughts which she addressed to us, professional business coaches from all over the world:

 

“To earn the right to demand of others, we must first demand even more of ourselves.

What are the essential values required of any business coach? I believe there are five:

 

1. Authenticity

 

2. Integrity

 

3. Courage

 

4. Perseverance

 

5. Relentless self-improvement

 

1.         Authenticity—It was Shakespeare who said, “This above all: to thine own self be true.” True to our values, consistently and constantly; centered in our intention; focused in our purpose. How can we be of any value to another unless we are first true to ourselves?

 

2.         Integrity—When values are integrated into behaviors, and continually evidenced in actions, we demonstrate integrity. We say what we mean, and we mean what we say; we follow through. Our actions speak. Words may confuse, but actions define. As Alfred Adler, Austrian psychiatrist, stated: “Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. 1st movement.”

 

3.         Courage—Above all, we must commit to doing what we believe to be right by testing our decisions and actions against our values, and by challenging our clients to do the same.

 

4.         Perseverance—Stick-to-itiveness is critical for the people we serve. It demonstrates our loyalty; it fires their courage. And finally …

 

5.         Relentless self-improvement—To deliver to the highest standards of our professionalism, I believe it is critical that we regularly examine our intentions, our motivations and our competence.

 

To summarize, our values as business coaches—authenticity, integrity, courage, perseverance and relentless self-improvement—all speak to the common good in their realization—one and for all!

 

So we ask ourselves what I believe is a critical question. Recognizing and living our values as we have defined them, how can we truly serve anyone who does not aspire and commit to those same values?

 

To remain aligned to our values in qualifying our clients is essential to our process. We must test the evidence of their actions born out of their behaviors, and not simply be persuaded by their words, before we can engage in a meaningful and lasting relationship”.

 

Ms Johnson spoke as a true leader. That’s why I am such a proud member of the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches.

 

Next time more on ethics.