1 The tool

What is it?

The HeartMath system is a combination of tools and technology that helps people tune in to their “heart’s intelligence” to maximise health, balance and performance.

These highly practical tools help clients access clearer thinking and experience the heart of who they are.

When the signal from the heart to the brain is “coherent”, a smooth heart rhythm sends a clear, ordered signal to the brain. According to HeathMath’s providers, we are then able to access the intelligence that resides in the brain, so the heart and brain become synchronised.

To do this we focus our breathing around our heart and recall, then relive, heartfelt emotions, such as appreciation, courage and compassion. The wisdom of the heart becomes more engaged in what we are doing and our outcomes are more productive, efficient and fulfilling.

When we are out of coherence – hampered by negative emotions – our heart rhythms become more jagged, and we experience energy drain. Our effectiveness will then be diluted.

The HeartMath technology includes a desktop or handheld wave monitor, which allows clients to look at their level of coherence and heart–wave rhythms in real time (the technology does not measure feelings, rather, the autonomic nervous system’s synchronisation).

Once they have correlated their coherence with how they are feeling, using the HeartMath exercises, they are able to “access an emotional landscape that is healthy, resilient and balanced”.

For more on the tools, techniques, technologies and coaching methodology available on the one-to-one HeartMath provider programme offered through licensed provider Ei World, contact: www.eiworld.org

How does it work?

The HeartMath one-to-one programme aims to increase the ratio of time spent in coherence. There are a number of HeartMath tools, such as the Neutral tool, and the Quick Coherence, Heart Lock-In and Freeze-Frame techniques.

The emWave Desktop technology can help the client immediately notice their baseline coherence, and by applying these exercises shift it upwards.

A HeartMath provider chooses from a series of six workbooks that enable a client to focus on a specific aspect of everyday life, eg, work performance, stress and health and vitality. This gives the client a comprehensive programme for working on their challenges during and between coaching sessions.

The Quick Coherence technique allows clients to connect with their “energetic heart zone” to release stress and balance emotions. The technique only takes a minute to do. Thus, focus, intuition and decision-making can be improved almost immediately. Here’s how it works:

Quick Coherence technique

• Heart Focus
  The client is invited to focus their attention in the area of the heart. Sometimes it helps clients to put their hand over their heart. I tell my clients that if their mind wanders, to gently guide it back to the heart, writes Jill Savage.
• Heart Breathing
  I then invite my clients to focus on their heart and imagine their breath flowing in and out of that area. This helps clients to focus mind and energy in the heart area. I invite them to breathe slowly and gently to a count of five or six, through the heart, until their breathing feels smooth and balanced.
• Heart Feeling
  I invite clients to recall, then relive, a positive feeling as they are breathing through the heart. I invite them to allow this feeling gently to manifest itself, and then sustain it through Heart Focus, Heart Breathing and Heart Feeling. The goal is to ‘feel’, not just ‘think’ about, a positive feeling.

2 The administrator

Using the tool

In supervision, the HeartMath tools can be used with clients in a number of ways. They can develop the resilient coach, allowing clients to practise HeartMath techniques for self-care and well-being. They are also useful when we experience stuckness.

In supervision, if my client is triggered by their coaching client into using stressful patterns, the HeartMath tools can help see the situation with our authentic selves by taking charge of our emotional reactions. With the emWave2 technology, clients are 
able to store, retrieve and print out their results so they can track their levels of coherence.

Jill Savage is a performance development coach and a coach supervisor working as an associate with The Beech Consultancy. She is a licensed 1:1 HeartMath practitioner through Ei World

3 The client

The experience

I work as a senior performance development coach with The Beech Consultancy and regularly have peer supervision with Jill. I wanted to develop how I show up for my clients.

The application

Jill invited me to reflect on my own unique emotional landscape and to consider where I wanted to be as a coach for my clients. My intention is always to be available for my clients in a way that provides both connection and learning.

She asked me to see my level of coherence in real time. By using the emWave2 technology on the desktop I could see where my baseline was. Then Jill talked me through the steps for the Quick Coherence technique. I noticed my heart wave rhythms were smooth and I felt more at ease and expansive. The desktop indicated I was operating mainly in the green zone – a measure of high coherence. Jill said I looked softer and had visibly relaxed.

