Coaching Archives - LAK Group

Leading ON PURPOSE

The heart of human excellence often begins to beat when you discover a pursuit that absorbs you, frees you, challenges you, or gives you a sense of meaning, joy, or passion.

Terry Orlick

“Where do you hope to be in five years?”

It’s a common question asked during interviews and goal setting conversations with employees. “I hope to be in a leadership position,” or “I hope to be promoted to a Vice President role” are not uncommon answers. When asked why they want to achieve that position, their usual answers include: “Because I want to be in charge,” “Because I want to be the boss,” “Because I will make more money,” or “Because I’ve been told that I am good at what I do and that is the next step for my career,” and the most common, “It is the obvious next steps for my career.”

Unfortunately, while all of these are most likely genuine answers, they’re not the right answers when it comes to pursuing what we term: Leadership ON PURPOSE. “Because I want to be in charge” expresses a desire for control and oversight of others; “Because I want to be the boss” expresses a motivation to run the show; “Because I want more money” is a motivation for self-benefit; and , “Because I am told that I am good at what I do and that is the next step for my career” is a statement that serves one while appeasing others. It seems the obvious next step in their career is more of an entitlement. Leaders need to want to be leaders for the “right” reasons.

Our belief is that to have what it takes to be a leader who others truly want to follow; one must have a leadership mindset that is purpose-based rather than results-based. Moreover, Leadership ON PURPOSE has two aims that must intertwine: one is pursuing a leadership role with intention; the other is ensuring that one’s vision, plans, actions, and behaviors align with the vision, values, and goals of the organization. Leaders aren’t simply born and developed; they have a mindset that believes their purpose is to impact others.

A perfect example of greater purpose versus personal results can often be found among highly skilled professionals like engineers. There are many energetic engineers, with aspirations to be the heads of their engineering departments, groups, or divisions. They feel a need to lead other engineers. They see it as their means to a greater title and a higher rate of pay, even though their real talent and satisfaction comes from designing new and innovative things. It’s what compelled them to become engineers in the first place.

The outcome is not surprising. Many extremely talented individuals aspire to leadership roles, only to find once they arrive that they are no longer able to concentrate on and do what they do best. They realize, often too late, that the role of a leader is completely different from what they had expected, what motivates them and what they are skilled to do. We’ve experienced this outcome in every organization we’ve worked with.

Let’s look at an example we have seen in many organizations and in many different roles (sales, operations, finance, product development, information technology, marketing and other). This example is that of a high-performing engineer. In this example, the chosen successor for a senior leadership role was identified in succession plans as one of the emerging leaders in the organization, a highly-skilled electronics engineer who had tremendous success with design innovation, margins, and market share. He seemed to be a great choice for leadership, yet this turned out to be a poor decision for both the organization and the chosen leader. Although in a new position, he was still getting too deep into the design tactics. He kept spending his time on technical matters and not leading and building his team. He couldn’t separate himself from his passion and talent as an engineer. This inhibited his ability to build the organization and lead the team.

This new role didn’t work out for the engineer and he was later exited from the organization. A talented professional, identified as top talent, now out of the company. It happens often because we tend to promote for technical capability, not leadership capacity. Organizations also need to assess aspirations and desire to be in a leadership role for the “right” reasons. In the example above a new leader was identified who did demonstrate the qualities and attributes of leadership. And although he wasn’t as technically skilled as the members of his team and was actually being paid less than most all of the engineers on the team, he was able to build a very strong, united, and focused group of skilled professionals.

ON PURPOSE Leaders want to be in a leadership role for a reason. It is not about the title or attaining credit for being at the helm when the team’s engineering designs would lead to patents but helping the organization to excel in its capability and expertise.

John C. Maxwell notably said, “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” This is what we mean when we talk about Leadership ON PURPOSE. Agile leaders have the character traits, behaviors, and skills to be the leader of others.

It is our belief that Leadership ON PURPOSE serves the greater good of self, others, and the organization. A leader who establishes a vision and goals, develops new opportunities for the value and prosperity of others, and unites the organization in that quest is Leading ON PURPOSE. It means that behind a vision there is purpose and the right mindset to create and pursue that vision in the first place.

Personal Integrity is Key for Agile Leaders

An analogy we like to use about building trust and integrity is having change in your pocket. Every time you do something that builds trust or helps people align with you, you collect change in your pocket. It could be a quarter here or a dime there for your promises made and kept.

You want to continuously build the amount of change you have, for there will be times – and hopefully not often – where you’ll have to give back some of that change for missing a commitment or some other deficit. The key is making sure you’ve built enough integrity and credibility that when you make those mistakes, people will understand. Everyone makes mistakes. Your goal is to make them rare: to always have change in your pocket.

Many leaders make mistakes without establishing a level of integrity and credibility. Many don’t feel they have to establish their persona in the eyes of others. They view themselves as the most senior people in the room who don’t require feedback or a need to explain themselves.

John Maxwell once said, “The respect that leadership must have requires that one’s ethics be without question. A leader not only stays above the line between right and wrong, he stays well clear of the gray areas.” In Warren Buffet’s words, “In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first one, the other two will kill you.”

Personal Integrity is a foundational attribute we focus on when defining an Agile Leader. A leader’s integrity is often based on one’s leadership presence and the principles followed. We believe one’s personal brand, trustworthiness, ethical resolve, and communication and transparency are key to being viewed as a leader with Personal Integrity.

