| As the field of coaching
has steadily developed over the last decade or so, many variations
of coaching have come into existence. Coaching occurs on specific
areas like: career, money, business, relationships, childrearing,
life in general. Part of the result of the growth of this
industry and field of management practice, the word "coaching"
means different things to different people. This summary is
offered to make some clearer distinction around these terms,
and hopefully advance the dialogue.
Collegial Coaching
is what I believe occurs between people working in the
same organization. I term this Collegial Coaching ,
because it occurs between any two people who work together.
It is quite different in focus, nature and form, and is the
process I have written about in "The Heart
of Coaching." This is a process whereby co-workers become effective in delivering feedback to one another - based on the nature of their working relationship.
The expression of coaching
called Executive Coaching has become prominent with
business organizations (for profit and non-profit), because
this process offers an effective way for leaders and managers
to receive help in becoming more effective, productive, or
modify their behaviors. The coach is hired from the outside
for a fee, and helps the coachee develop themselves and/or
deal with problems associated with their work role.
The Executive Coach
works from the "outside to the inside". The Collegial
Coach works "on the inside."
A typical Executive Coaching process usually consists of:
- Debriefing the coachee's 360 degree feedback (and any follow-up assessments) and supporting the development of an Action Plan for personal change
- Interviewing various stakeholders (Managers, Peers, and
Direct Reports) to supplement the feedback report with anecdotal
information
- Meeting (face-to-face or phone appointments) to support
committed action and successful personal change
Collegial Coaching
between teammates usually consists of:
- Building an explicit coaching relationship where both
parties invest in building rapport and trust
- Setting clear shared expectations, goals and objectives
for work and agreeing how they will work together
- Sharing ongoing feedback from their day to day working
experiences about how each perceive they are performing
together, including the creation of relevant mutual actions
that enhance both the working relationship and the shared
work results
The following table
represents the major distinctions between these two primary
forms of contemporary coaching.
Distinction
or Parameter |
Executive
Coach |
Collegial
Coach |
Basis
of Role and Nature of Relationship |
Hired for a Fee - External Agent for Personal Change
Coachee
is "client" |
Manager, Peer, Direct Report - a Colleague with a working relationship and a vested interest in the success of the colleague - Colleagues are coaches for one another
|
Purpose/Objective
|
Enhancement of Overall Effectiveness or Performance - can also be Corrective (i.e. changing problematic behaviors) |
Building
a relationship of openness & trust and either Performance
Enhancement or Development/Growth
|
Feedback
and use of information |
Confidential
with boundaries on use depending if purpose is Developmental
(for Coachee only) or Corrective (Administrative use)
|
Personal use - Performance and Developmental feedback are both shared - Corrective (Administrative use) can occur for problems if they "escalate"
|
Flow
of Feedback |
Generally one way - coach to coachee |
Generally two way - coaching flows between colleagues committed to being coaches for one another
|
Source
of Feedback |
360 degree Assessments and/or interviews with stakeholders |
Day
to day interactions and third party feedback
|
General
focus of the Coaching Conversation
|
Review
of what's working and what's not; Questioning to explore
role the coachee played in outcomes; Exploring options;
Creating a plan for the coachee to move forward |
Mutual
sharing of perceptions and working experiences to encourage
mutual learning; Exploring problem-solving options;
Creation of a plan both parties support in moving forward
|
Subject
Matter Expertise of the Coach |
Consultant,
Psychologist, or other trained helping professional
|
Based
on personal career experience of the coach acting as
the coach
|
Structure
of Coaching Interaction
|
Usually
planned or scheduled |
Often
spontaneous but can be planned in advance |
Follow-Up
|
Built
into scope of structured time period of coaching assignment
|
Flexible
to the two parties to conduct follow-up actions based
on coaching agreements
|
In my work as an organizational consultant, I see the creation of true "High Performance Coaching Cultures as the next wave. The clear possibility is that an entire culture can adopt this powerful collegial approach and common coaching process model of coaching, and create this compelling vision for their organization.
In a COACHING
CULTURE, all members of the culture fearlessly engage in candid,
respectful coaching conversations, unrestricted by reporting
relationships, about how they can improve their working relationships
and individual and collectivework performance.
All have
learned to value and effectively use feedback as a powerful
learning tool to produce personal and professional development,
high-trust working relationships, continually-improving job
performance, and ever-increasingcustomer satisfaction.
Crane Consulting
is focused on helping organizations achieve the creation the
culture that enables sustainable levels of high-performance
from their leaders and teams. We invite you to join us on
this journey.
Announcing
in January, 2005...The Heart of Coaching workshop and certification
are being held in San Diego, CA. Please click on News above
for dates, location and registration information.
|
