Coaching - The Most Cost Effective Training

Training Pounds Down The Drain?

Having spent years in the training and consultancy business I have witnessed literally tens of thousands of pounds being flushed down the drain from training budgets. Companies would come to us and ask for 12 courses for their employees on management skills or influencing and negotiating or whatever. A group of participants would arrive with different degrees of willingness and motivation. Few, if any, participants would have had discussions with their line managers before the course to agree learning objectives, few ever had conversations with their line managers after the course to look at how to embed the learning from the course into the work place.

The case studies or role plays, however effective, were never the actual business issues that participants had to wrestle with. The issue was vividly brought home to me when a junior manager said to me after a course 'that was great I only wish my line manager could come on this training course' ... and the tragedy was his line manager had been through exactly the same training.

So what is coaching and why is it so cost effective?

What is coaching?

It was Venus Williams, the Tennis champion, who said last summer - 'most times when we loose, we defeat ourselves'. The obstacles to high performance are sometimes external and sometimes due to lack of skill, but the most frequent reason is internal blockages, self limiting beliefs - what Tim Galwey (The InnerGame series of books) would call Interference. Coaching is a client centred relationship which facilitates the performance but also the learning and development of an individual. It does not hope that this happens (as is often the case with off the shelf training courses), it ensures that it happens.

Why is coaching so cost effective?

1. It is focussed on real issues

The agenda for coaching is always the real work or life issues of the coachee.

 

2. It involves clear goal setting

The first session of a coaching relationship is about setting goals. Goals on the coachees immediate issues; goals on the coachees longer term development; goals that have both stretch and achievability written into them.

3. It involves accountability

All session will end with an agreed plan of action which is reviewed sometimes between session, but always at the next session. This is not about judgement or a 'witch hunt' for unfulfilled commitments but rather to find out why something which seemed like the right way forward didn't happen. Exploring these issues can often lead to a treasure chest of undiscovered insight for the coachee.

 

4. It deals with the real blockages to performance

Coaching creates a high-trust relationship that acts like a mirror to what is going on in the coachees performance and behaviours and motivations. In seeing what is actually going on for a person they uncover the real blockages or interference to increased effectiveness.

 

5. It is leadership development

Coaching is the core of leadership development. It helps people to become strategic about themselves, recover proactivity rather than reactivity, it plans and achieves its goals, it develops the personal insight that we know all great leaders have.

 

6. It creates insight

At the heart of the coaching session is very high level listening and reflection by the coach. The goal of the coaches questions is always to open another window to let more light into the understanding.

 

7. It develops responsibility

By being client centred the coachee does the work. They take responsibility for their own development. The coach keeps the focus on the coachee and works with their energy and motivation.

 

8. It feeds off an individuals motivation

Motivating staff is a key issue in all organisations. Because of its personal focus coaching helps uncover what the personal motivators of this individual are rather than projecting the organisations or the managers view.

 

9. It ensures learning

Because the coach is facilitating the coachee through their goals they are guiding them to think through not just what to do but why they will do it, not just telling them what to do but letting them discover a route for themselves.

 

10. It gets business outcomes

Coaching is not therapy but it is transformational. It is not focussed on looking back and repairing it is always focussed on looking forward to achieving the business and personal outcomes agreed in the first session.

For further information contact Trevor Waldock at The Executive Coach