A Message From Peter
Hello All,
As we come out of hibernation for another summer, we're happy to be back in your inbox with another great issue. As the subject line implies, this issue is a celebration of coaching successes.
First, a great coaching success story from one of our workshop participants. You'll hear how a $2.00 mirror may have been the difference in his son's championship hockey game. The details are in my Podcast.
Next, the story of how Tim Houck, a long-time TD manager, used the skills and tools of coaching to generate exceptional results at his branch with a very junior sales team. It's the kind of thing we love to hear, and a story that really reinforces the power of coaching.
Finally, our recurring 'Ask The Expert' feature is back with a challenging situation involving an employee who is strongly resistant to coaching. Take a look at what Garry and Peggy had to say about generating coaching success in the face of strong resistance - and then let us know what you think!
Hope all is well with you,
Peter's Podcast
Peter talks about the role of 'The Self' in high performance, and talks about how a $2.00 mirror may have made the difference at a recent children's hockey game.
To listen to the Podcast in .mp3 format, simply click the 'Listen Now' link below. If you wish to save the Podcast to listen to later (or even transfer to your iPod), 'right-click' the link and choose 'Save Target As...' to save it to your computer.
Unleashed Potential at Branch #0306: A Coaching Success Story
When Tim Houck asked to manage the Quinpool Rd. branch in Halifax, it may not have appeared to be the most logical move. As the Senior Manager of Finance and Operations for the Atlantic Region, Tim had spent twenty-three years at TD Bank. There were other options open to him, yet he was choosing to move to a branch with an inexperienced sales team. Tim, however, had his own reasons. "I came because it was a group of young, energetic people who wanted to do something with their careers," he explains. Tim looked forward to acting as a coach and helping them move up the ranks while improving the performance of the branch. "To me, there is nothing better than seeing your people being sought after by other managers for more senior roles."
By October 2006, however, Tim found himself in a tough situation. "I never realized how much there would be to do," he explains now. Despite weekly coaching sessions with his people, his branch was sitting 42nd out of 44 branches in the region, and he was having little success working with a newer Salesperson - who was sitting in the bottom quartile of performers.
"I was finding that the coaching model I was using - the "did well, next time, action plan approach" - wasn't giving the results I wanted. I wasn't able to create action plans that would really stimulate action," explains Tim. Furthermore, the second most senior person at the branch had left - leaving him a sales team with a total of seven years' experience in their roles across six people.
Coaching for High PerformanceTim signed up to attend the one-and-a-half day Coaching for High Performance workshop in late November with relatively low expectations. "I've always been interested in coaching, so I signed up out of general interest - but I didn't really expect to get much out of it," he says, looking back. Once in the classroom, however, he got excited. "Within an hour or two, I was thinking 'this is exactly what I need'."
As the course progressed through the 'why', 'what', and 'how' of coaching, Tim says he "very, very quickly realized that this was very applicable to my daily routine." With his interest in developing people, Tim saw immediate application for the technique of painting a clear picture of success to help his people get past performance blocks. He also had a big 'eureka' moment in the section of goal setting: "I realized that a lot of what wasn't working with the old model had to do with the goals we were focusing on." Tim learned the elements of effective goal setting, and the GROW process, a series of questions to help translate goals into action. He left the course eager to act.
Impact"The very first day I got back, I tried it out with a staff member immediately," remembers Tim, "and the person said to me 'you're doing something different, I can tell'."
Tim continued his weekly coaching sessions with all of his employees, but the sessions changed to orient around the new tools he had learned. As Tim explains, "the timing didn't change - but the manner did, as well as the interest from both parties."
In the months following the workshop, the results were nothing short of remarkable. "At the end of November 2006, we were 42nd out of 44 branches. By the end of February 2007, in just three months, we had moved up to 13th," reports Tim. Furthermore, the branch finished number one in the district for the 2007 RSP drive. "Last year, we weren't even close to being in the top half for anything," remembers Tim.
On a personal development front, Tim has seen great payback from the course. The junior Salesperson that had been struggling previously quickly moved into the top half of performers in their region. "Before, she just didn't have the confidence. Once I took the course, I was able to see what was blocking her and work to help her overcome it. And, of course, confidence breeds confidence," explains Tim.
The main driver of success, according to Tim, was that employees became truly committed to their goals. "They set the goal, they realize it's theirs, and they know they can achieve it. While the old goals tended to be overwhelming - for them and for me - the new goals are energizing".
Looking Back"I have gone out to so many people and said 'if you can get on this course, do it as soon as possible because it will change the way you think about coaching, and how you coach," says Tim. "I don't think you have to be a fan of coaching, or even like it. If you go through this, you'll be a better coach. I think that's as simple as it gets."
