Coaching for Professional Services- How does the company benefit?

Here's an article I've written based on some coaching I've done with a number of "professional service" individuals who self fund their coaching. Their comany eitherr doesn't have the money in a "recession" or more likely the vision to providev such a service. The crazy thing os they , the comapny will benefit!

So how does an executive who has “executive coaching” also help to build his /her organisational capability?

Some of the areas that executives have used my coaching services for include :
Career planning, improving and enhancing performance, self awareness , leadership skills, creating confidence in helping others collaborate , perform and to communicate more effectively. Dealing with a new “role”. Dealing with and managing conflict internally and recognising patterns of behaviours of others Flexibility and adaptability when dealing with new or difficult circumstances or clients . Enabling personal development reviews to become “live” areas for progress versus merely a one off discussion. Become confident at selling or confident in areas that they are not used to addressing . Building a positive business team and business development culture.

What surprises me as an executive coach working with “financial experts ” individuals accountants in the top 4 big practices, smaller independent firms as well as Venture Capital partners and directors is the benefits that the organisation itself has gained !

Why is this?
Coaching is concerned with Performance , Performance is intrinsically linked with
Learning and when an effective coaching programme succeeds it delivers on 3 big
areas
1) It enables an individual to focus on optimises performance
2) It transfers learning in the session back to the workplace
3) It uses “real” time feedback, in the “now” to create change

As a result of this the individual is I believe much closer to knowing what needs to happen in terms of organisational support and change that will enable him or her to do their role more effectively . Because this is happening and they are aware of it the result is “an increase” in change awareness due to the effectiveness of the coaching.
they are going through. BEING coached is a great way to intuitively understand
the power of such a process.

Additionally if the coaching has a “systemic” element to it , others in close proximity of the individual will start to notice and or be affected by these changes. As the coach I will involve my client in many “perceptual conversations” of “ when you do X , who will be aware of this , how will they respond , who else” and so forth. The result is a “web of involved people, noticing, highlighting, and commenting on the change the individual is going through” ……… There is therefore already an organisational impact.

So apart from the individual getting much clearer on what he or she wants from their career and from his her closes team there also seems to be an “intuitive awareness of conversations ” created. What I mean is that individuals realise through their own take of the coaching process that their own internal conversation they have can make a huge difference if they adopt a coaching approach. So even if they haven’t done a formal “coach” training some of the skill set starts to unconsciously or consciously rob off on them. Even if the coaching is that of a group session for instance strategic planning or strategic implementation if it’s delivered with a coaching approach/style it’s likely to have an impact

“ A coaching approach that directly involves staff in the direction the business is taking and the shape of their job can be part of what creates that alignment”-
Myles Downey in Effective Coaching


Of staff who undergo executive coaching the % who report benefits are
Improved relationship with direct reports 77%
Improved relationship with manager/boss 71%
Improved relationship with peers 63%
Increased organisational commitment (less likely to leave) 44%
Improved relationship with customers 37%
(Source Manchester consulting – results of a survey of coaching at a senior level in Fortune 500 companies)


I think theses statistics illustrate this The bit that isn’t really explicit is how adapting some simple conversational approaches to change and progress can start making HUGE internal differences .

Research by the Huthwaite group research points to professional service professionals being rated by their clients on their delivery and performing really poorly around “concern and empathy”, particularly in listening in order to build a deep understanding of their clients and their situation.

“ Taking the time to listen to others and to be able to stay human and be goal orientated” is what a recent client of mine reported as learning from his own experience of coaching and being coached ”
On the website of a top 4 accountancy firm there is the promise of “ day-to-day feedback, counselling and mentoring through thought-provoking conversations with your counsellor, peers and senior professionals”
This is what I believe professionals have a thirst for and the brief coaching sessions that I have are often a catalyst for my clients themselves to start to integrate these skills into their professional toolkit .The higher up a company tree the more “soft skills” are those that are used to promote individuals . Leaders are wanted who can develop others, inspire others, help collaboration , help others come up with original ideas
When leaders have the capability of develop strategies with their employees and can build on strengths using appreciative feedback then great results can emerge. Research into motivation shows time and time again that appreciation, recognition and acknowledgement is ranked as so important . There is also important research suggesting that appreciation has a positive effect on our body particularly the heart. and increases heart brain synchronisation
Appreciation is a very strong factor as the fuel that drives people , that motivates them to go further…..The act of coaching when the coaching is done in an environment of curiosity, playfulness and appreciation will undoubtedly have an unconscious impact on the client. One of my clients recently told me how negative many of his internal meetings were even more evident because he is used to a “language of possibility, of progress” and now constantly either hears “language of blame “ or “ “ linear rational analytical language of getting no where” .