Booher Research surveyed over 200 professionals in a variety of industries to ask them their reasons for wanting to increase their personal presence. Forty-eight percent said their reason was either to increase their credibility or sell their ideas and projects. According to Booher, that percent of respondents hasn’t changed over the past 30 years. Additionally, when participants were asked, “In general, how much does someone’s personal presence affect how much credibility they have with you?” almost 75 percent replied, “A great deal.”

Agile Leaders convey their unique presence through their values. They make and meet commitments while demonstrating ethical resolve in every circumstance. It is the primary quality that gains the loyalty and trust of employees. They act with resilience and determination even when decisions may not be popular. They demonstrate genuine curiosity, active listening, and transparency when engaging with others by quieting their inner voice, focusing on the person, listening to understand, and repeating what they said.

We believe that when Agile Leaders establish their leadership presence and define the principles they follow. They lead with integrity through their personal brand, their trustworthiness, their ethical resolve, and their communication and transparency. But what exactly does Leading with Integrity look like? It’s actually a combination of many behaviors and practices, including:

Leading by example and being a role model to others. This defines your personal brand and presence in the eyes of others.
Having the consistency of being honest and trustworthy in all your actions.
Following through on commitments and doing the right thing.
Demonstrating ethical resolve.
Communicating with intention and transparency in all situations and in all formats, whether spoken or written.

Agile leaders realize that their Personal Integrity as reflected by their words, actions, decisions, and methodologies help to create their organizations’ true values and culture. Studies show this attribute extends benefits to both leaders and their organization.

Research has linked greater integrity with increased workplace performance.
Leaders with integrity foster greater trust and satisfaction from their direct reports, who are more likely to follow suit.
Employees serving under leaders with high integrity demonstrate more positive workplace behaviors (e.g., helping others during busy periods) and fewer negative workplace behaviors (e.g., falsely calling in sick).
Employees who trust their leaders to have integrity are likely to work harder, perform better, and have greater company loyalty.

The journey to become an agile leader is rife with complexity and ambiguity. One of the key elements that must be established is a level of trust and personal integrity. Leaders who lead ON PURPOSE understand the importance of building credibility. If you want to be a leader others will follow, trust and integrity is where you need to start.

What Leadership Shadow Do You Cast?

On Purpose leaders must own and lead the behaviors that shape the culture of an organization. They’re accountable for creating the experiences of employees, customers, and the communities they serve. This is the badge of honor that comes with being a leader. The reality is that organizations become “Shadows of their Leaders.”

It’s a heavy burden to consider for people who want to be leaders. They have to navigate shifting landscapes, changing markets, a demanding workforce, and expectations of boards and outside constituents. It is a bit of a cliché to say that they must “adapt and overcome,” but that is one of many sayings that are simply realities that have proven themselves over time.

After Goodyear Tire lost money in 1990 (the first time in 60 years), the board persuaded Stan Gault, a member of the Goodyear Board of Directors and former CEO of Rubbermaid, to come out of retirement and replace Goodyear’s current CEO. When Gault arrived, he began to unplug lights and unscrew light bulbs in the former CEO’s large office to reduce costs. He ate in the company cafeteria with the rest of the employees and got rid of executive parking spaces.

The word spread like wildfire among Goodyear employees that Gault believed “thrift is a virtue.” When Gault then asked all Goodyear employees to help reduce the company’s bloated costs, they already knew their leader walked the talk. Goodyear employees responded to Gault’s integrity and plea to reduce costs. As a result, the company paid down its debt and invested in new research and development. Soon thereafter, Goodyear launched the newly developed “Aquatred Tire.” It was a huge success and Goodyear was restored to profitability.

As leaders, we all have a shadow that we cast over others in the organization that is either positive or negative. The key question you need to ask yourself is, “What is your shadow saying about you?”

A leader’s shadow can strengthen a company’s culture and the engagement and commitment of its employees. In March 2020, when retail outlets were initially forced to close their doors because of the COVID19 pandemic, Tim Boyle, president and CEO of Columbia Sportwear Company, cut his salary to $10,000 a year while Columbia retail employees still received their regular pay. His pay cut helped to keep almost 3,500 retail employees compensated during that time of uncertainty. In addition to Boyle’s own pay cut, 10 top executives voluntarily took a 15 percent pay reduction.

That’s the shadow of a leader. It’s someone who acts—someone who doesn’t just talk about the values but lives the values. With this mindset, you gain the respect of others; even those who disagree will hold you in higher esteem for your convictions.

One of the more important aspects of the Shadow of a Leader is that people will watch and follow you. Sometimes they won’t even be aware of what they are doing. Your attitudes and behaviors become their attitudes and behaviors.

The best examples of this mirroring are found in our personal lives. Sons and daughters watch and emulate their fathers and mothers—the most influential people in their young lives. This brings to mind the song, Boy, by American singer-songwriter, Lee Brice who sings about his son who is going to be great because he does what his dad does.

Boy, you’re gonna know it all. You’ll think you’re ten feet tall… You’re gonna drop the ball. Hit the wall… I know you will, ’cause you’re a part of me. And a part of you will always be a boy.

We believe leaders are like dads and moms. People watch them and follow them. They want to make their boss happy with how they’re performing. They’ll mimic how their leaders behave, because if they do that, they know that they’re probably going to connect with their leaders and be viewed favorably.

