Introduction
In our work with organizations to train leaders to be effective coaches, we
are almost always targeted to the first line supervision up through middle
management and at best senior managers. Typically, we have to address the
issue of "rolling up" this training to the executive and senior management
levels. There are some noteworthy exceptions, but many of our client’s
training departments are not focusing on the senior levels for this type of
training and support.A survey of
consultants and upper-level executives reported in Training and Development
magazine, found that 90% of executives resist coaching. The reasons why fell
into three categories:
1. They did not feel comfortable with their skills.
2. They have too many demands on their time and felt development was a low
priority, or not even their job.
3. They did not value the development of others - "They should be able to
figure things out for themselves."
Our own experience, and the experience of clients we interviewed, supports
and amplifies these findings. Here is a more detailed table of barriers and
possible strategies to address them:
|
Barriers
|
Strategies
|
| Executives and senior
managers are just too busy to spend time on development and coaching. |
• These are competitive and successful
people, their nature guides them to be successful at those activities
that are valued, and rewarded, by the organization.
• Development and coaching must be positioned as an important, if not
critical, leadership responsibility that is formally part of their own
performance assessment.
• This will the most difficult issue to deal with unless the very top
person is willing to clearly, unequivocally, make it a leadership
priority.
• Unless it is a clear expectation and priority it will not survive the
competition for their time and attention
|
| Performance feedback is
not wanted or needed by senior managers, so it is not critical to spend
time on it. |
• Almost every executive and senior
manager we have interviewed said that they DID want to know if what they
were doing was working. Again, these are competitive and successful
people and they want to know that they are on the right track.
• The feedback must clearly be positioned as an asset to the executive
so they can make their own self-corrections to be successful.
• You must find an objective, non-threatening way to assess their
effectiveness.
• The most likely method is to survey their current and past direct
reports, and current and past supervisors about the leader’s
developmental contribution. To be successful, these need to be objective
and candid. Often they are most valuable when supported by a skilled
developmental resource person (coach-consultant) who can also interview
the respondents, then coach the executive in evaluating, interpreting
and responding to the information.
• Another method would be critical incident analysis by a skilled
interviewer, but this depends upon a worthy incident existing that would
be meaningful to re-visit and highlight success / non-success factors.
• Leadership assessments instruments are another method to assess their
interpersonal dynamics, but these need to also show a connection between
their "style" and real-world results and often need a resource person to
help interpret the results into actionable feedback.
• Leadership assessment centers and scenarios are another approach.
Again the key is to produce insights that clearly translate to success
in their real world environment.
|
| For executives and senior
managers, formal group training is too uncomfortable, perhaps unsafe,
and takes too big a chunk of time. |
• Many of their concerns
can be dispelled by giving them a pre-training briefing on the workshop
process and content. By discussing what the training does and does-not
do and answering their questions so they feel informed (senior levels
hate feeling "unknowing"), you increase the chances of them actively
enrolling.
• An alternative to formal workshop training is assigning them a
resource person for one-on-one coaching and support to learn this
process. We, and some of our clients, have had good success with this
option - especially where the senior person is not likely to attend
formal training.
|
| A lot of what senior
managers do (use of intuition, dealing with ambiguity, etc.) is hard to
capture via formal performance appraisals so developmental coaching
doesn’t happen. |
• The production and
financial records information systems usually generate adequate "bottom
line" information to assess the actual results. The nature of their
work, (often unstructured, uncertain, and ill-defined) means they can
usually benefit most from feedback and coaching on their leadership
process and behaviors they use to produce those results.
• In a classic study by the Center for Creative Leadership, four
enduring themes for why executives derail reoccurred over time and
across countries: (1.) they have problems with interpersonal
relationships; (2.) they fail to meet business objectives; (3.) they
fail to build and lead a team; and, (4.) their inability to change or
adapt during a transition.
|
In the Center for Creative Leadership study,
three out of four of these reasons for derailment deal with leadership style
and personal behavior, not with making their numbers.
Okay, making the numbers is a critical priority in any organization. But
relying solely on these numbers to evaluate executive success is ignoring
the rich developmental opportunities for communicating, team building,
mentoring, coaching, visioning and leading change. As one of our executive
clients said, "results evaluation is easy; it’s also a cop-out".
Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric, perhaps one of the most numbers driven
CEOs of the decade, is quoted in Built to Last as recognizing the need for
balance between numbers and values. "People who make the numbers and share
our values go onward and upward. People who miss the numbers and share our
values get a second chance. People with no values and no numbers - easy
call. The problem is with those who make the numbers but don’t share the
values . . . we agonize over these people."
Coaching is a critical processes to address this need for balance.
Summary
Development and coaching are critical leadership skills that can easily take
a back seat to "making the numbers" unless a conscious effort is made to
position them as a priority. It is needed and beneficial and achievable if
you will adjust your strategy to address the particular barriers at the
senior levels.
There are several key factors that need to
be addressed to get more coaching at the senior levels. The strategy and
approaches for making this happen must be adjusted to their specific
concerns.
The approach taken must use a proven,
successful process that focuses real-world results.
One-on-one coaching and support is a
valuable alternative to formal training at the senior levels if you have
skilled, experienced, resource people.
Fred Friend |
