Book: Coaching for Performance (John Whitmore)
Nicholas Brealey Publishing © 2002 (180 pages); ISBN:1857883039
What is Coaching?
In a word, it's "helping" -- helping people take responsibility for their work and career. According to John Whitmore, author of Coaching for Performance,"Coaching is unlocking people's potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn and grow, rather than teaching them."
Coaching is not a technique or a one-on-one remedial intervention. And coaching isn't another responsibility for just managers. Anyone can and should coach.
Effective coaching is a pattern of behavior. It's asking rather than telling, listening rather than speaking, empowering rather than directing. It's a mind set, not simply a skill.
The key principles of increasing awareness and taking responsibility.
What is raising awareness?
"Raising awareness" is helping the coachee gather information and determine what facts are relevant. This is done in a way so the coachee can establish the Goals (the "G" of G.R.O.W.) and understand the Reality (the "R" of G.R.O.W.) of the current situation. More on G.R.O.W. later.
When raising awareness you want to ask questions that make the coachee focus on answers describing the situation, not judge the results. The more descriptive the coachee can be, the more relevant facts are discovered. But it takes time to explore these underlying issues that are the root cause of a problem.
Here are some other questions that help raise awareness:
- What is happening now?
- What have you done so far?
- How did others react?
- Can you give some examples?
- Say more about that?
- How do you feel about it?
- What do you see as your obstacles?
- What else do you need to know?
What is taking responsibility?
Responsibility is more than ownership. It's the ability to fulfill an obligation and to choose to take responsibility.
Consider these two statements:
"Chris, you have the skills so take the lead and write the proposal."
vs.
"Chris, you have the skills. Do you want to write the proposal?"
Telling someone to be responsible doesn't make them feel responsible. Responsibility comes with choice, which in turn demands a question from the coach.
With a compelling Goal to motivate the coachee and an understanding of the Reality of the situation, the coach can help the coachee focus on possible Options and what the coachee Will do. (Hence: "G.R.O.W.")
What is G.R.O.W.?
It is the process for raising awareness and getting the coachee to take responsibility. It stands for:
- Goal
- Reality
- Options
- Will
Effective mentors use a coaching style and approach. The relationship between the mentor and the protégé is the distinguishing aspect -- it is usually a longer-term relationship than other coaching situations, with more formalized roles. The mentor/coach roles are assigned, whereas coaching roles are more interchangeable.
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