The Rise of Coaching

By Matt Driver - Head of Leadership Development & author of  'Coaching Positively'

For several years, I thought I was one of the elite.

I had coached for several thousand hours, had a string of relevant qualifications and was looking to write a book on coaching.  Like 80% of coaches, I put myself in the top 5%.

As one of the self-elected few, I was concerned and felt challenged when other people - regular managers and professionals - got interested in coaching.  However apprehension turned to delight when the results of our coaching training started to kick in.

The notion of 'manager as coach' had been around for several years.  However, this was ordinarily underpinned by short, perhaps half day, introductions to coaching skills.  These inputs were often part of longer leadership development programmes and sometimes accompanied by personal coaching for the managers concerned – an inadequate amount of exposure to coaching to be of any practical use.  The breakthrough for me was when a development organisation requested a full week of coaching skills training for their top 100 managers.  As a direct result of our training several of these leaders now operate as in- house corporate coaches as well as coaching outside their organisation.

It is true that some of them just did not get it.  But most of them did: and, perhaps worryingly for us ‘elite’ coaches, some of them are very good at it.

One of our clients, a UK-wide retail chain, decided to use coaching as a major management development intervention.  We trained around 60 senior managers. I was astonished at the level of commitment to this approach in an organisation which described itself as 'paternalistic' in its culture.
Bill was a regional manager for the company, and he told us:

'I was on the point of having to dismiss a manager because they were not performing in the job.  We're not a ‘hire and fire’ organisation, but I really could see no other way forward.  Having done the coaching training, I decided to give this one last try and at a formal meeting, the first stage on the route to dismissal, I put the rulebook aside and started with a coaching approach.  At first I got suspicion and resistance but I persisted.  Then my colleague opened up, admitting that they too felt they could not cope with this job, and we had the most productive conversation we had ever had. As a consequence we agreed that this person would transfer to a different role.  They are now one of our top performers in that role.'

The company saved many thousands of pounds in recruitment and new training costs.  And they were saved the huge loss in goodwill which often occurs when colleagues are dismissed.

My own education continued as I taught coaching skills to doctors.  By their own admittance, the coaching approach went completely against much of their previous learning.  For years they had operated as accomplished experts in medical knowledge and diagnosis.  Now they were being asked to listen, ask open questions and follow the other person's agenda.

The doctors we have worked with are great learners, and over time many of them developed excellent coaching skills.  Those we trained now provide a significant coaching service for upwards of 1000 clients.  As they developed their skills, they started trying them out in other situations, in particular with their patients.  Although often limited to 10 minute consultations, many of our doctors now underpin these with a coaching approach.

Jan, a GP from London told me:

'I now begin every session by asking the patient what they would like to achieve from the consultation. In other words I start by goal-setting as I would in any coaching conversation.  And I am amazed at what I find out within the first minute or so.'

A hospital psychiatrist, who undertook intensive coaching skills training with us, began to blend coaching into his usual expert approach:

'This patient came back once again.  For years they had gone round the cycle of drug dependency, followed by a visit to the doctor, followed by detox, followed by a brief period of respite, followed by dependency again.  I really didn't know where to go next and as I prepared to give them my usual advice, I recalled some of those 'powerful questions’ I had learned on a coaching course.  So I paused and asked this person, 'What actually happens when you finish detox?’  And I followed this up with more questions, trying to understand this person's world and what happened to them.  As a consequence, we both discovered that there was a key point in this cycle where support was needed but not currently available.  I was able to put the support in place.  We would never have discovered this if I haven't used the coaching questions.'

So the coaching approach continues to enhance the work of leaders and professionals in many walks of life.

But how about this: sports coaches using an executive coaching model!  Yes it's true.  If, like me, you had the impression that sports coaches traditionally stand by the pitch or track and shout at their players, berating them for every failure or imperfection, then historically you were probably right.  In reality, at the top levels of sport this directive approach to coaching disappeared many years ago, though it is still alive and well on the sports pitches of our local parks.

There is increasing research evidence that an approach which engages the ownership and commitment of the other person, helps them to establish goals and asks them great questions actually leads to better performance in the long run, in sport as in other areas of endeavour.

Melly was a qualified hockey coach of a mid-level team.  She had felt for some time that they never quite achieved their potential.  Having trained in executive coaching skills, she was convinced this approach could work well with the team:

'I changed completely how I conducted the half-time and end of match reviews.  Instead of me doing all the talking, I started by asking them questions like, 'What's working?'  Or: 'What do we need to do differently?'  Then I listened and allowed them to talk.  And of course they knew the answers – they're good hockey players.  This approach transformed their play and we were promoted after the first season.'

The coaching approach is expanding in other directions too.  It underpins new developments in sales training (can you imagine those incessant cold callers getting you to set the agenda?).  It is being used to shift consulting skills to a new level where there is a real attention and tuning in to what is important for clients.  Coaching approaches are being used in education, not only for teacher and tutor development, but with children and students.

In every case, the radical shift is in moving from the agenda of the coach figure, to that of the coachee who can be a member of staff, a patient, a full-back, a fourth-year student or a customer.  The effects are often transformational for both coach and coachee.  Those doing the coaching tell us they feel freer, less burdened and more effective – not just as coaches but as managers and professionals too.  Coachees take back responsibility, set goals for themselves and work to achieve what they really want.

An important word of caution: none of this happens by accident or overnight.  The coaches I have quoted above all did significant training in coaching skills and followed this through with supervised practice and top-up training.  There are some key learning points for any person or organisation who wants to make a difference by using coaching:

• Anybody who wants to use coaching needs proper training.  A bare minimum for this is three days with concerted follow-up and support.

• Like any skill set, the more you practice the better you become – coaching skills decay quickly so you need to use them.

• A coaching approach can be valuable in almost any area of life.  This includes areas of traditional expertise like medicine.

• Coaching needs to be done properly and in accordance with the training, otherwise it will attract derision and undermine the coach’s confidence (this happened when I tried to coach my wife the first time).  There is no room for sloppy coaching even in impromptu situations.

• Most professionals who begin to use coaching struggle with blending this new set of skills into their traditional expertise.  But with persistence they do it.

• It is essential to have supervision of some kind.  There are ups and downs as we learn coaching and we do need the support of somebody more experienced.

So like much human endeavour, coaching evolves.  Ten years ago I was part of that small, self-appointed coaching ‘elite’.  Now people virtually everywhere are doing it in some form.  And while I was once threatened by this, I no longer am.  Applications for coaching will continue to develop, (perhaps entering the National Curriculum), so there’s room for everyone. I for one am really pleased to see that.