We’ve met leaders and up-coming leaders who, upon learning about the influence of their shadow, will shy away from assuming the burden or deny their influence altogether. Basketball legend, Charles Barkley, once boldly declared to the media that he was not a role model and that kids should be taught to emulate their parents, not athletes or celebrities.

The reality is that if you’re in a position of influence, people are going to emulate you whether you want them to or not. Leaders are role models, and we believe that if you’re going to be a leader, you need to be one who leads On Purpose. You need to become the model of behavior that others will trust, emulate, and follow. It’s then a matter of what you want your shadow to reflect.

As you reflect on your leadership shadow, ask yourself the following questions.

What shadow does your leadership style cast on others?
How consistent are you at making and meeting your commitments to others?

Think back to some of the recent choice you have made. What could you have done differently?

Outplacement Services that Strengthen Your Employment Brand

Outplacement is Good for Your Business
A strong employer brand is critical to attracting the best talent, and in this job market, it means more than ever. Studies show that nearly 70% of employees share their poor layoff experience with others. By ensuring that your exiting employees are immediately focusing on their careers, rather than their anxiety and frustrations at being let go, you’ll substantially reduce the adverse impact on your social reputation. Employees, future job candidates and customers are watching. They are sharing their stories on social media and other outlets like Glassdoor and job boards. And make no mistake about it, when you’re trying to attract top talent, those bad reviews and comments on social media matter. The right approach to outplacement significantly reduces reputational fallout.

Internal Motivation is Important for Remaining Employees
It’s not just about the employees you’re laying off. It’s about the ones who remain, too. Layoffs cause a lot of anxiety among survivors who wonder if they’re next. Knowing their colleagues got help finding new jobs does a lot to calm those fears. And it creates loyalty, too, when they see you doing right by their friends and colleagues. When advanced notice is possible, allow exiting employees to begin using outplacement services while still at their jobs. They are far better prepared to hit the ground running when their employment ends and more likely to remain willing ambassadors of their previous employer’s brand, endorsing their company online and among their peers, or at least standing neutral. There is always room for high-touch handling of offboarding in these sensitive situations.

There is a Direct Link to Your Employment Brand
Companies need to ask themselves why outplacement is important to them. What are they trying to achieve? Is the intended result to simply have the ability to ease the consciences of those who hold the reins so they do not have to feel bad about downsizing events? Or, is the intention of the company to provide real services that genuinely reach the core of what it means to a professional, productive human being to unexpectedly lose their position in the company – and in their minds, their position in the world? Do you really want to understand the individual factors that these human beings have — financial, marital, family, background — that will help or hinder them from finding their next career, or is it enough to pass on some links to an online library of resources and move on?

The Right Outplacement Services Partner
The right outplacement partner for you depends on what you are trying to accomplish with the
experience. We like to use the term ON PURPOSE. Some organizations offer outplacement to check a box. Their focus is on cost and they don’t mind when their exiting employees don’t use the service. For those organizations, there are a number of low-cost and virtual coaching options. Conversely, a growing number of organizations recognize the impact on employer brand preservation. If your company image inhibits your ability to attract and retain the best talent, you have a problem that is significantly larger than any cost associated with outplacement services. For these companies, the decision process is a little more complicated. For instance, the effectiveness of the outplacement partner’s ability to reach out, connect and engage with exiting employees becomes an important factor.The hands-on coaching and supporting technology and other resources drive a rewarding experience for exiting employees.

The right outplacement partner will provide personalized services at a great value. Ask about the ratio of participants to coaches. Coaching is only useful if you can gain access to your coach. Ask how coaches are selected and trained. Ask about the process for matching coaches and ensuring compatibility. Ask if face-to-face meetings are possible. Ask if they provide onboarding coaching for individuals once they find a new job. Understand the reporting and feedback your outplacement partner shares with the organization. Quarterly progress meetings are a key element with high-quality outplacement providers.

Check if the majority of services are delivered virtually through online training sessions with limited contact to a coach or time restrictions. Make certain the service is not time-based as every person moves at a different pace. Ask about the vendor’s commitment to innovation and ask about the role that technology plays in their solution. The increasing role of software in outplacement solutions is a noteworthy trend of late.

Benefits of LAK Group Outplacement
1. Stronger brand reputation. Layoffs are a vulnerable time for a company’s brand. Exiting
employees, if they feel they’ve been treated poorly, can publicly share their opinions about your
company on Glassdoor and social media. Remember that nearly 70% of people choose to share
their poor layoff experiences with others. If the public hears that you have provided a soft
landing for exiting employees, they will be more likely to retain a higher opinion of your
organization.

2. Attract and retain talent and customers. Most employer branding research shows that over
60% of consumers have stopped purchasing a brand after hearing news of that company’s poor
employee treatment. Additionally, retention of talent becomes harder once the reputation as an
employer is damaged. Protecting your brand image with modern, high employee engagement
outplacement services puts you in a better position as an employer of choice and attractive
alternative for customers.

3. Company culture that makes you an employer of choice. During and after a workforce
reduction or simply exiting an employee, it is critical for companies to foster a positive company
culture to preserve the productivity of the employees who remain. If departing employees are
able to land new jobs through an effective outplacement program and are treated to a positive
experience, remaining employees are likely to conclude that they work for a purposed-based
company that truly cares about its people.

If you have questions regarding career coaching and outplacement services, the team at LAK Group is happy to talk about this valuable service, an inspirational client experience and why you should offer a more modern, coaching alternative to your outgoing employees.

