Coaching

“Successful managers do things well; successful leaders do the RIGHT things well”.

The GPS Coaching Practice, supports the development of leaders, new managers, their teams and key pofessionals.

Our experience ranges from the corporate environment to medical practices, nor-for-profit organizations and individual functional areas of Sales, R&D, Service Center, Legal, Finance, Manufacturing, Compliance, Human Resources, General Management and Project Teams have used GPS for Coaching.

To learn more about our approach, how we measure success, the typical challenges our coachee’s present and how best to select a coach.

We measure the success of the coaching process four ways

1. By how the coachee and their manager define success
2. Feedback from key relationships
3. Business goals
4. Personal goals

Because motivation to change one’s behavior is key to success, these four criteria reinforces the level of motivation…not what a coachee’s manager expects unless the coachee buys into these expectations.

When a coachee is “pressured” to change by a reporting relationship, that may well be the starting conversation in the coaching process; one that focuses the coachee to reflect on why the “pressure” is occurring in the first place…under the control of the coachee.  Or, the response indicates the coachee might not invest in the hard work required for successful coaching.

Challenges

• Causing others to be accountable
• Creating an environment where people are highly motivated
• Motivating others to take initiative and are not dependent on their manager
• Creating a culture in which people solve problems collectively; and don’t blame others or let things get in the way
• Managers who don’t realize they are getting in the way
• Turnover of key people and do not know how to prevent ( ****high turnover)
• Selecting new hires or promoting people with high level of predicting future success
• “Personality” gets in the way of productive relationships

Although the approach to coaching changes according to the needs and openness of the coachee, this basic structure has proven to be effective.

Important First Step

We ask the coachee:

• “How do you expect a coach to help you?”
• “What do you want from a coach?”
• “What has been your past experience being coached, by your manager and/or professional coaches?”

Approach Process

1. Assessment of motivation
2. Identification of challenges; “their view” and “yours” [verbal and/or 360]
3. Is it the Individual or others who need Coaching?
4. Importance to resolve; impact on self and others
5. Contracting commitments to do the work
6. Uncovering underlining causes; understanding cause & effect
7. Agreement to take actions between sessions
8. Reflections on what worked or didn’t work

Approach

• Listening, validating, reframing and reflection for self discovery
• Challenging to uncover blind spots
• Use of feedback keep discussion focused on key issues
• Feed Forward techniques
• Group coaching facilitation; with one person or small groups
• Shadow discussions, meetings, phone conversations and written documents to observe coachee interact

First arrange a phone discussion followed by a face-to-face meeting

After both discussions, ask:

• Does the coach understand me?
• Does he/she have a sense to my dilemmas?
• Did he/she pick up on the cues that may explain my dilemmas?
• Do I have a sense I can trust this person?
• Did the discussion help me to understand my motivation to be coached?
• A referred Coach is helpful but it should be your assessment of the coach that is important.

Effective coaching is more the art of asking good questions and listening! This skill should be obvious to you and make you feel comfortable in talking your mind to the coach.