Action Coaching: How to Leverage Individual Performance for Company Success. - Review - book reviews

HR Magazine, Oct, 1999 by Patrick Mirza

By David L. Dotlich and Peter C. Cairo Jossey-Bass Inc., 1999, 270 pages, ISBN: 0-7870-4477-7.

Whether it is officially stated or not, most managers realize their job involves coaching. Most coaching methods are designed to help individuals achieve their own career goals. However, in "action coaching," self-awareness is linked to business results and the level of achievement is determined by organizational needs. Action Coaching shows how to conquer behavior that is not conducive to success.

The book is divided into four parts, which focus on getting started as an action coach, linking individual motivation and company performance, coaching face-to-face and coaching to change your company.

Chapter 2 outlines eight steps to action coaching. First, determine what needs to happen and in what context. Second, establish trust and mutual expectations. Third, meet with the client to discuss results. Fourth, collect and communicate feedback. Fifth, translate talk into action. Sixth, support big steps. Seventh, foster reflections about actions. Eighth, evaluate individual and organizational progress.

Chapter 4 outlines problematic behaviors and potential solutions. Before coaching, managers should ask themselves what behavior is the client exhibiting, how is it affecting others and how does the behavior relate to a business requirement? Some types of unproductive behavior include bullying, egoism, cynicism, excessive worrying and hypersensitivity. To combat these issues, managers should determine the level of the problem and whether the corporate culture unwittingly promotes that problem or whether it is the individual's own personality. Then, address the problem head-on by meeting with the client and showing how the problem affects productivity.

Other chapters discuss meeting face-to-face, encouraging productive collaboration and constructive conflict, and building relationship skills. The book ends with a chapter on the coaching evolution, which describes how coaches will need to adapt and change to meet future needs.