Coaching Roles And Responsibilities

As we near the end of what, by all accounts, has been a tough year, many leaders are hoping to realize efficiencies and ensure maximum effectiveness wherever possible. This includes getting the most out of each and every employee. Because of this, the world of coaching continues to have a broader and more impactful role in helping organizations develop their key talent – but what IS a coach, and how do you work with one?

Coaching

The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as a partnership between a Coach and Coachee in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires the Coachee to maximize their personal and professional potential. It is designed to facilitate the creation and development of goals and to develop and carry out a strategy/plan for achieving those goals.

The aim of any coaching relationship is to help the Coachee shift the way they see and thus act in their personal and/or professional world. The desired outcomes vary from Coachee to Coachee, given their own personal goals and concerns.

Coach Responsibilities

The Coach and Coachee work together to explore what is possible and promote the discovery of new insights. Both parties enter into the coaching arrangement as equals.

A Coach will provide open and honest feedback and be a sounding board for the Coachee. They will facilitate Coachee insights and learning, help the Coachee clearly identify developmental objectives, and partner with the Coachee to transform their learning and insights into action. Throughout the process the Coach helps the Coachee navigate challenges to continue along the path towards the end goal.

LAK Group Coaches abide by, and uphold, the ethical guidelines of the coaching profession as defined by the International Coach Federation (ICF). They also respond to the Coachee’s agenda, goals and needs for the relationship rather than imposing a direction or agenda of their own.

Coachee Responsibilities

The Coachee is the individual receiving coaching. They will engage in, and sustain, a successful coaching relationship by agreeing to communicate honestly, being open to feedback and assistance, and to creating the time and energy to participate fully in the program.

The Coachee also is responsible for their own learning and growth. They should make specific requests when their needs are not being met in the coaching relationship, including sharing with the Coach any concerns or discomfort they have about the coaching relationship, specific interactions between themselves and the Coach, and their general experience of coaching.

Sponsor / Manager Responsibilities

The Sponsor / Manager is the person who oversees the development and work of the Coachee during the coaching engagement. This may be the direct leader, another sponsor or a functional supervisor who regularly observes the Coachee in their work setting. Typically, the Sponsor takes part in periodic conversations with the Coach and Coachee to set goals and expectations and provide ongoing feedback and support to the Coachee.

If this role is applicable, the Sponsor / Manager will share specifics about the Coachee’s development opportunities with both the Coach and Coachee. Additionally, the Sponsor will approve and support the objectives of the coaching process, assist the Coachee in achieving their goals as identified in their Individual Development Plan (IDP), preserve confidentiality and follow through on commitments made as part of the coaching process.

Engaging a Coach

LAK Group can help you make sure you have the right talent in the right seats within your organization, and we can help your talent reach their highest potential. Click here to find out more about our coaching offerings, or fill out our online form so we can learn more about how we can best meet your coaching needs.

Mentorship 2.0: Embracing the Changing Nature of the Workplace

Over the last handful of decades, so many things have fundamentally changed the nature of the workplace. Technology, the role of women, diversity initiatives, the end of permissive harassment, the erosion of the hierarchical workplace into more team-oriented styles—all of these have transformed the workplace into something that would be unrecognizable by a middle-aged man in 1950. What’s more, young people today place an extremely high priority on work-life balance and demand for employers to acknowledge the entire human experience, complete with ups and downs. Some may call them lazy and entitled and long for the days when a good dressing down would correct these insolent youngsters.

Smart business owners will embrace this new wave and appreciate this forceful redefining of what it means to be an employee. Studies on motivating factors for employees all boil down to quality of life inside and outside the office, and all of us would benefit from having more time to live our lives and less time spent at work. Plus, the economy is strong these days, so businesses are hardly suffering from this upheaval. Lastly, these young workers want to have some meaning behind the hours they put in for their bosses beyond a paycheck. Quashing that passion in favor of obedience means killing off any internal motivation for innovation. The question is now to find a path for employers to change their workplaces to meet these demands.

Enter Mentorship 2.0

Our leaders must be better able to both evaluate and develop talent in light of this changing, more purpose-driven and tech-enabled work environment. Mentorship can help make this happen as mentors guide others, serve as a role model, question ideas, and model behaviors that will serve others. Mentors show us what it means to be a leader, and leadership today means creating other leaders, not producing ranks of followers.

The concept of mentorship made its debut in America in the 1970s, and by the 1990s, it was fairly commonplace. Now it’s time for mentorship to evolve to accommodate modern workers. These principles should be the guiding force for shedding old ideas and welcoming Mentorship 2.0:

Relationships First. Mentorships only work when the relationships are genuine. They cannot be another dry HR initiative that gets checked off a to-do list. People must be able to find common ground between each other and baseline chemistry must exist if they are to break from their formal roles and titles (boss vs. employee) and move into “real life.”
Character over Competency. Mentorship is not a training program meant to help employees acquire skills for the job. Instead, mentoring should be about shaping character and values while helping people develop better self-awareness, empathy and the capacity for respect. All of these ideas apply to the human being in a holistic sense, not just the company or the role of the employee within the organization.
Open to Ideas. Success in the business world relies on finding new ways to achieve business goals, and mentorship must be a safe place for ideas to be explored. Off-the-wall or seemingly unrealistic ideas are where innovation happens and mentors need to be sources of energy, not consumers of it. In other words, mentors should be open to an optimistic exploration of ideas and leave pessimistic realism to someone else.
Be Loyal. Loyal to the human being, that is, not the company. Leadership is a duty and a service toward others. The best way to inspire commitment is to be fully and selflessly committed to the best interests of colleagues and employees. Mentors should look for the underlying passions of their mentees, not just their technical strengths, and help them find their calling—even if that’s elsewhere.

