Keep calm and get a coach in 2016

Judith Barton, Director of Coaching&Mentoring

As I reflect back on the previous year I find myself thinking of things I didn’t do and now become part of my must do list for 2016. A large part of my life focuses on reflection and self development, which is just me! It can be quite easy to sit and write a long list of the things we need to get better at, but what will make the biggest impact? Where is the greatest return for my investment?

I invite clients to think of themselves as their own finance director and ask some tough questions. Remember to consider the longer term return on investment, not just the next 12 months, will it add to your skills and the service you offer clients. It is likely that whatever your work is now it will be different in ten years.

In the UK the fastest growing workforce is the over 50’s. With the removal of a compulsory retirement age and an increase in health and life expectancy, many individuals are continuing to work longer in their field or move to a new field of work which may require training and support. So being ready mentally and physically for our next career will become increasingly important. Of course not all of us will be able to continue in our chosen career, look at the work of Frey and Osborne 2013. In their study they indentified those jobs that are likely to be extinct in 10 years (2023) from now, so don’t train for extinction!

Investing in Evidence Based Development

If we are able to continue developing we are continuing the process of learning (Viall 1996). As a coach we need to invest in our CPD (continuous professional development) by firstly considering what will make the greatest difference to our clients. To do this we really need to understand our performance as a coach. Understanding our own performance will come from:

• Client feedback +
• Supervisor feedback +
• Self reflections +
• Peer coaches +
• Supervisor +
• Coaching +

= Analysis

Real understanding will come from analysing all of the above. Then identify and prioritise what will make the greatest difference.

An example could be, you are working with a client that would benefit from more focused career coaching work and you recognise this is likely to be the area of need from potential clients for the next 5 years and you feel less comfortable in this area. A second very easy example for all coaches is the return on investing in supervision. Supervision provides the essential ‘scaffolding’ to support your practice – the quality control, an assurance to your clients, or thirdly sometimes we forget, get a coach to support your development in 2016.

We then apply our learning to our activities to add value to ourselves and of course our clients. In certain countries such as the Nordic ones, lifelong learning is embedded in the culture. Learning new stuff is pleasure in itself.

In the coaching profession and other fee for service environments learning is more likely to depend on the impact it has on the services we offer and on the performance of the session. In order to make this impact we need to really understand ourselves and our performance. Coaches I work with will be well aware of my passion for indentifying how well we perform and what makes the difference in our performance. I advocate frequent self review and reflection supported through supervision and essential to this is client feedback using the following model.

Through this approach you will be able to compile your evidence and prioritise your development needs.

Analysis and Definitions
When we consider areas for development we can be quite general ‘I need to be a better listener’. ‘I want to improve my questioning’. The first step is to analyse what is listening, for example, what needs to be improved? By truly understanding this, the coach can identify the focus. For example, is the coach an effective listener but runs out of energy? So energy and stamina during the session is an issue, not listening. Once the analysis is complete and the development issues are defined move to prioritisations.

Prioritisation
How are you going to prioritise your investment in the next 12 months based on impact? A very important question to ask yourself is what does impact mean to you? An example, impact = an improvement in my coaching performance, which consequently enhances the client experience, which in turn leads to return/attracting more clients.

Using a methodology such as this will focus thinking and investment. It also offers an evidence based development approach to share with clients, sponsors and professional bodies.

Have a very successful coaching and mentoring year. Remember support yourself, to then support your clients, with a coach/supervisor in 2016.

Selfie, supervision and success: reflecting on my coaching selfie

Judith Barton, Director of Coaching and Mentoring

I attended the Coaching at Work Annual Conference “Onwards and Upwards”. Hearing Liz Hall, Editor of Coaching at Work reflect on the last ten years (of the publication) the challenges, the achievements, the thrill of making it work has made me reflect on my year.

2015 is a big year for BSC and there is always tremendous energy in the practice, which I think is key to generating ideas and progression. When I reflect back on the last 12 months, I do this by “seeing and feeling”; then the highlights and lowlights very quickly come back to me. I wonder who else does this in such a visual way – or is it me?

When I say seeing and feeling, I am referring to the visual imagery and emotional triggers. So I have begun to think about how this could be used for supporting evidence based reviews such as: performance development review, evaluation of team performance, performance of a class over their school year and essential for us coaches; coaching supervision.