It was fascinating to experience how the coherence could be disturbed. Simple things, such as a change in the style of music we were listening to, actually shifted the patterns.

The verdict

The HeartMath tools and techniques are a way to access deeper self-awareness and self-management, which are both essential for being an effective coach.

They are powerful and yet simple exercises that I can use before and during a session to allow me to tap into my heart’s wisdom and gently clear any interference.

Peter Blackeby is a senior performance development coach with The Beech Consultancy



The pros and cons of the HeartMath system

UPSIDE

• Supports health, well-being and performance
• Real-time visual technology/data
• Widely researched
• Highly practical
• Enhances cognitive thinking
• Discusses the client not the tool
• Good for stress management coaching, supervision and personal development
• Techniques are used beyond the session
• Quick and easy

DOWNSIDE

• Accreditation needed
• Daily practice of techniques required
• Some jargon and scientific language
• Technology can be seen as gimmicky
• Needs time for maximum impact
• Some clients might resist working with feelings

 HeartMath, Heart Lock-in and Freeze-Frame are registered trademarks of the Institute of HeartMath.Quick Coherence is a registered trademark of Doc Childre.  emWave and Heart Intelligence are registered trademarks of Quantum Intech, Inc.

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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This issue: Adopting coaching as a management style – how to introduce your new approach to your team

Managers who develop workplace coaching skills learn that they can’t simply provide answers. It implies that they need to ask the right questions at the right time, and to trust in the team to find their own answers. For many managers, used to providing the solution, this is a real challenge.

There is also an impact on the team. The change in the manager’s behaviour and the new management style will create a new team culture. Team members may struggle with their more active role. They may be puzzled or even feel threatened.

To ensure a successful transition, managers must take charge of the process. They need to involve team members from the start, as you would in any change situation.

We propose a five-step plan that managers can follow with their team:

1. Prepare to talk about the change

Before explaining a change in management style make sure you understand it yourself. Be clear about what you will be doing differently, and why. Consider the impact if you were to take the team by surprise.

Prepare to share your intentions with your team. This openness will encourage trust between you.

2. Share the change

Create the occasion to talk to the team, both as a group and one to one. Explain what the change entails and emphasise the benefits for both the team and individuals. Bringing the team up to speed and managing expectations, enables them to be more at ease with the process.

3. Make the team part of it

No matter how certain you are, you still can’t do it on your own. Make your team members aware that this is new territory for you as well – you are in it together. By making them part of a common learning process, you give yourself permission to experiment, openly use support material and even make mistakes, especially at the start.

4. Validate the change

Set up a review system to ensure continuity and validation. This will facilitate regular, mutual feedback, both formally and informally, about the new way of doing things.

Reinforce positive experiences and talk about what could be done differently. Show you are open to discussion and can learn from your co-workers. It strengthens ownership of the culture you are creating together.

5. Sustain the change

Create a support network around you. Reach out to like-minded managers both within and outside your company. Share your experiences and explore with them the benefits of adopting coaching as a management style. This will not only accelerate your learning process, but also avoid isolation.

Introducing coaching as a new management style implies a major change in behaviour, attitude and expectations in managers and team members. It cannot be improvised. While applying the five-step plan, managers must demonstrate they are committed and that their new behaviour is authentic.

Maureen Steele, based in Geneva, is an associate with The Training Box maureen@thetrainingbox.eu.com

Cristina Bianchi is managing director of Enhance Training and Development in Bassins, Switzerland www.enhance-td.com

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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Creativity is a fragile talent, and one that requires careful nurturing. Yet the TV and film industries in which it is needed are inhospitable settings. Fast-paced and highly commercial, they are more likely to produce burnout than bright ideas. How can coaching help the creative personality make the most of their skills?

OVER THE PAST FEW years I have coached a number of clients working in film and television, ranging from ‘pure’ creatives (writers, directors), and ‘creative’ executives (producers, commissioning editors), to ‘straight’ executives. Common themes have emerged from these sessions that have led me to explore the literature on creativity. This has fed back into my coaching in very beneficial ways.

Nurturing creativity

Some of my most creative clients have come to me with worries about their creativity. They may feel they don’t have the same spark any more or be seriously concerned about burnout.

