COACHING
LEADERS/BEHAVIORAL COACHING
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of behavior by level. Some people are terrific at managing upwards, for ex-
ample, and you hear wonderful things about them from their superiors, even
as you
uncover difficulties in their downward capabilities. Other managers
don’t spend enough time thinking consciously about managing upwards, be-
cause they mistakenly believe that results are their best insurance policy.
Setting and Meeting Objectives
Following this observation and information gathering period, I meet with
the executive to decide which development areas we should focus on over the
near term—say six or nine months. Personally, I’m of the school that we
should limit that number to one or two. We make that decision jointly by syn-
thesizing a number of factors. Where does the client have the highest moti-
vation to focus? What do others see as that person’s greatest development
needs? And finally, knowing the person and her motivation level, as well as
what others view as the areas that need work, what’s the likelihood of suc-
cessful change in that behavior over a period of several months?
In the intersection of those three questions, we choose one or two areas
to focus on. The alignment is never perfect. Sometimes, the client wants to
focus on an area that overlooks what others have been saying loud and clear.
I’m also hesitant to focus on areas that are personality-dependent because I
don’t see myself as a psychotherapist. As much as possible, we’re looking for
behavior-specific areas that will help the person succeed in her role.
After we choose one or two areas for development, we have a conversation
about what the final outcome will look like. We talk about how others will
recognize when the manager is working on that behavior. What realms of the job
will be affected on a typical day? How can we measure that? How will we and
others know whether the manager is succeeding? We also discuss what factors
or circumstances will make that change difficult to accomplish, and strategize
ways around those problems.
Usually, we uncover new stuff in the process. What might initially have
been perceived as the biggest need turns out to be symptomatic of something
else. Often, it’s like peeling
layers on an onion. The initial interview and the
observation help to peel back a few layers; as we go deeper into the work, we
pass through more and more layers together.
It’s also important at this stage to know the organization’s direction and
demands. What’s going on in this person’s business? Who does the coachee
report to and what do they reward and encourage? Understanding the con-
text of the person’s circumstances helps peel back more layers. Maybe the
manager has been placed in a new assignment or has a new boss. Maybe
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