After twenty-five years with TD, Tim sees Coaching for High Performance as one of the best opportunities the bank has offered its managers. "It's the best time I've spent away from the branch in terms of time for money in many, many years."
Ask The Expert
"I have a direct report who is very resistant to coaching. I try to be very balanced in my approach, telling her both what she did well and telling her what she could do better next time. When we get to the part about what could be improved, however, she gets quite defensive; explaining why she did things the way she did or why my ideas wouldn't work. When I explain that I'm not criticizing her, I'm just trying to help her get better, it seems to calm things down for the moment but things get right back to usual by the next conversation. How can I coach this person in a way that the coaching will be well received?"
Peggy Baumgartner - Director of Training
The first thing the coach needs to do is step back and ask herself "is this just happening with one person - or does it happen consistently with many of my employees?"
If she is getting this pushback from multiple people, she will want to take a hard look at the dominant style she's using in her coaching sessions. She may be relying too much on the teaching/mentoring style when a consultative style would be more appropriate. The key to the consultative style is asking focusing questions, and then really listening to the answers.
If, however, the issue only exists with this one employee, the solution is going to lie in a conversation with her in which they look together at the real issue. The coach should take some time to let their emotions cool down (as well as those of the coachee) and have a conversation specifically about the feedback process outside of the 'heat of the moment'. Here's how the coach might want to start:
"In our weekly meetings, I want to give you feedback on what you're doing really well, but I also want to help you get better in areas where you could improve because I see a lot of potential in you. I notice now that when I indicate areas where you could do something differently you lean back in your chair, look down, and stop speaking. When you start speaking again I notice you are agitated and argumentative. You have the potential to be great. I would like to give you the coaching you need to take yourself to the next level. I realize that I have contributed to this by letting it slide and not expressing my feelings of frustration. I'd like to understand how I can give you feedback in a way that you can hear it and we can talk about it. What are your thoughts on what happens in these meetings?"
It is important the coach is well prepared for the conversation. She will need to be very specific about the behaviours she is seeing that let her know the coachee is 'defensive' - i.e. "often I notice that you are leaning back in your chair and looking down". At the same time, she will also need to invite and be receptive to feedback about her own behaviours from the coachee and think about ways she could self-manage in order to avoid triggering the defensiveness.
One of the key things about the consultative style is that it needs to be built on a foundation of trust. The majority of workplace trust is built through open conversations where both parties are self-disclosing - it's these powerful discussions that make the 'tough' stuff possible.
Garry Watanabe - Senior Associate
As the 'expert' who had this situation posed to him by a participant in a Coaching for High Performance workshop, what follows is the approach that the coach and I came up with to tackle the situation.
The first thing we discussed was whether we were dealing with a coachable behavior or an individual who had always been this way with every person in every situation. "Well, he has been responsive to feedback in the past," the coach noted, "so that would indicate that this is definitely a coachable behavior.
With that understanding reached, the coach and I worked to develop an action plan to approach the situation. I believe that what follows is a realistic plan with a high chance of success:
1) Restore balance.Over the course of several coaching sessions, both the coach and coachee had developed substantial blocks based on frustration and negative emotions. We agreed that it was important to take some time to 'shed emotional baggage' so that the two parties could have constructive conversations.
2) Begin with the coachIn order to ensure that she re-engaged with an open mind, we decided that it would be helpful for the coach to take an objective look at how she was viewing the situation and try to understand how the coachee was seeing matters. In order to help understand the coachee's perspective we agreed that it would be helpful to get together with a colleague and bat the situation back and forth to try and understand how the coachee might view their behaviours as being reasonable and justified.
3) Solidify the relationship.Since all coaching occurs in the context of a relationship, we decided that this would be a high impact, low risk place to begin. The plan envisioned a two pronged approach. First, spend time with the coachee. Get to know his likes and dislikes, triggers and hot buttons. Second, provide increased recognition to ensure that the coachee knows that his skills, experience and consistent performance are appreciated and that coaching him is not about 'fixing' problems.
4) Focus first on process, then on content.We decided that the first coaching conversation the coach had with the coachee should be around process. We agreed the coach would consult with the coachee around their coaching likes, dislikes, what works for them and what does not.
5) Involve the coachee and lead by example.The final step in the plan was to begin coaching according to the 'ground rules' that had been laid out in the previous conversation, ensuring that the coach solicited feedback about the process from the coachee at regular intervals. We thought that giving the coachee significant control over the process and the coach being receptive to 'coaching on her coaching' would eliminate two key sources of resistance.
This is currently a 'live' scenario. I will be touching base with the coach in a few weeks, and will be able to update you on their progress in the next newsletter.
Agree? Disagree? Have your own approach to the situation? Send your comments and coaching approaches to newsletter@performancecoaching.ca. We'll publish a selection of comments and alternate approaches in our next issue.