To share my thinking on this I will return to my title, “selfie, supervision and success”. Taking a selfie is now the done thing, and the use of selfie sticks is the new annoyance, finding itself banned by museums and Disney, personally I am not a fan.

Only once have I taken a selfie, that was to capture a ‘really can’t believe it’ moment. I had lost all my hair as a result of chemotherapy and I couldn’t believe the head on my shoulders was mine. It was a moment when seeing was believing, particularly when I would wake up and try to flick my long hair off my shoulders to be surprised it had gone.

My Grandmother would refer to taking a photograph as “having your likeness taken” and this was a difficult likeness to comprehend the selfie was a realisation of my current reality.

So I suppose the advantage of taking a selfie or photograph is it clearly captures the likeness, no matter how we may say “I don’t look like that”, I have come to realise that recognising how we truly look or truly are is that from this position we can see the true potential.

A) Continual Professional Development (CPD)
As coaches and mentors we must develop further our knowledge, understanding and skills. Effective CPD needs to have not just learning but application, how do we apply or implement the learning. As a new coach or mentor there is a lot to learn, everything from managing a session, environment, questioning, silence, suspending judgement and so on. As we become more experienced we need to become more critical of our own practice. Unpicking each element of a session and exploring what makes the difference. The more experienced we become the smaller but possibly deeper the difference is likely to be. It is the minutiae, the tiny difference I refer to as the “slither of difference”, which will ensure growth making us all more effective coaches.

Sir David Brailsford, CBE British Cycling Coach, refers to a similar philosophy of improvement as the “aggregation of marginal gains” the 1 percent margin in everything we do. If we add up these gains our slither of difference I think of the potential, the impact for our clients. According to a blog by James Clear no detail is too small when it comes to improvement; “They searched for 1 percent improvements in tiny areas that were overlooked by almost everyone else: discovering the pillow that offered the best sleep and taking it with them to hotels, testing for the most effective type of massage gel, and teaching riders the best way to wash their hands to avoid infection. They searched for one percent improvements everywhere”.

B) Identifying the “slither of difference”
Identification of the “slither of difference” can be tough, especially immediately after a coaching/mentoring session. You may have another session – you may be travelling or you may simply be too tired to review the session effectively.

I recommend scheduling a review some 36/48 hours later, this for me is the optimum time, personally rather in the morning rather than afternoon or evening. Energy is more likely to be restored and the step away brings clarity. However a word of warning, your review is dependent on your recall, so with your clients permission it is a good idea to voice record the session. Listening to this will provide greater insight into what worked for the client and areas less effective and help document the session and identify the slither of difference.

C) Capturing the selfie moment
Whether you choose to voice record or not I would suggest have a go at capturing the image. What I mean by this is capturing the moment, the image that recognises your slither of difference either as a strength or an area for development. For example the time it took to ‘unlock’ the client in a session by an image of the clock in the coaching room; an image of stillness to remind you of doing nothing and the power of silence in a session.

You may find it useful to write up the ‘unlock’ question and photograph it. With phones and tablets this is extremely easy and makes my next suggestion even easier.

D) Preparing for supervision
Supervision is essential. To fully benefit from supervision I believe we need to invest in it, make time for it and take our reflections to the session. Remember you only get out what you put in, and this is especially true for supervision. Through the images we have generated we have the when and possibly the how we did something through reflection and supervision we can understand the why we did it, and the so what or what next. Through supervision we can receive support and challenge to work on our “slither of difference”.

E) Performance Timeline – Reflecting on previous 12 months
Using selfies or images we can build a timeline, say 12 months and reflect back to understand our growth. If we wish to understand more we can identify the data points of where our practice developed or didn’t and where support may be needed.

If this sounds interesting try overlaying your coaching sessions data with the rest of your life. Take your timeline and add to it:
A) Health
B) Energy – you may remember great highs and lows, a time when you may have operated slightly below par – a selfie/image may be particularly useful here.
C) Work
D) Home – family, personal events, life happenings
F) The whole person coach

Then stand back and see if this visual representation of your whole self provides evidence as to your performance over your timeline. An example of this will be presented in my next blog.

