Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com
Sometimes breakthroughs come in pairs. By that I mean that two of my clients seem to reach similar realizations at almost the same time. I always wonder when this happens. Specially when the coaching engagements are ostensibly focused in significantly different areas. This happened recently. Continue reading “Coaching Breakthrough – Realizing” »
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com
You think you see. But do you really? Look again.
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That was how one of my early mentors once challenged me. I was dealing with what I thought was the problem before me. It was frustrating because I couldn’t seem to make any progress. So I wandered into his backyard and plopped down on one of his beach chairs. One look at me and he headed inside to return with a couple of cold beers. “What’s biting your insteps, grasshopper,” he asked. Continue reading “Coaching Breakthrough – Seeing What Was There All Along” »
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com
One of the most difficult challenges in any coaching engagement is helping a client come to terms with the implications of behaviors that are blindly habitual or unconsidered. It doesn’t have to be a big issue. Sometimes it is a small thing that is done without thinking. At other times there is an anger or resentment driving the behavior. But the net effect is the same. Self-sabotaging of possibilities. Continue reading “Coaching Breakthrough – Coming to Terms” »
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com
How often have you suddenly realized that what others clearly saw missed? It happens to all of us and is particularly unsettling when it is something of importance. I encounter this kind of situation regularly in my coaching engagements. They present a particular challenge that most coaches miss and mess up. Here is one example of what I mean. Continue reading “Coaching Breakthrough – Seeing What Was Not Seen” »
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com
During a recent discussion with CEOs, the question of coaching came up. Most of the people participating had employed coaches at one time or another. In the majority of cases, they had sought out and engaged their coaches on their own. Only in two cases had stakeholders insisted on the engagement. One CEO admitted that he had hired his coach after his significant other had insisted that he needed one.
For a while we shared experiences and war stories. One particular CEO had been addicted to having the coach de jure. He had gone from one coach to another. The engagements seldom lasted more than five or six months. One the other side of the spectrum, one person had had the same coach for over five years.
The conversation eventually focused on the question of the goal of coaching. We decided that it was really two questions. The first, what is the goal of being coached from the perspective of the executive. The second being, what is the goal of being a coach from the perspective of a coach. None of the others in the group had ever acted as a coach, so I was left to try to tackle the second question. But their thoughts on the first one were illuminating.
The Goal of Being Coached
Everyone agreed that an overarching goal was to improve. It didn’t make any difference whether the engagement focused on leadership, management style, decision making, teaming and team building, resourcing or any of the range of areas that coaches regularly work on. The base question was ‘am I getting better at this because of the coaching?’ But that standard did not stand up well as the conversation advanced. Most of the people in the room knew each other fairly well so they were able to cut through the ‘propaganda’. Here are a few examples:
The consensus that developed was that the decision to engage a coach had as much to do with personal as professional needs. Then one of the group brought up a study that she had just read. It correlated personal discipline with success. The long and short of it was that people who were able to delay satisfaction in order to achieve greater benefits were more successful than those who were not. Apparently the correlation was stronger than educational level, economic status, family or race. Her reason for having a coach was ‘this guy keeps me disciplined and focused’.
The Goal of Coaching
When I turned the conversation to the second question, the first responses were cynical.
But, after the initial frothing, I reminded them that they all had or had employed coaches. Surely their experience couldn’t be that negative. Unless they were masochists. That focused the question on the experience, range of contacts and approach of the coach. One person put it this way, ‘I go to a dentist to have a problem taken care of. I have to trust that person to do what is both right and needed. Part of what they do is going to cause me discomfort. There is no way around it. But, in the end, I expect to have healthier teeth and a brighter smile.”
What was interesting about the direction that the conversation took was that each person had a different definition of their needs from a coach. It was more complex than the dentist example. But, at its core, were similarities. ‘I lack this and here is a coach that can help me overcome and learn.’
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com
Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying. It is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology. A closely related term, cognitive disequilibrium, was coined by Jean Piaget to refer to the experience of a discrepancy between something new and something already known or believed. (Source: WikipediA)
Continue reading “Coaching Breakthrough – Cognitive Dissonance” »
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com
As a well established coach with a reputation for getting results, I get approached by all sorts of potential clients. Most of the challenges that the engagements focus on deal with the personal limitations of my client. It’s rare that we focus on the technology underlying an entrepreneurs core idea. That may sound a bit strange to some of you but an example might help you understand what I am getting at. Continue reading “Coaching Breakthrough – Serial Failure” »
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com
This series of articles will focus on ‘eureka moments’. Over the years I have had many. Most came with the help of mentors and coaches. Building teams and businesses can present many opportunities to stub your toe and learn great lessons from the experience. You can learn how important it is to fail on the way to success. Continue reading “Coaching Breakthroughs – Eureka Moments” »
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com
During a recent discussion with CEOs, the question of coaching came up. Most of the people participating had employed coaches at one time or another. In the majority of cases, they had sought out and engaged their coaches on their own. Only in two cases had stakeholders insisted on the engagement. One CEO admitted that he had hired his coach after his significant other had insisted that he needed one. Continue reading “The Goal of Coaching” »
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com
As a leader, you will benefit from the support of an Executive Leadership Coach. Your coach will help you make sure that you have a close match in values between your company and staff members. A Coach can able assist you in determining exactly which values are shared between your staff members and your company, by instigating a few team discussions with your staff members around the “Ideal World” concept. In this type of discussion, the following question should be encouraged: Continue reading “Coaching and Managing Motivation – Part Two” »
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