The Role of the Boss in Coaching

When I look back over more than a decade of coaching executives, I find there is a strong correlation between the success of the coaching assignment and the involvement of the boss in the process.

“Success” is defined by a sustained change in identified behaviors, such as time management, delegation, communication or dealing with difficult situations. If the identified behavior doesn’t change, or the executive regresses back to a former level after the coaching stops, then the process has not been successful.

There are five ways in which a boss can contribute to the success of coaching assignments:

• Giving an informed assessment to the coach;
• Providing feedback to the executive before coaching starts;
• Creating an environment conducive to development and change;
• Making observations and providing ongoing feedback to the executive during the coaching process; and
• Sharing these ongoing observations with the coach.

Let’s look at the first two.

Giving an Informed Assessment to the Coach

The most successful coaching engagements begin when the boss gives the coach an informed assessment of the executive to be coached -- the specific behaviors that he or she would like to see the executive improve.

Communication is one of the most common areas of improvement. Some executives just don’t communicate enough; others need to work on their approach. They might be extremely harsh, critical or condescending. As a result, people tune them out.

When a boss sits down with an executive and says, “You’ve got a lot of good ideas, but I think you can be more effective at communicating them to others. I’d like to have a coach help you with that,” he or she provides an important foundation for the coaching assignment that follows by establishing an essential level of self-awareness with the executive.

In virtually all cases, the boss has witnessed the behavior firsthand. In addition, the boss understands the executive’s strengths, knows why the executive is an asset to the organization, and has a reason for investing coaching dollars in that asset. By sharing these insights with the coach, he provides a solid foundation for improvement.

Providing Feedback to the Executive Before Coaching Starts

Another critical role the boss can play in the developmental process is to provide feedback to the executive who is being coached. The key here, for the boss, is to ensure that the executive hears what the boss has to say.

Telling people they need to improve a certain aspect of their professional behavior is not an easy task; many bosses avoid it as long as possible. As a result, they don’t communicate as clearly as they should. I like to meet with the boss beforehand to help frame that conversation between the two of them because it’s so important to the success of the coaching process.

Good communication requires a transmitter and a receiver. Most bosses feel that their role is to be the perfect transmitter; what they really need to do is create the perfect receiver.

Let’s say an executive has three or four developmental opportunities – too many to work on at the same time. Instead of talking to the executive about all of these issues, I would advise the boss to select one or two, and couch them in a positive way so that the person can hear them better.

For example, suppose an executive is too wordy. Ask him what time it is and he tells you how to build a watch. If you were to tell him he’s a windbag, it’s pretty easy to become defensive around that. But if you said that 1) "weaknesses are strengths taken to excess", and 2) "sometimes you are too verbose because you are extremely enthusiastic", that’s a lot easier to accept because you’ve just paid a compliment. And you’re on your way to creating a perfect receiver.

Next issue: Creating an environment conducive to development and change.

How often have you seen a new leader make a major blunder with his or her new team, and never ultimately recover from it … or have to make considerable repairs to relationships before things begin to smooth out?

In our experience as on-boarding advisors, we have found that there are steps newly hired and newly promoted executives can take early on – even before assuming their positions – to build an effective relationship with their new team.

Here are several recommendations to consider before you start your new job, on your first day and during your first week to get off on the right foot with your new team:

Before Starting a New Job

Learn from your manager about circumstances surrounding your role as they pertain to your team. It’s hard to know what went on in an organization before you arrived. For example, often organizations go to outside hires when there are those within the organization who expected or wanted the role. This information is important to know. Find out from your manager:

• Whether there are any people in the organization who applied for your position. If so, what happened? Discuss with your manager how best to work with these individuals.
• What was your predecessor’s style? For example, if he was highly controlling, you may be inheriting a fairly unempowered team. Or if he was hardly around, your team may not be used to reporting to someone.
• What, if any, special circumstances should you be aware of? Did your predecessor have any “favorites” who may be resentful of or worried about you? Was she a beloved leader or someone the staff feared? This information will give you hints as to what type of climate you will encounter.
• Where did your predecessor go, and does your manager expect others to follow? This will impact staffing and other plans for the organization down the road.
• Ask to see any internal or external communications about your arrival before they are distributed. This way, you’ll have the chance to correct any errors and you’ll have a feel for the tone of the communication.

On Your First Day

Hold a meeting with your entire team if possible, or, at the very least, all of your direct reports. There will be lots of curiosity about your arrival. The longer you wait to meet everyone, the more the speculation grows. At the meeting, your focus should be “we” not “I”. Here are some guidelines:

• Introduce yourself, including a very brief background. Indicate that you’re excited to be in your new role, because you’ve heard a lot of great things about this team and this organization.
• Let everyone know that you’ll be relying on them for help in learning the organization and its people. Talk about how you’re looking forward to meeting everyone, and make a point to follow up.
• Let them know that you’re available to meet, and what your initial schedule will be like. This will quiet the rumor mill (“Why isn’t he ever here?” “Why is she always behind closed doors?”).
• Don’t communicate your vision, expectations or how you plan to change things. This meeting is about making your team feel comfortable. Offer everyone opportunities to ask questions.

