We’ve been focused in this series of posts on how I work with clients to lay the groundwork for transformational coaching.  Whew, it sure has morphed into a longer series than I thought it would be.  There’s just one more example I’d like to share with you before we call it a wrap.

Claire was a first-line supervisor.  Her boss Joe asked me if I’d coach her.

Joe saw a lot of potential in Claire.  She had great technical capabilities and thoroughly understood all of the company’s systems.  Joe wanted to move Claire up in the organization.  He knew, though, that if her promoted her too soon she’d be overwhelmed because of her tendency to micromanage.  Before Claire could take on more responsibility, she needed to do a better job of developing her direct reports, delegating tasks to them and getting out of their way. Continue reading →

Let’s pick up where we left off in the last post with Brian.  He was a well-respected manager who came to me for coaching.  He had told me that he was a Myers Briggs ENTP, which didn’t sync up with what I experienced in my interactions with him.  So, I asked him to retake the assessment.  I wasn’t surprised when the second time around he was assessed as having a preference for introversion rather than extraversion.

I validated the Myers Briggs results with Brian and helped him understand the implications of his preference to his work and life.  His new understanding of his operating style relieved a lot of the pressure that he had been experiencing at work, and a lot of his job stress began to fall away.

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Brian was a well-respected manager at an international pharmaceutical company.  He sent Sandra, one of his direct reports, to me for remedial coaching.  Brian was amazed at the difference that coaching made in Sandra’s performance.

Things were going well for Brian, but he wondered whether coaching could give him an extra boost in his career.  He thought that working with me might increase his odds of getting promoted.  Brian gave me a call.

I told Brian I’d be happy to coach him.  I explained that there are two kinds of coaching—foundational coaching and transformational coaching.  I had used both with Sandra.  However, I cautioned Brian that transformational coaching isn’t for everyone or every situation.  (Click this link if you’d like to learn more about when transformational coaching is a good fit.)

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Let’s pick up with the story of Sandra that we began in the last post.  Sandra met with her boss Brian.  Brian suggested that she contact me for coaching.  She did.

Sandra and I met.  As we talked it quickly became clear that Sandra and I had heard very different messages in our separate conversations with Brian.  Sandra thought Brian saw coaching as a nice-to-have, something that would help her as she moved up in the organization.  Brian’s message to me was very different.  I understood that there were areas of Sandra’s performance that needed to change if she had any chance of being considered for promotion.  Did Brian soften the message when he talked to Sandra about the situation?  Or, did Sandra not hear the seriousness in Brian’s communication.  I didn’t hear the conversation.  So, I had no way of knowing. Continue reading →

One day I got a call from Brian, a first-line supervisor at an international pharmaceutical company.  He told me that he wanted me to coach Sandra, one of his direct reports.

Brian told me that Sandra had excellent technical skills and was driven to succeed.  When Brian gave Sandra a job to do he knew that she would get it done and get it done right.  Sandra was a role model for the rest of his staff.

Continue reading →