Working out your whole person timeline will provide immense data when identifying the slither of difference. I believe we are only as good as our whole self, so our coaching performance is more than likely to be affected by what is happening in our world or whole self. Whilst we all practice suppressing daily distractions, life events such as illness (ourselves or our children), bereavement, work challenges etc can cause interference  and often a reduction in energy which is likely to have a knock on effect with a reduction in mental agility. The Full Spectrum Model, Edna Murdoch, focuses on the whole person.

So consider snapping your selfie for supervision and reflect on the whole you to inform and develop your practice – to be the most effective coach you can be.

Judith Barton, BA, MSc, Chartered FCIPD, FISQC, MInstLM, EMCC Member,
Director of Coaching and Mentoring
British School of Coaching

Judith is leading the ILM Certificate/Diploma in Coaching Supervision starting 8th December 2015.

Coaches need to be coached – Oh and supervised!

Judith Barton, Director of Coaching and Mentoring

To me, running a coaching practice is similar to being in a legal or medical practice.  As a professional coach I am going on a journey with my clients enabling them to delve into their own resources so that they can develop a sense of their own potential and are supported to realise that potential through listening, questioning and challenging.  But in the end it is their own decision – as a coach it is not my place to provide guidance or advice but to draw out from clients their own understanding and enable them to make choices to develop their own careers and futures. 

Professional coaches are also practicing – practicing our skills, reviewing and reflecting on how each coaching session progressed and the interactions which took place.  Finally, a coach must create an accurate an accurate baseline. This sets out their strengths and areas for improvement and leads to a personal development plan to be actioned.  Once implemented, this plan is subject to review, reflection and further planning for improvement.  As part of this process, the coach must also recognise and celebrate their strengths and achievements. This leads me to four central tenets of running a coaching practice – which are: self-review supported by supervision, maintaining their skills base; keeping up to date with research and thinking about coaching practice; and ensuring that purchasers of coaching understand the concept of ‘coaching practice’. 

1: Self review supported by supervision is critical.  To be effective, review of practice should be carried out soon after each session is completed.  You will need to find your own balance between being to close to the interaction to be objective; and too far to be able to remember key points.  Self-review on its own however carries risks – that you will become overly self-critical or insufficiently self-aware.  In order to ensure some degree of distance and to avoid getting too drawn into feeling that you have to sort everything out on your own, the input of a supportive, challenging and knowledgeable coaching supervisor is an equally critical element of self-development.  You should choose a supervisor who understands your approach to coaching who is willing and able to be both supportive and challenging to question your assumptions and self-evaluation and provide a platform for continuous improvement of your practice. 

2: Coaches need to Coach – this may sound obvious but coaching is not something you can do once or twice a year whilst maintaining professional standards of competence. I feel that I need to be practicing my coaching skills at least twice per month. Coaching a number of people who have different issues to resolve, different learning styles and different interpersonal skills ensures that I can maintain a variety of coaching skills and the ability to deploy these skills in working with a range in types of client 

3: Keeping up with new thinking in coaching.   As a professional coach I can only provide a ‘state of the art’ coaching experience for clients if I spend time on a regular basis reading, evaluating and, where appropriate, working out how to use new techniques in my coaching practice.  I regularly read a number of journals – Coaching At Work, Edge, Management Today, Harvard Business Review – which keeping me up-to-date with not only coaching theory and practice but also management thinking.  As well as providing some coaching articles, the latter keep me up to date with the issues which may be facing my clients in their professional roles. In addition, I attend relevant conferences and CPD events.  For example, Association for Coaching conferences, Institute of Leadership and Management events and coaching network's can provide useful insights into developing my coaching practice and ensuring that my practice is evidence-based and leading edge. 

4: Purchasers of Coaching need to understand the concept of practice.  For those who purchase coaching, for themselves or members of their leadership or management teams, it is critical that they appreciate and seek out coaches who undertake regular supervision; who maintain their coaching practice, at the appropriate level of seniority, and who can demonstrate that they are up-to-date with the latest thinking and practical skills.  Purchasers have an in-depth understanding of what they are purchasing and what they hope to achieve for both individuals and the organisation.  I will be further sharing my thoughts on ‘Selecting the Right Coach’ in future blogs.

www.britishschoolofcoaching.com

Know Yourself, Know Your Client

 

Charlotte Randall

In order to operate professionally and within the ethical boundaries of coaching, I believe we have an obligation to our clients to undertake periods of sustained self-reflection. My personal mantra that has supported my continued development and ability to self-reflect objectively on my performance, and that of my clients, is ‘know yourself, know your client’.