Long story short: mentors and mentees must be able to have an authentic, personal connection with each other and the mentor must be committed to helping their mentee grow in all directions by having a sincere regard for the mentee’s real life, both inside the workplace and out. By doing that, the mentor can not only address the business needs of the company, but also address the growing demand for employees to feel like their work has a purpose beyond the organization’s bottom line. Everybody wins.

When is Mentorship Appropriate?

Practical training will always have an important role to play in the workplace as skills will always need developing. Mentorship, however, should be about both being and creating good people around us—people who are committed to helping others become the best versions of themselves. There’s a reason why the most admired organizations are the ones devoted to bringing others along with them. Mentors aren’t there to teach their mentees how to use a program or device (although they certainly can); instead, their job is to move beyond practical know-how and into the realm of the human experience in the workplace as a whole.

Mentorship is right for new employees and temporary employees. It’s beneficial for those who must change jobs, are going to lose their job, or are about to retire. It’s perfect for anyone longing for personal and professional development, whether that’s the recent college graduate who is starting their first “real” job, or the manager who wishes to develop their leadership skills and abilities. In other words, anyone who wants to grow is ripe for a mentor.

Who Makes a Good Mentor?

The best mentors avoid killing the dreams of their mentees. They help create a sense of shared purpose within the organization and give perspective to the bigger picture outside the company. They understand the importance of skills acquisition while also underlining the importance of soft skills. Successful mentors promote baseline respect in terms of gender equality, age differences, racism and other social issues. In short, it’s time for mentors to shed the idea of mentees as a protégé and instead build bonafide friendships complete with respect, honest regard and sincere guidance.

3 Distinct Ways a Coaching Culture Delivers Business Success

Well-known author and Professor of Leadership, Peter Hawkins, in his book Creating a Coaching Culture, provides an aspirational definition of coaching culture. “A coaching culture exists in an organization when a coaching approach is a key aspect of how the leaders, managers, and staff engage and develop all their people and engage their stakeholders, in ways that create increased individual, team and organizational performance and shared value for all stakeholders.” To us, that definition feels like capturing the full potential value of coaching at an organizational level.

A coaching culture works on an individual level by recognizing people as complex humans with a variety of hopes, dreams, struggles, and successes. As employees, people bring their talents, energy, ideas and passion to our organizations. Our job as leaders is to create a work environment that can fully draw out the best in every person to create maximum satisfaction and engagement for the employee while creating exceptional value for the organization and its customers.

1. Employee Engagement

Gallup’s State of the American Workplace report found that engaged employees are more likely to stay with their organization and feel a stronger bond to their organization’s mission and purpose. Another report found that about 70 percent of companies are reporting talent shortages and 81 percent of businesses said turnover is a costly problem. With the struggle to acquire and keep talent so high, the cost of failing to engage workers becomes clear. Employee engagement also affects a host of business goals, including:

Productivity. Companies with high levels of engagement are 21 percent more profitable. What’s more, engaged employees are up to 17 percent more productive than their disengaged peers.
Absenteeism. A Gallup study found that workforces comprised of highly engaged workers enjoyed 41 percent lower rates of absenteeism.
Safety. Workplaces with highly engaged employees experience 70 percent fewer safety incidents.
Quality. People who are engaged tend to make fewer mistakes and are more likely to deliver high-quality products and services. One study found that highly engaged workforces saw 40 percent fewer quality defects.

So, how can organizations get these amazing benefits of an engaged workforce? According to recent research from the International Coaching Federation, 60 percent of employees working in an organization where they experience a coaching culture rated themselves as highly engaged. As stated above in Hawkins’ definition, a culture of coaching is one where workers engage with one another using a coaching approach in discussions, problem solving, conflict and more. By embracing this approach, employees find lots of opportunities to develop new skills and even use this new way of thinking to solve future challenges. In addition to improving self-awareness and openness to feedback, they learn how to succeed in different roles, produce results that are valued by their managers and the organization and have the chance to pursue personal career goals, not just organizational objectives. In other words, people tend to work harder, pay closer attention to the details and genuinely care about bringing positive results for their employers when they feel like those efforts are appreciated and respected. A coaching culture becomes the way work gets done in an organization. Executed well, a true coaching culture is never even discussed as a coaching culture; it is merely THE culture of the organization.

2. Stronger Relationships

The idea of bad managers who micromanage projects, aren’t responsive to requests and questions, enjoy special privileges and take credit for all the good work while avoiding responsibility for missteps might be ripe for comedians, but they are misery for workers and for the bottom line of any organization. Implementing a culture of coaching can radically improve critical relationships within the organization to bolster the strength of your teams while creating more positive results across the board. Failure to develop these relationships can have drastic consequences:

According to one survey, 75 percent of workers said their boss was the worst and most stressful aspect of their job.
In another survey, 65 percent of employees said they’d prefer a new boss rather than a raise in pay.
Gallup found that half of all employees have left a job because of a bad manager and that 70 percent of the variance in employee engagement across teams in the workplace was directly tied to the managers of the teams.