During Your First Week

Be visible. Introduce yourself, and talk to people. Hold a meeting with each of your direct reports. Ask about their history with the organization, their accomplishments, what they’re most proud of. In these meetings, the focus is on them, not you. Here are some other guidelines:

• Discuss your communication styles and preferences briefly – let them know how to best communicate with you.
• Thank them for their time, insights and support.
• Don’t tell your team how wonderful and smart the people back at “The Last Company” were. Only mention the name of the last company when responding to where you worked.
• Don’t use this meeting to discuss salary or any changes you plan to make to the organization. Don’t offer any of your opinions about anyone, particularly negative ones. Only offer favorable observations.

Hold periodic update meetings with your direct reports. These could be over breakfast, or as short staff meetings. The main purposes of these meetings are to show appreciation for the help they’ve given you in your first weeks … and to help both you and them get to know each other better.
 

As someone who works with clients ranging from midsize companies to large multinational corporations, I’ve had the opportunity to witness firsthand how businesses handle a wide variety of executive development opportunities and challenges.

Some companies deal with their human resources situations better than others. In a recent Harvard Business Review article entitled “The Wild West of Executive Coaching” (HBR, November 2004), Stratford Sherman and Alyssa Freas present a compelling case for the need for structure, direction and goals in an industry where anyone can print a supply of business cards that declare him or her to be an executive coach. “For coaching to command serious attention from the busy executives it aims to help, it needs top-level support and visible links to business imperative,” say the authors.

One assignment we recently handled had all the elements of a “Wild West” coaching engagement, including unstructured goals, initial skepticism from the chief executive officer (CEO), and the prospect of coaching someone who some thought could not benefit from coaching.

The calming influence throughout the process was the HR executive, who provided continuity and was receptive to WJM Associates’ suggestions to do the right thing for both the organization and the individual. An important component in the entire process was gaining buy-in from the CEO.

Following are four steps that worked effectively in taming this potentially Wild West engagement into a valuable lesson learned:

1. Gather the Facts. When beginning a coaching assignment, you can never have too much information about the individual and the situation. Through initial conversations with the HR executive, we were able to gain firsthand perspective of the executive’s developmental opportunity. The candidate in question was a valued member of the management team for a number of years, but had recent difficulty completing projects and was alienating other employees. In fact, management initially considered separation, but the CEO valued the executive’s talent and wanted to explore other alternatives.

2. Set Up Appropriate Face-to-Face Meetings. The most valuable meeting occurred when we met with the CEO and the HR executive. Through candid conversations with both of them, we were able to understand the CEO’s reluctance to let the executive go. The two executives had worked well together when the CEO had joined the company several years earlier; as a result, he had a certain loyalty to this individual. While the executive’s skills were technically sound, the lack of interpersonal, leadership and communication skills were undermining this person’s authority and damaging the company. Understanding this key underlying issue was critical.

3. Help the Client Make an Informed Decision. Through conversations with the HR professional and the CEO, we were able to understand the executive’s key development opportunities. This dialogue was beneficial in helping the CEO, in particular, gain a better understanding of our approach to the assignment. We recommended starting with an executive assessment comprising two personality assessment tools (MBTI® and 16PF®), a personal interview with the executive, and 360-degree interviews with eight peers, supervisors and subordinates. In the end the CEO and HR executive appreciated our frankness and agreed with the approach.

4. Base Recommendations on Feedback. WJM Associates communicated the key assessment findings in a Leadership Proficiency Evaluation (LPE)™ to the executive. This report captured the varied assessment instruments and helped the WJM Associates’ executive coach in making some critical determinations based upon solid data. Although it was recommended that the executive and company would both benefit by parting ways, the HR executive and the CEO decided to grant a three-month coaching window to provide room for the executive to demonstrate developmental progress.

Eliminating a Wild West coaching situation in your company begins by establishing the appropriate structure through education and communication, followed by understanding the key developmental issues. Once the developmental opportunities of an individual have been outlined and agreed upon, the coaching engagement can commence with better results. This is how the Wild West is won.

Loa Heymann has joined WJM Associates as an account manager. A graduate of Duke University, Loa started her career as a buyer for Lord & Taylor. She quickly moved to the other side of the desk, and has enjoyed a diverse and successful sales career. At Cahners Business Information, she sold advertising to IBM, SAP and other major organizations.

Loa has also experienced the challenges of being a partner in a consulting firm, which specialized in logistical services for major trade shows. She brings strong account management expertise to WJM, shares our entrepreneurial spirit and has a great passion for customer service.