When we make the decision to bring about a change involving the development of new knowledge and skills to move forwards, it is my belief that we must first be aware of the behavioural default settings from which we operate as a norm. 

 To enable this process of self-reflection to have a purpose we must understand the values, beliefs and attitudes that we hold and that are the foundation on which we base our decisions. 

Understanding ourselves, and the standpoint from which we operate, we are able to communicate effectively and develop relationships based on mutuality of purpose and outcome. 

Similarly, through reflection you are better equipped to foresee situations when assumptions and judgements might hi-jack your session, when emotions might supersede the facilitation of a clients thoughts, learning and progression and when ego states might limit relationships. 

Linked to this is fully understanding the role and responsibilities we take on within our professional and personal lives; an appreciation of how our personal culture has impacted on us emotionally and spiritually, and the persona that we choose to show people in public.

Once self-aware, you become better equipped with the skills and tools to support your client through their journey of understanding and how their values, beliefs and attitudes might impact on their relationships and decisions that they make. 

Charlotte Randall is a Training and Development Consultant.  Charlotte recently played a key role in the establishment of a coaching culture in a large Dubai based school, introducing the ILM Level 3 Award in Coaching to all teaching staff.    

Does VAK work?

By Ray Garner, Programme Director at The British School of Coaching

In the late fifties, early sixties, when I was a knowledge-hungry schoolboy, it was common for my class-mates and I to dip into the many do-it-yourself diagnostic tests published in the popular press – things like Eysinck’s “Test Your Own IQ”. We would then strut our self-imposed labels – and ground our emerging misconceptions about our own learning and personality styles – with all the certainty of youth. It took me quite a long time to debunk my view that “I do not have a ‘mathematical brain’”. And, perhaps my slight scepticism about diagnostics comes from the perception that I always seemed to be at the extreme poles of every continuum, and yet managed to operate in a more or less normal sort of way.

It seems to me that the importance of VAK as a ‘predictor’ of learning behaviour has gained ground recently, in the descriptors for the ‘understanding’ elements of the executive coaching and workplace coaching courses I’ve been tutoring on recently, for instance. Just like my youthful friends and I, candidates are still very happy to label themselves. “Oh, I’m a kinaesthetic learner, you know – I’ve just got to get up and move every ten minutes!”

There is some evidence from research to suggest that we all have a leaning to one, or two, of the modalities. Evidence to suggest that our learning is seriously impaired if we do not receive input in the preferred way, or to show that learning is significantly improved by a match of presentation to learning preference, is very thin on the ground. It has always seemed to me that, as learners, we just get on and use what is available at the time. We may use a preferred style to revisit the learning afterwards. It’s the same with other forms of ‘preference testing’ – I’m (perhaps) not a natural ‘completer/finisher, but, as a manager, I’ve tied up many a loose end and enforced not a few deadlines.

For me, as an educator, what is important is the way that learners seem to instinctively match a learning style, or, more often, integrate aspects of two or more, to the learning task. Why would a ‘Solution Focused’ coach expect less – the answer lies, always, with our clients. I’ve observed this ability in very young learners – adults sometimes have to regain the ability.

So, as a coach and a coach-educator, how do I respond to these musings? I don’t think it is rocket science – it may be as instinctive as the learner’s use of styles. I try to make sure that I listen for clues about how the client wants to proceed, as well as clues about goals and feelings and meaning and significance. And, I ask, frequently, what would be the best way to record our work together to achieve lasting learning support – “is this working for you?” I like to ‘latch on’ to metaphor or visualisation used by the client, and employ it to enhance our session. Having drawing paper and colouring pens, and maybe even Playdoh, in the toolkit can be useful. In presenting our courses, I’ve noticed that candidates seem to appreciate and enjoy a wide range of learning style opportunities and, from my experience, engage equally well in those that they might not have chosen as a preference.

I don’t play golf, but I’m told that, those who do, fear ‘The Yips’ – a falling off of performance associated with thinking too much about what should come naturally. Coaching, it seems to me, is every bit as much ‘skilled performance’ as golf is. I certainly welcome the richness and rigour that academic study brings to my thinking about my profession, but I would also wish to guard against reifying its paradigms and taxonomies. Contentious as it might seem, in the current climate, there’s a bit of me that approves of ‘flying by the seat of your pants’. Perhaps this is why we put so much emphasis on ‘doing, contextualising and reflecting’ on our coaching courses?