When managers are given the tools to interact with their people as coaches rather than harsh taskmasters, their direct reports will begin to feel as if their ideas and efforts matter and that their individual well-being is prioritized along with that of the company and its customers. Workers will be encouraged and empowered to use their strengths, talents, and skills daily, and Gallup found that workers in these conditions are six times more likely to be engaged. And we already know the benefits of an engaged workforce.

Transforming management styles to embrace the concepts of coaching isn’t always going to be easy, and only 36 percent of companies are offering coaching-specific training to new leaders. However, becoming part of that percentile has clear benefits, along with an opportunity to edge out the 64 percent of companies that are not teaching their managers to utilize a coaching approach.

3. Increased Business Performance

There are a few straight lines that can be drawn directly to an organization’s bottom line. Implementing a coaching culture improves working conditions for employees in all the categories that matter to them. By doing so, companies can enjoy the benefits that come with a happy, satisfied, engaged, energized and empowered crew, including:

Higher Sales. One result of a productive workforce delivering high-quality products and services is better sales. In fact, organizations with strong levels of engagement enjoy a sales increase of 20 percent.
More Profits. Highly engaged workers produce 21 percent greater profits than those that are not.
Higher Shareholder Returns. One expert defines the link between engaged employees and higher stock prices as the Engagement-Profit Chain, and this model shows that investing in an engaged workforce can deliver stock prices that are up to five times higher.

Plus, when employees are given ample opportunity for growth and development, and when they are empowered to make decisions and solve problems on their own, the natural result is a robust leadership pipeline, something that 77 percent of organizations are struggling to create.

Human Resources

People are the most valuable resource in any company. Without people, very few business goals could be achieved. Employees have the power to make or break the success of a business. When they are treated like the talented, complex human resources that they are, their employers will enjoy everything from a more positive and inclusive workplace to stronger profits year over year.

A Coaching Culture: What it is and How it Differs from Coaching in the Workplace

Workplace culture is a continually evolving concept as new generations enter the workforce, further studies into productivity are conducted, and as contemporary values shift and develop over the years. The idea of coaching in the workplace isn’t a new one: specific references to coaching have appeared in human resources journals at least as far back as the 1960s. What is new for today’s workplace is the idea that coaching shouldn’t be limited to a few elements applied in specific situations; instead, the entire culture of an organization should be transformed into one of coaching to achieve top results.

Coaching in the Workplace

If a company is simply a group of people who are working together to achieve a goal, it makes sense that developing the skills of each individual will benefit the entire group. Training and development opportunities are common in many companies, but coaching is meant to take a more personal and structured approach to this type of improvement. Coaches in the workplace tend to meet with individuals regularly to define and refine goals, identify roadblocks to success and generally work toward improving that person’s performance. The coach should have an understanding of where the employee wants his or her career to go while also having visibility into the company’s goals and how that employee contributes to that goal. The objective is to bring the two together to improve day-to-day performance while also developing long-term growth plans for future success of the employee and the organization.

Most employees embrace this type of development rather than the more common annual review cycle. According to one survey of millennial employees, 74 percent felt “in the dark” about how their managers think they are performing, and 62 percent felt “blindsided” by a performance review. Almost 85 percent said they would feel more confident if they had more frequent conversations with their managers. Managers as coaches in the workplace certainly address these needs as the feedback tends to be ongoing and continual rather than once-per-year events. Plus, coaches get results as their teams are more self-reliant, have more job satisfaction, contribute more effectively and work more productively with others. On a one-to-one basis, coaching has been proven to have positive results. What happens, then, when that approach is scaled up into a company-wide transformation?

Culture Shift: A Foundation Built on Coaching

A coaching culture is an entirely different proposition than adding elements of coaching to an existing management style and employee development strategy. A coaching culture happens when the organization commits to supporting employees as they learn new skills and grow to become more significant assets to the company. It is demonstrated when training, feedback and learning opportunities are part of the norm, and when coaching becomes embedded in HR systems.

The shift in focus from managing subordinates to development, empowerment, and encouragement is deliberate. In some scenarios, particularly those where safety and security are paramount or where very inexperienced employees are just starting out, a hierarchical management style may make more sense. But in a workplace that comprises the best and the brightest in the industry – or at least a company that hopes to attract such talent – it can be assumed that your employees want to work hard and to succeed so there’s no need for such tight management. Instead, a culture of coaching lays the groundwork for these bright stars to reach their highest potential while also building trust and job satisfaction, so they continue providing value to your company for the long haul.

Coaching Culture is Empowering

One of the hallmarks of a productive coaching culture are employees who have a deeper self-awareness in their positions and the ability to find their own solutions, strategies and plans. When the entire organization has been transformed, those in leadership positions are no longer meant to be the ones with all the answers, plans or ideas. Instead, leadership is there to guide their teams into learning how to problem-solve and empowering individuals to take action and make decisions rather than wait for instructions.

The transformation relies on a foundation of trust, respect, accountability and transparency between leadership and employees – all elements that modern employees want from their employers. Considering that top industry talent places company culture at the top of the list of needs when choosing for whom to work, it becomes clear that creating an environment where workers feel empowered, informed, educated and valued will have a long-lasting impact on a company’s ability to attract and retain talented individuals.

