A Strategic Coach

Training & Development, Apr 2005 by Zweibel, Barry

U: Unambiguous movement. In business, it's about making progress happen. As such, your professional success is determined by your ability to make good things happen sooner-or not. Getting a clear vision of what you want to do, how you're going to do it, and when you're going to get it done is why working with a business coach makes sense. It's about your future success.

S: Solidifying learning. Sure, you've made mistakes; it's what you learn (or don't learn) from those mistakes that matters most. That same theory holds true for your successes. What enabled them to happen? What would have facilitated things further? What do you want to try next? A business coach will ask you those questions and others like them. It may sound counterintuitive, but hindsight is a great planning tool. By looking back at the challenges you've faced and the lessons inherent in them, you can't help but be smarter and more capable moving forward.

The work you put in your hours

Sam Ewing was quoted as saying, "It's not the hours you put in your work that counts, it's the work you put in the hours." Logistically speaking, I conduct my coaching conversations by phone, and they run between 45 minutes to an hour. The process I follow generally looks like the diagram above.

While a number of insights occur during each call, the real growth and development happens between calls. Each coaching conversation typically includes a few homework assignments to further action and discovery. Those assignments usually take one or more of the following forms:

To-dos. Based on the particulars of the conversation, to-dos are obviously needed work items. If, for example, the topic is improving your collaboration skills, a to-do would be to schedule coffee breaks with three to five people you need to get to know better.

Observations. Similar to to-dos, observations are more about the process than the actual outcome. A relevant observation would be to pay particular attention to the kind of impact you have on people, the kind of impact they have on you, and the extent to which they realize those impacts. (FYI: This is a great exercise for building self-confidence.)

Thought questions. While to-dos are about the doing, and observations are a combination of doing and reflecting, thought questions are solely about reflection. A relevant assignment would be to consider what collaboration means with respect to responsibility and accountability.

Coaching's strategic benefits

In May of 2004, the University of Chicago hosted its 52nd annual management conference. A major theme: It's not enough to do good work.

"Reputations flourish not simply because you do good work, but because people tell stories about your good work," reported Ronald Burt, professor of sociology and strategy. Simply put, the more people talk about what you do well, the better your performance reviews-and raises and bonuses-will tend to be. That's especially true when others talk about your good work to people in different parts of the company. It seems that when that type of information crosses department boundaries, it's seen as significantly more credible and newsworthy, naturally boosting your reputation.