Taking a coach approach is engrained in everything we do.
I’m surprised it’s taken so long for me to delve into this topic, because it’s such an important piece of my philosophy and how we approach everything we do at Positivist Group – and that is how to create a coaching culture.
Regardless of the work we’re doing, whether it’s succession planning for a small business, building custom e-learning, developing a high performing team, delivering an executive coaching program or crafting policies that help build creative cultures, taking a coach approach is fundamental and engrained in our being.
I have worked in what I would consider a deep coaching culture for about the past ten years, and I believe I’ve made considerable contributions to the foundation and practices we’ve used to totally entrench this philosophy into daily practice and culture.
But first, a few myths about coaching.
First, let’s get a few preconceived notions out of the way:
Coaching is not “woo” or some kind of magic. It’s very much entrenched in cognitive psychology and behavioural science and there are very good reasons why coaching, when done well, has enormous impacts to people, teams and organizations.
Coaching is not counselling. Some common denominators are that both coaching and counselling do both work on belief systems, emotions and self awareness. Coaching is more forward focused and goal oriented whether those are personal or professional goals, where counselling works more on detangling issues from the past that are still affecting you today and goes much deeper into psychological and emotional wellness.
Coaching is not a “pat on the back”. Coaches are not cheerleaders, there to motivate and encourage people. That is not coaching at all, and certainly not coaching as certified by the international coach federation. In fact, if you’re not in a little bit of discomfort during every coaching session, I’m not 100% sure your coach is really doing their job.
So now that we’ve cleared that up – what is coaching?
Directly from the ICF’s website: ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership. We all have goals we want to reach, challenges we’re striving to overcome and times when we feel stuck. Partnering with a coach can change your life, setting you on a path to greater personal and professional fulfillment.
Coaching trains our thinking frameworks. Your coach will help you first expand your thinking broadly outward into limitless possibilities. The idea is to remove and detangle the psychological barriers to possibilities first, before going inward and focusing on the highest achievable priority.
At all times, the coaching client is in control of their ideas and their actions, to create complete authority and self determination in the process. It is always their choice to choose their own adventure. Over the coaching relationship, as the coaching client achieves milestones – first small milestones – baby steps – and then larger milestones, the client will notice they are gaining momentum toward their goals while also building context, emotional intelligence, confidence and greater autonomy over their own personal story.
Setting the scene – the business case for coaching.
There have been numerous studies about the benefits of coaching within an organization, but here are a few.
- In a study conducted by the International Coach Federation, organizations with strong coaching cultures reported a 60% higher level of engagement and 51% higher productivity compared to organizations without such cultures. (source)
- A study by MetrixGlobal found that the ROI of coaching was more than 788% of the cost based on increased employee engagement and employee retention. (source)
- Research from the Institute of Coaching cites that over 70% of individuals who receive coaching benefited from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills. (source)
- According to a Gallup study, teaching managers to coach has numerous workplace benefits. (source)
There is a reason why the most successful and innovative organizations in the world – Google, Adobe, Facebook, Deloitte, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Airbnb, Spotify.
To really “buy in” you have to experience it for yourself.
I took my first coach training program with Erickson Coaching International in 2019.
At that time, the thought of becoming a professional coach wasn’t even a glimmer in my eye. I took the program to better understand the coaching solutions that the company I was with offered to clients, how to collaborate better with our coaching team, and to be able to be a better leader in the organization.
Little did I know, that program changed the way I thought about almost everything, and changed the way I actually behaved in real life. It imbued me with a new confidence, patience, resilience and grit.
If you’re doing all the work, you’re doing it wrong.
I can remember the exact moment when the shift happened. Our trainer, said “you know you’re doing your job, when the client is doing all the work.” And while I’m pretty sure that was a tongue in cheek comment, it made me realize that I couldn’t force change. I could only hold space and time so the people around me could draw their own conclusions and find their own path to truth (whatever that is).
I could demonstrate curiosity and non judgement. I could lead by example to show that we don’t have to be afraid of not knowing and we don’t have to be afraid of learning; that before we contract our thinking, we need to expand.
What is it like to work as a coach?
I’ve been working with ICF certified coaches for almost 10 years, for a good part of that time directly serving and managing a team of coaches and trainers, and there is a special energy, wisdom, humility and patience that comes with both learning and practicing coaching – because guess what, it’s really freaking hard.
It feels a little bit like a rebirth – so many rebirths after so many small ego deaths in the pursuit of become a worthy coach.
Then, one day you’ll surprise yourself.
A situation will happen that would normally trigger a cascade of behaviours – something you’ve been really trying to change about yourself but has been stuck to you like glue. Every time the behaviour emerged, you’ve felt a twinge of guilt or shame, but you always shrug it off because there is shit to do – so much to do, all the time.
But today, something changed, and you realized that you didn’t react the same way you always were. You were patient, curious, open minded and kind. You demonstrated a coach mindset, and you loved the way it made you felt.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
How do we build a coaching culture?
If you are interested in building a coaching culture, my advice would be to take a coaching program yourself, if you haven’t already. There is literally nothing that can create a conviction about coaching than experiencing it for yourself.
There is a reason that most people who have been coached are huge advocates for coaching. The most important thing about a coaching relationship is the literally the coaching relationship.
Is your coach the best fit for you? Do you feel a trust with them? Are they asking questions that expand your mind and push you outside of your comfort zone?
How do you know if you’re being a great client? Well, great clients are first committed. They want to learn. They are willing to lower their guard down and practice vulnerability. Great clients lean into the discomfort and embrace the suck, as Brené Brown likes to say, knowing and having confidence that it’s through this process that they will come out the other side and see life and make decisions through a new lens.
If you’re a manager, how do you integrate coaching into your practice?
Remember that coaches demonstrate curiosity and patience. Coaches resist jumping in to solve their clients problems – we truly believe the client has the inner fortitude to solve their own problems and, in fact, they must solve their own problems in order to grow.
But the manager wears more than one hat – you need to know when to be the coach and also when to be the mentor, the advisor and sometimes, the boss.
We’re here to help.
I have helped literally hundreds of people become coaches, in some capacity, whether it was helping to pick a coaching program or advising them on consulting practices.
If you want to explore whether becoming a coach is right for you, give me a shout at erin@positivist.ca or on LinkedIn and I can send you a long list of informational resources I’ve gathered for folks in your exact situation.