A Culture of Coaching Works

For organizations that have made the shift to a culture of coaching, the results have been impressive. One of the biggest effects is in employee engagement, often one of the most difficult metrics to improve and arguably one of the most important as it drives both business success for the company and job satisfaction for employees. According to one report, 80 percent of those surveyed who have experienced a culture of coaching found a positive impact on performance, productivity, communication skills and overall well-being. Of those working in a culture of coaching, 65 percent were highly engaged. Another report found that coaching cultures have the power to strengthen organizations, especially in terms of the relationship between managers and their employees. Better working relationships lead to more successful development, greater achievement of business goals and overall higher performance.

Another critical success for coaching cultures is the natural building of talent pipelines.

When the entire organization has an eye on learning, growing and development, the natural result is a workforce that is better prepared for the future. As each person is encouraged and empowered to reach their highest potential, leadership skills become easier to spot and specific areas for development become more apparent. The result is an educated, skilled, experienced and prepared talent pipeline, and one report found that organizations with a formal culture of coaching are able to fill 23 percent more critical roles immediately than those without.

A Rewarding Challenge

Making the transformation is not without its challenges. Changing the entire culture of the workplace is more than just implementing a few good ideas into your current structure. Instead, it requires time, trust in the process and patience as people make adjustments to their daily routines and acquire the necessary coaching skills to be successful. However, for those organizations who have put in the hard work, the long-term benefits provide a substantial return on that investment. Learn more about how to create and implement a coaching culture in your workplace by downloading our free whitepaper, Cultivating a Coaching Culture for Business Success.

How to Build a Mentoring Program That Works

In a tight marketplace where companies are competing to secure top talent, can any organization afford to squander the talent that’s already onboard? The answer is undoubtedly no, but how can companies ensure that the best and the brightest on the team stick around? Managers are often ill-equipped for career conversations and may be unable to provide the feedback and resources that people need to feel both challenged and secure in their positions. A healthy and strong mentoring relationship may save careers and keep your talent focused on the growth you need to move your organization forward, and they need to stick with your company for the long haul.

The Effects of Missing Mentorship

Part of the human experience is the relationships we build with other people. It’s often easy for us to prioritize these relationships in our personal lives, but professionally it is just as important, as we will all spend about a third of our lives at work. According to Forbes, mentors at an employee’s current company can be a valuable source of information including the dynamics of the business, politics in the organization, and actionable feedback that directly relates to the needs of the individual. The mentor relationship is also distinct from other developmental relationships in that they tend to be longer-lasting than a teacher or coach and the nature of the listening and influencing contributes to the long-term growth of the mentee.

According to a study by the University of Georgia on the effects of mentorship, a number of positive benefits were identified. First, mentored individuals were more likely to have a positive view of the activities engaged in with a mentor, including job activities, and more likely to develop a psychological attachment to the relationship’s context, including the workplace. Mentors can improve their mentee’s overall well-being by challenging negative self-views and help them navigate relationships and interpersonal problems at work. Mentees are exposed to opportunities, ideas and experiences which can help enhance their goal-setting and realization, learning and skill development. Networking opportunities formed from mentoring relationships help in terms of better salaries, more promotions and a greater variety of job opportunities for the protege.

In other words, individuals will have access to a greater potential for career success and satisfaction and the organization benefits from team members who are more committed to the company, more motivated to succeed and increase skills, and better able to set goals and then achieve them. There is a considerable amount for everyone to lose when these relationships are not present or ineffective.

Building A Better Mentoring Program

The need for constructive mentoring programs is evident. The key, then, is to create a plan that is effective so the organization and individuals can get the most from these endeavors. The first step is to take the time to define your program. Why are you starting a mentoring program? What will success look like for both the mentor and the protege, as well as for the organization as a whole? Once the purpose of the initiative is better understood, defining the remaining aspects will be clearer.

The next step is to choose the participants. Ideally, all employees should be included or at least given the opportunity to participate. The mentoring program should be a wide career development path, rather than a more exclusive opportunity such as leadership development. Having a wide range of participants will allow you to more appropriately match partners by career level, as mentors should be at least one level higher than their mentees. Matches should also be made based on what the individuals are seeking, such as networking, skill development and long-term goals.

Once the relationships have been established, boundaries, objectives and timelines should be clearly identified. Relaxed mentorships may work well in personal situations, but for business goals, a clear plan will achieve better results. Each pair or group should begin by establishing goals for the relationship to ensure that each has the knowledge and interest to benefit from the match. Defined endpoints will help motivate progress toward goals, and milestones should be included to ensure progress is measured. At the end of each term, relationships should be evaluated to determine whether they should continue or whether it’s time to shuffle the participants for different experiences. Ground rules and boundaries that are established by each pair will also prevent misunderstandings and ensure that each partner’s responsibilities and contributions are understood.

Lastly, and most importantly, training, tools and resources are critical to the success of any mentorship program. Few people are natural-born mentors and some individuals need help making the most of what mentors have to share. From effective communication strategies and relationship-building techniques to specific training for mentors-to-be, the more each partner is equipped with in terms of relationship skills, the better the results. Plus, any skills-based activities should be accompanied by teaching tools such as training materials. Mentors should also be trained on how to advise their proteges on career and life goals and where to turn for additional resources for planning and growth.