“Why is this wrong, whose fault etc ” whilst sometimes being useful in a legal or other context generally doesn’t add much to the human development or making progress on people issues? The reason is that it locks us into the problem implicit is the idea that insight and route cause analysis will enable us to find solution or create progress. It is precisely the balancing act between rational analysis and “adaptive/emergent “ conversations that is the challenge for those in professional services
.
“I have laboured carefully not to mock lament or denounce human actions but to understand them” Baruch Spinoza

It makes total sense in an accounting/linear world to adopt the same thinking process.
However when it comes to conversations we all know and dread these inquisitions because ultimately they don’t get anywhere (in terms of development) k and our attention is distract because we are simply not interested (Unless we are the one driving to find out why, who was at fault, etc) .

We always have choices about where we put our attention .if we put our attention on what it is we want it’s a different conversation. Attention is key. And there is increasing evidence that this attention when related to progress and development is critical.

For example by attending to individual “effort” for example our attention focuses on a different place than for example “ability” . A lot of work has been done for example on raising for ability versus praising for effort, and learning goals the results are very interesting . When praised for effort the clients continued , enjoyment , improved performance and continued to persist. Was oppose to the group who were praised for ability , 66% created performance goals and enjoyment , DECRESED , persistence DECREASED and performance DECLINED .
This work of Professor Carol Dweck also suggests that good feedback is very important , with praise not a “villain but praising for the effort and the process will help the person become more motivated and ultimately more resilient”
See Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.

So part of what rubs off in the coaching process is an awareness of the power of conversations and where how we “ let go of control” and where we put our attention and our questions…... This is the domain of “non directive” coaching” which I would suggest is what executive coaching at it’s best is all about
The Inner Game would call it Self 2 , or lack of ego . We always have choices about where we put our attention .if we put our attention on what it is we want it’s a different conversation. Attention is key . What we attend to will make a difference to what happens. Great coaching helps to focus attention , the whole idea of attention being brought to coaching by Tim Gallwey in the 70’s
“Attending to movements without consciously trying to control them is a primary goal of Inner game learning and is much easier to practice with actions that don’t challenge your competence” Tim Gallwey The Inner game of Golf
There are more areas out of your control which becomes increasingly evident as we learn about the systemic nature of organisations and the role of conversations, and other narratives which go on daily in those organisations. Where we focus our attention and what we communicate we can control and “it” will create the mindset and the mental world of that organisation, the culture ….
In great coaching , great coaching in my opinion being 100% about the client , we work with what emerges, we work with a relationship that is collaborative , we accept our clients realities, we introduce a sense of possibility of flexibility to find out ways which progress can happen…
Theses skills are in my opinion precisely skills which leaders, partners and directors of professional service firms are wanting to incorporate into their toolkit precisely because it enables them to get closer to their clients, find out what they want and deliver it in a way that satisfies them . In short it gives them skills to respond with precision and flexibility in conversations that move forward. When this approach is also followed by team and individual reflection, appreciation and disciplined plans to apply the learning there is the great opportunity to create massive “ organisational know how” based on true human potential development.

Rob Rave of Progress talk is a professional coach working as an executive coach in organisations particularly Accountants and Venture capitalists in London where he work with partners, directors and key personnel both as their coach and also training internal coaches in his brief approach. The overall goal to increase productivity and profits for any company wanting to grow with current staff.
His 1to1 work is focused on clarifying direction strategising actions, upgrading key skills , optimising focus and overcoming blocks and obstacles. He also has designed a unique on-line cost effective approach “to maintaining progress” for key organisation sponsors of internal coaching programmes which enables effective results in brief sessions and can impact the “.web of involved people, noticing, highlighting, and commenting on the change the individual is going through.”
He can be contacted on www.progrestalk.co.uk or 07958-670416