____________________________________________

Ray Garner is BSC's Programme Director of the ILM Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching and Mentoring and for the ILM Level 3 Award in Coaching.

Ray is an ex-Head Teacher with forty years experience in education and using coaching as a mechanism to transform organisational culture.  

To find out more about the work Ray is doing visit www.britishschoolofcoaching.com 

ILM Level 2 Award in Mentoring for Young Learners

We enjoyed running the workshop days of this February's Parent Mentoring Course in the UAE which finished yesterday. The delegates will now be turning their attention to their mentoring sessions and their assignments!

Read more about the course here

Location, Location, Location

By Martin Hill, 

bsc Level 7 Programme Director

It is often one of the things that coaches arrange without too much thought- but the location you choose for a coaching session may well make a significant impact on the success of the session.

Frequently the coaching location is influenced by the coaching sponsor-  use of the organisation’s premises provides a convenient solution for the sponsor as it will reduce costs and also saves time, with little or no travel time for the clients being coached. However, as a coach think about how the location may be perceived by the client – if you are using the organisation’s own premises will they perceive you as “part” of the organisational power and therefore be inhibited in disclosing matters or engaging?

Sometimes changing a location can actually generate a freedom of thought and engagement that was inhibited by using a location that a client is very familiar with or in which they have to maintain a particular façade. 

When selecting a coaching location, here are some of the factors to bear in mind:

·        Privacy- bear in mind that confidentiality is the crux for a successful coaching relationship. Make sure that the room selection demonstrates that confidentiality has even been considered in the choice of the location – are the walls thick enough to avoid audio leakage? What about visibility – a lot of trendy modern offices now have “glass” walls – unlikely to instil confidence in sharing visual ideas etc. Make sure that you are going to be uninterrupted- also remember to switch off your mobile and ask your client to do the same.

·        Neutral Territory- even if you have to use accommodation provided by the coaching sponsor, think about what you can do to demonstrate to the client that this is “neutral” territory. This could be done as part of your contracting discussions- but also think about the room set up –can you rearrange the furniture- what about where you and the client will sit? Avoid using the client’s own office- this is frequently an environment where the client is prone to distractions and interruptions.

·        Be Adventurous- do not be afraid to offer a different venue- coffee shops or even taking advantage of the great outdoors. One of the most productive sessions for one of my supervisees came from recognising that the office environment was causing the client stress that say and thus they went for a quick stroll outside – this led to the revelation for the client that the cause of his stress was the office not his own behaviour and actions- and he came up with an action plan to resolve this.

·        Comfortable- make sure the room is at a comfortable temperature and well lit. Is the seating comfortable enough – but not too comfortable?

·        Access- again this links back to confidentiality – is the “corridor” access to the room such that it will actually reveal who is attending as a client? If there are no alternative options, think about how the coaching sessions will be pitched to everybody in the organisation- do it in such a way that it diminishes any stigma or presumptions that people may make. 

·      Technology considerations- if you are going to use technology –make that there are plug sockets or anything else that your gadget may need (e.g. internet access). I would suggest that ideally you should aim to be self-sufficient and have a coaching toolkit that has all the necessary stocks and supplies that you may need- that could include investing in a dongle or mobile broadband access device or a device with built in internet access. Even if you use something as simple as pens and flip charts – if it is an open view room you are using, you may need to rethink how to approach the session. Above all else, whatever technological aids you use- always check that they are working BEFORE the session and have a back-up plan in case there is a technological malfunction.

·        Organisational Rules- if you are using the sponsor’s premises, make sure that you familiarise yourself with any rules or protocols that have to be observed. It could even be as simple as checking what the dress code is or when fire alarm tests are scheduled!

·        Planning – make sure that you plan out the travel time and familiarise yourself with the location in advance. Get there early. Make sure there is a point of contact so that you can direct any queries or raise any issues with them.

·        Refreshments- think about whether there needs to be tea, coffee, water on offer. If this is going to be a full day session for you – think about what you will do for lunch. Also check out where the restrooms are!

Martin Hill LL.B (Hons), FInstLM, AMAC, EMCC Member, Coach &Coach Supervisor

Programme Director for ILM 7 Coaching & Mentoring Courses

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