Conserving Resources

Organizations that do not develop effective mentoring programs have a high cost to pay, namely in terms of lost resources. As talented and high potential individuals stall in the organization, the result is often burnout or disengagement and eventual departure from the company. Mentor programs are designed to rescue these individuals, to re-engage them with their position and the company, and to keep people continually on a path of learning and growth. The results include employees who are more confident and committed, a greater sense of camaraderie throughout the organization, and all the benefits that come from an engaged workforce.

Whether you have yet to design and implement a corporate mentoring program, or you want to ensure that your current approach positions your organization, and your employees, for success, we’re here to help. Contact Laura Parrino at 262-786-9200 or via email, if you have questions or to schedule a conversation about your approach to mentoring.

Leadership Development: The Danger of Overlooking the Middle Manager

The term mid-level leader describes a very broad group. Depending on your industry, your company, and the roles within your organization, what specifically comprises mid-level leadership can vary widely. The only certainties are that virtually all organizations have middle managers and this level leader is a critical bridge between the bulk of the workforce and the senior management team. As MIT’s Jonathan Brynes observed, Regardless of what high-potential initiative the CEO chooses for the company, the middle management team’s performance will determine whether it is a success or failure. Given this observation, it’s surprising, then, how often the development of the mid-level leader is left to happenstance rather than creating a defined path of preparation and ongoing development. The ramifications are serious. Given the complexities of today’s VUCA environment, the need for strong, highly effective mid-level managers has never been more critical.

The Problem with Mid-Level Leadership Development

Mid-level leaders may not always be central players when developing overarching strategies for the organization, but they are frequently the players who are most responsible for cascading the strategy out to other leaders and employees while, at the same time, keeping teams moving incrementally toward goals. For this reason, mid-level leaders must be able to communicate and collaborate effectively with both higher-level management as well as peers and direct reports, and often outside the company with clients, vendors, and others. They must be able to think quickly and critically, while effectively coaching employees, completing tasks, and managing relationships across every level.

Because of the pivotal nature of this role, it’s clear that mid-level leadership development should have a high priority within every company. If we are not actively developing this group, how are we producing today’s bottom-line results while at the same time preparing the next generation of senior leaders? If left only to their own growth strategies, how is this impacting the productivity and engagement of their teams?

What’s more, these leaders are keenly aware of their importance to the organization, yet most feel some level of dissatisfaction with their position and career outlook. According to an Accenture survey, fewer than 40 percent of middle managers said they were extremely or very satisfied with their current position. When asked to identify some of the problems that underlie this dissatisfaction, 43 percent said they feel as if they are doing all the work, but not getting credit for it. About one-third also said that they are frustrated because they have no clear career path. On the other hand, most respondents credit their companies for positive working conditions and good benefits. In other words, these leaders are finding some satisfaction in their work, but they’re calling out to their companies for better recognition, and organized paths for development and promotion within the organization. And traditional methods for addressing these needs are not working.

Better Leadership Development Strategies

Failing to adequately prepare the next generation of senior leaders means leaving the leadership bench empty for the future. Falling short of equipping mid-level leaders with the tools they need to properly support their teams is a drain on productivity and effectiveness across the organization. But a one-size-fits-all training program is ineffective these days. Instead, mid-level leaders need dynamic strategies to address their specific learning needs creating the agile leaders needed to lead the organization of today and the future. Training your mid-level managers in big groups or in a traditional classroom setting alone no longer gets the job done. The range of skills needed is expansive, and the needs of each mid-level leader vary widely, depending on their role in the organization, their upward trajectory, and personal aspirations. Because each individual and position are unique, the learning must be tailored directly to the needs of the role and the person.

To start, organizations must identify the needs of both the individual and the company. These needs should be based on both short and long-term business goals as well as personal growth targets while tapping into the strengths of the leader. The development path should address specific and actionable areas for improvement. Then, in addition to content learning, the leader should also be paired up with an accountability partner a coach who can help him or her reflect on specific real situations and decisions to polish the leader’s hard and soft skills through actionable feedback alternate approaches that can be put to use right away.

Bringing new skills and behaviors to workers is more successful when it’s done in small doses. Micro-learning, or breaking lessons into smaller pieces and shorter activities, has been shown to increase retention by more than 20 percent when compared to more traditional forms of training. One of the reasons for this is the need for direct interaction between the information and the learner, or the ability to translate something learned into action. By pairing content learning with an accountability partner (coach), mid-level leadership development can be transformed from a tedious, overwhelming training program into everyday practice that can bring immediate visible and sustainable results.

Preparing Your Roster for Success

Middle managers are directing roughly 80 percent of our workforce and many middle managers have the potential to be the future leaders of the company. There’s no doubt that every organization needs a talent pipeline for the highest level roles in the company, as every current leader will inevitably leave the company at some point. In the meantime, mid-level leaders are responsible for translating the company’s plans into daily tasks for their teams and faithfully carrying out the company’s mission. These leaders, of course, are individuals with ambitions of their own, and taking steps to drive their engagement and job satisfaction can only benefit everyone over time. By clarifying these mid-level roles within your company and addressing the needs of your leaders by providing individualized paths for leadership development, your bench will contain a full roster of people ready for the next step, and an entire team of fully engaged workers who are ready to take on new, expanded responsibilities.

Whether you have yet to design and implement a mid-level leadership development program, or you want to ensure that your current program positions your organization for success, we’re here to help. Contact Holly Teska at 262-786-9200 or via email at hteska@lak-group.com, if you have questions or to schedule a conversation about developing your mid-level managers.