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"The Scholar never quits learning. The Warrior never quits."
Dr. Steve
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Approaches and Archetypes:
Eight Possibilities for Event-Driven Coaching
by Dr. Steve Albrecht, PHR, CPP
Change, in most areas of our lives, is driven by events. We change our eating, smoking, or exercises habits only after a significant health scare. We put an alarm system in our homes or cars, only after a burglary or a break-in. We became focused on air travel safety and passenger / luggage screening only after the tragic events of 9-11. Products get recalled after an injury or death; grates or safety railings go up after someone has fallen; and organizations make changes, through training, new policies, or updated procedures, only after a problem erupts, including the threat of litigation, lost clients, or a class-action settlement.
And so it goes with the coaching process. Internal, external, or OD coaches can get called to help in situations where the person in question has sexually harassed a co-worker or subordinate; victimized others with yet another angry outburst; harmed a vendor or customer relationship yet again; or somehow violated the boundaries or policies of the organization for the umpteenth time. The work in these events could be called “career rescue,” because the organization has had it with the employee in question and he or she is quite close to termination.
And yet, senior management (often driven by complaints or suggestions from the HR office) holds out hope that if the coach can succeed in changing the employee’s behavior, they can salvage the relationship, the position, and the quality of the employee’s work product or performance. One of the ironies of these circumstances is that the quality of these employees’ work is often quite good, as they are often excellent salespeople, programmers, engineers, etc., but are plagued with either a terrible personality, a complete lack of social intelligence, or both.
It can help to see four common dimensions for a coaching intervention:
Category 1: Strategic – typically for senior executives; the focus is on the long-term direction of their business, department, or career goals.
Category 2: Developmental – for managers and supervisors; the focus is on problem solving, employee supervision issues, team or individual conflicts, delegation, time or stress management, and career enhancement.
Category 3: Corrective (a/k/a “career rescue”) – for managers, supervisors, and employees who “don't get it." The focus is on helping them understand the negative impact of certain behaviors on their jobs and with others, then getting them to comply, change, or stop them. Issues include anger management, sexual harassment, micro-managing, or aggression.
Category 4: Special-Purpose – for high-risk HR cases involving on or off-the-job threats by or to employees or the organization.
These coaching interventions are almost always driven by events:
• a sharp downturn in the business success of the department or the organization;
• the failing “mental health” of the executive level or departmental management teams;
• topped-out career advancement problems with certain apathetic employees;
• departmental conflicts between work groups and related team performance problems;
• employee behavioral issues related to their compliance problems (sexual harassment, anger management, off-the-job concerns spilling over to work, suspicion of drugs and alcohol use);
• angry/threatening employees.
It can also help to look at the four coaching styles as part of a bell curve. The Strategic and Special interventions are on either end (since they are rarer, statistically and operationally), and then the other two are in the middle – Developmental and Corrective.
Since the majority of coaching time tends to be spent with people needing these mid-range services, here is a four-square model, using archetypal labels to describe four possible coaching candidates. For the purposes of better understanding, it may help to generalize a bit, and describe certain coachees in terms of their stereotypical behavior. (We aren’t being too subtle here; after reviewing these four types, you may instantly recognize colleagues or subordinates from your own organizational history.)
The modalities described in the four-square model are:
The Smart Slacker – This employee has been there a long time, has “retired on duty,” and no longer wants to break a sweat. He or she knows how to do the work but doesn’t really want to if he/she doesn’t have to. These employees can appear to work hard when the boss is around. They have lots of knowledge and could make a real and valuable contribution because of their history with the company and their experience.
Upside: They could be helped by coaching if we can just find the “on” button.
Downside: The “on” button is often hidden by lots of protective layers or emotional baggage. Their potential contribution to the success of the department or firm is high; their actual or real contribution is low.
The Problem Child – There are two possibilities here: acute problems (good worker who suddenly develop serious off-the-job problems) or chronic problems (has been a Problem Child since Hire Day One). Acute PC’s should be offered support, access to counseling, and an Individual Development / Performance Improvement Plan. Chronic PC’s should be given progressive discipline, last warnings, and then termination. Their potential and actual contributions are usually quite low, i.e. no upside, high downside.
The Plow Horse – This is a good worker, who does the job he/she is paid to do, but without much imagination. They lack either the ability or the desire to use option thinking or creative problem solving. They get “working at standard” evaluations and are largely happy doing what they were hired to do. It may be that they are fearful of the stress and responsibility of advancement, so they won’t look for career help.
Upside: These folks are reliable; they get to work at 8 and leave at 5.
Downside: They don’t cause problems, but they have a marked tendency to sit on the plow whenever they hit a rock, waiting for a supervisor to tell them what to do next. Their actual contribution is high, but their potential contribution is unknown or untapped.
The Rising Star – Few, if any problems here. These are the people we want to hire, grow, develop, and hope to keep.
Upside: They are easy to delegate to, usually love more responsibility, and work hard without being asked / reminded. They go the extra mile to get / earn “Above Standard” evaluations.
Downside: They may be perceived as “Teacher’s Pet” by the other employees; they may treat others badly when the boss isn’t around; and they can act imperially and self-satisfied if not monitored. It’s possible and likely supervisors can burn these people out with too much work, too much autonomy, and not enough rewards. Good coaches will get these people on to a career path that plays to their strengths and improves their weaknesses.
The chart below assesses an employee’s potential contribution to his/her team, department, or organization, versus his / her actual contribution:
The process of coaching starts by seeing where an employee might appear on this chart. The function of coaching is to move him or her more toward the top right position, as rapidly, as effectively, and as economically as possible.
We work using hourly rates, not long retainers. We match the right coach for the employee in question. We start by providing the employee with a self-assessment instrument, like MINDEX or I-SPEAK, to get a baseline. Then, using a five-meeting minimum, our coaches work face-to-face or via telephone to help solve the presenting problem.
Call Steve today at (619) 445-4735, for more information, client referrals, and to hear some of our coaching success stories.
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