Studies of the psychology of creativity tell us a lot about both the creative process and the creative personality. There is also a large number of first-hand accounts of the act of creation, from Coleridge and Einstein to John Cleese and Sam Mendes.

In these subjective accounts, the creative person describes a process of steeping themselves in the ‘vocabulary’ of the relevant area (“preparation”), focusing on the problem (“priming the mind”), then disengaging from it, often by sleeping or doing something completely unrelated (“incubating”), and then finding that the creative vision springs into their mind (“inspiration”) fully formed, as an outline that can be developed, or as a new and better iteration of something they had been thinking about.

Cognitive and neuro scientists hypothesise that incubation involves the fast processing of large numbers of links and associations in the brain, many of which may be stored at deep levels in the unconscious. Highly creative people seem to be able to store more ideas and information, see broader patterns, and bring them into consciousness more easily than others.

The highly commercial, fast-moving and deadline-driven film and TV industries are a far from hospitable setting for this process. Their culture emphasises unremitting activity, reinforcing the notion that everyone must be moving at top speed, 24/7, to achieve anything worthwhile. This produces serious tensions for the creative person. How can the coach help creative people nurture their creativity?

Make it work

• Encourage clients to prioritise time, both for feeding their creativity – by reading, thinking, watching other people’s work – and for the process of creation. Creative people are often bad planners.
• Reflect with clients on when they are at their most creative – then ask them to block out that time in their diary and guard it with their lives.

  For example, I had a client who was most creative at night, and so she organised her life so she could stay up all night once a week.

• Allow time for the creative process and learn to trust it. There will be an uncomfortable period when everything seems to be banging around in the creative person’s head. Focus on something else so unconscious processing can take place without interference. Sensory activities are ideal: sleeping, going to the gym, having a massage, meditating. This is difficult when there is a deadline to meet, but if clients plan well, their unconscious minds will produce the goods.

Fatal flaws

• Being addicted to electronic media. It’s a serious issue and I try to get my clients to think seriously about whether they really need to be available all the time. I suggest turning off their handheld, and freeing their minds, for a certain number of hours each week.

Understanding the personality

Research has shown there is a typical creative personality. As well as being highly intuitive, creative people are often introverted, driven by emotion and their own internal set of values (rather than rationality and logic), and operate to their own timetable.

Creative people have rich and detailed internal visions of their projects and how they should be realised. If they are to see them made real they must communicate them to others. Often, they fail to do this effectively. Their vision is so clear to them that they think they have explained it already, when all they’ve done is give the barest of outlines. But it is so important to them and so linked to their identity that they are reluctant to communicate it anyway.

Make it work

• Encourage creative people to reflect on their personalities – how these help them create and the difficulties that go with them.

  The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator can be very useful here. The guidance suggests that the creative Type is iNtuitive and Feeling (thinks in patterns and associations and is driven by emotions/values rather than rationality), which I have found to be the case with my clients, the vast majority of whom were also Introverts.

  Explicitly understanding what sort of person they are, and that this is intimately bound up with their creativity, can be a great help in reassuring creatives that they are not alone in facing such problems, and that there are strategies they can adopt 
for dealing with them. Reframing – seeing that communicating the creative vision is a vital part of the job – is particularly helpful.

Fatal flaws

• Failing to notice and to refer on potential mood disorders in clients. Modern studies and analysis of the letters and diaries of highly creative people throughout history have shown that they are up to four times more prone to mood disorders – in particular bipolar and unipolar depression – than non-creatives of a similar background.

  I have worked with a number of people whose account of their childhood relationships suggests they may suffer from a shaky sense of self- worth. I have found it useful to talk through where their need to strive and prove themselves may come from, and why they feel so vulnerable to criticism and find it so hard to recover.

  But it is important to remember that bipolar syndrome and clinical depression are the province of the psychiatric professional, and to refer people on where necessary.

About the author

Janet Evans is a business psychologist, executive coach and consultant on leadership and strategic planning, with an MSc in Organisational Psychology and a diploma in Coaching and Mentoring. She works mainly in the creative media industries and the public sector, having been a senior leader in Whitehall for many years. She runs her own consultancy, Adsum Consulting Limited, and can be contacted at janet@adsumconsulting.co.uk

Encourage clients to prioritise time, both for feeding their 
creativity – by reading, thinking, watching other people’s work – 
and for the process of creation

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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1 The tool

What is it?

