The following blog considers what might appear in a coaching contract between a coach and their client:
Evolving contract – The above list is not meant to be definitive, and the contract should evolve, constantly adapting and changing depending on circumstance, environment, situation, organisation, culture etc.
Most commentators on coaching suggest that it is fundamental to develop rapport with the coachee, relax them and so gain their trust and willingness to open up to you. I see no reason to wait until the first session to do this, and believe it is far more cost effective to do this as a big group, where I as the coach, introduce myself and also then introduce the art and practice of coaching. Typically I ask the group what they think coaching is. This generates a lively discussion (e.g. ‘it’s about asking not telling’; ‘it builds your confidence’ and ‘it’s about finding answers to your own questions’). Of course, there is no universal definition of coaching, so they are all right in a way. For me, it’s about them understanding that executive coaching doesn’t look so much at ‘what’ they do but ‘how’ they do. This means that they are the expert not me, and the power position they have been accustomed to all their lives, is immediately reversed. In other words, the student turns teacher and the teacher turns facilitator.
I ask them what outputs they think they want from coaching. Often I am told they want confidence. I agree, and remind them that for real confidence they have to face up to themselves, open up to their fears, take some risks and step out of their comfort zones. Only by confronting issues they have avoided in the past, can true steel be poured into one’s sense of self worth, that then resists being knocked down.
I then remind them that there are three other outputs that coaching can address:
(1) Business KPIs. I wonder why so few coaches focus on the return for the corporation. It seems to be a rare focus point, but at Broadreach, we are totally focused on ensuring this is balanced with personal growth.
(2) An ability to learn, summed up in the well-worn cliché ‘Give a man a fish, fed for a day, but teach a man to fish, and they will be fed for a lifetime’. It astonishes me how few coaches equip the coachee to do their own ‘fishing’. Development and growth in capability can last a lifetime if the individual wants it to, but they need to know the processes that work for them to generate that growth!
(3) Finally, coaching should help the individual find their motivation to grow. It’s all very well knowing how to ‘fish’, but there has to be a self-fuelled determination or reason to continue the struggle. After all, the coach cannot stick around too long, or they become a crutch, rather than a catalyst.
Our investment in research has highlighted these issues over and over again, and allowed us to develop and approach to leadership coaching that works. If you want to find out more, please e-mail me on Malcolm@broadreachltd.co.uk
With more and more individuals entering the already saturated coaching market, more and more coaches are considering improving their ‘credentials’ by investing in one course or another. The highly respected Myles Downey, (author of the seminal work ‘Effective Coaching’), suggests that ‘the quality and depth of the training (a coach has had) will give a strong indication of their competence’. However he goes on to caution ‘that in the last few years a number of organisations have emerged that provide training for coaches……that vary significantly in quality’.
Courses
There are so many courses, and so many different types of coaching and approaches. Should you go for a ‘Gestaltist’ approach (Academy of Executive coaching) or one backed by Gallwey’s theory of the inner game (The School of coaching), or a more psychologically focused approach (i-Coach Academy)? Should your approach be governed by a ‘cognitive behavioural theory’, be ’solutions focused’, ‘neuro linguistically’ informed, ’strengths based’ or stay aligned to the GROW model, or one of countless others. Once you have decided on your chosen course content and approach, what’s the best outcome? Certification? Accreditation? Licensed? Registered? A university qualification? A diploma, or maybe a degree? A plethora of options, and a plethora of processes to show competence; e.g. competency based, some stipulate the coach attains a certain amount of hours coaching, some insist on supervision (but who’s qualified to supervise?), some demand self assessments, others self proclamation, and finally some simply look for completed course work assignments. To help the coach through this jungle of options, choices may be made to pursue courses ‘accredited’ by professional coaching associations (e.g. EMCC, ICF, AC, ECI, OLI etc). (Then again, you have to ask who ‘accredits’ these organisations with the right to accredit other organisations?).
Conclusion
My belief is that coaching will become more closely associated with pschological interventions, because of the pedigree of research that supports many theories in this field, and it is this that creates a confidence in the intervention. As this happens, the impact for business coaching to create sustainable change and impact the organisation’s bottom line, will be eroded. More and more I believe coaching will resemble a techniqe being practiced on an individual. (My view is that the client deserves to be treated as a unique individual by a coach that is continuously re-investing in their knowledge and understanding of human beings by consulting as wide a range of personal development as possible. Only then can the coach provide the very best of themselves to help that person become brilliant. )
I did a PhD in coaching to try and make sense of this massive topic, and to become the best coach I could be. I wanted to use my brain to think more deeply, my research to question my practice, and find a path through all the different coaching texts. After six years I conclude that coaching is complex, and I know there is so much more to learn. There are a myriad of different angles and dimensions, questions and puzzles still to be answered and understood. (It is hardly surprising that the coaching community cannot agree on its definition!) What I do know is that coaching can be incredibly powerful for a person’s learning, help them to take control of their lives, and get after their potential with a real sense of urgency. As a business man, I also know that coaching must also be aligned to the organisation’s goals and create just as big an impact on the bottom line. However I fear that this power and impact for change is being limited, as coaching becomes more and more associated with a form of business based ‘psycho-analysis’.