Coaching a sign you’re valued
Q: I am a new team leader and feel I am being pressured by my boss to take coaching. I don’t feel I need it, but they are insisting I take it. Since the external coach has been hired by the company, I am suspicious that he will try to force the company’s agenda on me. Do you agree I should be concerned?
A: Coaching is a sign that the organization values you enough to invest in you because it is intended as a developmental, not a remedial platform.
Organizations commonly sponsor coaching to support the employee’s performance, career objectives, role confidence and management competencies.
If coaching is part of your company’s leadership development strategy, get clarity from your supervisor about their expectations for the engagement. Organizations often hire external accredited coaches who have no roles or influence within the organization so they can provide objective feedback and perspectives and avoid conflict of interest.
While the organization pays for the coaching and the supervisor and coachee may together determine the coaching goals, the conversations between coach and coachee are confidential.
The coachee, not the coach, reports out any results.
During the sessions, the coach does not direct, advise or tell the coachee what to do. They develop the client’s ability to make decisions, address key concerns, and develop themselves – to get feedback, to determine priorities and set the pace of learning, to reflect on and learn from experiences.
It is the coach’s duty to advocate for the coachee.
Surveys have shown 85 to 95 per cent of coachees have been satisfied with their coaching experience and return on investment to the organization can be as high as 800 per cent.
Reprinted from The Province, July 20, 2014.