Based on George Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory, developed and first published in 1955, the Repertory Grid Interview is a technique for identifying the ways that a person interprets or ‘construes’ and gives meaning to their experiences.

According to Kelly (1955), we use our construct systems to make the process of understanding and navigating the world easier. ‘Constructs’ are ways of making sense of our experiences and perceptions and are not necessarily conscious and articulated. They are a basis for making distinctions. Our construct systems develop as we struggle to make sense of our world.

How does it work?

The grid is based on the personal construct – for example, when you meet people for the first time, you might notice whether someone seems amicable, chatty and engaging, or you notice that they stand back and appear reserved or quiet. In your subconscious you might form a bi-polar construct of “friendly-distant” in evaluating someone’s character, an evaluative judgment you make about an attribute such as friendliness, which is important to you and one of a number of dimensions you use to evaluate people when you meet them. The bi-polar constructs formed in differentiating between the issues at hand can help in understanding not only the factors involved, but also the client’s internal value system.

l For more information on this tool read: G Kelly, A Theory of Personality: Psychology of Personal Constructs (1955; 1963).

2 The administrator

Using the tool

One of my favourite tools for investigating difficult problems (especially people-related), the grid interview lets you tune in to the language your client has developed to navigate their way around the world.

The process of eliciting the constructs is called triadic comparison. You need a set of blank cards or paper the size of a business card and a pad of paper to draw the grid outline. When the problem is being described, I ask the client to identify the different elements involved and write each on a separate card. The interview works best with between six and nine elements.

The cards are laid face down and shuffled around. Ask the client to pick up any three and turn them over and then ask, “In what ways are any two similar and different to the third in terms of how you feel about them?”

The answer produces a “construct” of two polar extremes, which are not necessarily opposites. The construct, comprising the similarity or emergent pole, and the difference, the contrast pole, is written onto the grid verbatim. The cards are laid face down again, another set of three drawn and the question asked. The process is repeated until the client can think of no more.

At this point, all constructs relating to the elements of concern will have been elicited. When the grid is complete, there are several ways of rating or ranking all of the elements against all the constructs, including the use of sophisticated software packages, which produce various statistical analyses.

My preference is to have a conversation about how some of the similarities and differences were arrived at and explore the client’s hierarchy of constructs and the values at the core of their construing.

Bert Buckley is an independent coach, supervisor, coaching and management development facilitator for LSN and a mental toughness practitioner

3 The client

The experience

Change is a constant in my work, but I am starting to look to the future and how the team will cope with a dramatic increase in workload. Although it is not something I had seen before, the repertory grid approach made me think about my problem in a way I hadn’t expected and it enabled me to voice concerns that had been sitting deep at the back of my mind.

I have thought about the skills, abilities, strengths and weaknesses in my team many times before, but when Bert asked me to make a distinction between team members in groups of three, it made me analyse their characteristics in a way I hadn’t done before. Picking up the cards at random, I found myself comparing and contrasting people and identifying similarities and differences on dimensions I hadn’t articulated before.

Application

It’s not a thinking process I am used to, but by comparing people in this way, I began to recognise how I can use some of the undiscovered potential within the team and to be honest with myself about the less positive attributes among team members.

I began to think about what people were really good at and what they enjoyed doing. I reflected on the flexibility that I needed and how I could utilise team members differently, including myself. I suddenly thought: “Do you know, this person would come in and help out if we were in difficulty and so would that person.”

I began thinking not only about potential, but how I would need to change my approach to release it.

When Bert asked which constructs were most important to me, I tried to think of the bigger picture and the wider changes needed for the future. When ranking each individual against the important constructs, I realised the enormity of the task ahead and began to rehearse some of the issues I need to raise with my line manager about roles, responsibilities and individuals.

I am keen to revisit the grid in the future after I have implemented changes I am now planning.

Verdict

The structure of the grid interview and the act of writing on the cards, picking them up in threes and comparing them, enabled me to focus on the individual differences within the team and align them to the work streams that we will require in the future.

The grid was formed using my words, and not influenced at all by Bert. I felt able to talk about issues that I had previously glossed over or ignored. More importantly, coaching using the repertory grid has given me the basis of a dialogue with everyone concerned, including myself.

Jacquie Pearcy is office manager at Parkstone Grammar School

The Repertory Grid Interview: pros and cons

UPSIDE

• Simple and easy to use
• Content free
• Designed to bypass a person’s cognitive defences and give access to their underlying construct system
• Can be revisited over time
• Widely researched and used in many business contexts, including marketing
• Good for tackling those “can’t quite put into words” issues

DOWNSIDE

• Needs a neutral, but encouraging style of questioning to avoid bias
• Constructs must be recorded in the client’s words, which can be lengthy
• Needs cards\paper, pen and a sheet of paper for the grid
• Can over-simplify the underlying theoretical basis of Personal Construct Psychology

Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 6

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In serving others, we may forget to look after ourselves. Developing rituals and daily living practices can support and nourish us in our coaching work. But first we must go back to basics

What if the true delivery of service begins first by delivering that same service to self in every way, and to the others [clients and colleagues] by the same manner, that are within the group, before the organisation [or individual] can truly serve?¹

As coaches who “serve” those in need of support, to what extent are we affording ourselves that same care and self-service?

The way we are with ourselves and in the world is felt by our clients. We have the potential to inspire those we serve. But how much do we truly take care of ourselves? How much do we truly self- observe and make changes to the way we are, which support and nourish us in our work and practice?

Many of us have worked while our orange light is flickering. Such moments can be uncomfortable, according to findings from my six-year Phd study on self-care at work, using coaches as a case in point. Such moments can affect both the way we offer our services and the type of service our clients receive.

How can we develop a deeper sense of self-care and self-nourishment? Self-awareness is the root to deepening our relationship with self and making changes that more deeply support us in our daily living. Through such growing awareness we can deepen self-honesty. So, how do we start?

Commit to self-observation

This begins by making a commitment to observe self and then observe self with others over time (say, a two-week period). At this point, simply note the things that support you in your daily work and life, and the things that, if we’re honest, are not so supportive.

Listen to your body

Use your physical body as a “marker”1. It is the best personal barometer we have, for noting when we feel steady and well, and when we feel tired. Also, you could (if you don’t already), observe how you feel during your coaching sessions. Are there moments or days when you feel a little out of kilter? Observe how much more of a ‘struggle’ those sessions are, and what preceded this.

Our physical body is giving us nudges and indicators 24/7, but often in the busy-ness of life, we fail to notice, or we notice but fail to take the time to understand what the nudges are and why they are happening.

But the nudges offer us clues to how we are living and working. We can also react to what we observe, or become over-critical. Too often we are too hard on ourselves.

For example, we realise that on certain days our coffee or sugar consumption is raised. We ask why that happens on those days.

Then we start to track back, noticing the patterns underlying our reactions.

It may be that on those days we haven’t allowed ourselves enough sleep the night before, so we feel more tired. We then realise that if we get more sleep our sugar or coffee consumption will go down – a great indicator of how we can then make changes to deepen our self-care.

We could, if we choose, take that even deeper, by asking ourselves why we don’t allow ourselves enough sleep. Maybe we can track that back, to discover, for example, a mental construct that “sleep isn’t important”, or that “I spend too much time looking after others and my needs come last”.

These observations then become the way we live our lives, with a more conscious and deliberate awareness to develop a deeper level of self-care.

Make it work

• Observe patterns and reactions
• Track back from the patterns to find out why you do what you do

Fatal flaws

• Ignoring our body’s warning signs
• Being too hard on ourselves

Daily rituals

How else can we deepen our self-care? One area to look at is daily rituals. Rituals can include the way you are with food, hydration, resting, sleep, exercise, what you wear and showering – do they all feel supportive and nourishing?

Rituals can also include how you are in your office, at your desk and so on. Observe the way you are – does this truly support you? Is it spacious? Is it nourishing? You could also observe the way you are when you arrive at a place for a coaching session, and how you prepare the room, even the chair. Do you feel apprehensive or relaxed? Did you allow enough time? Observe the rituals that support and nourish you, and maintain them. Observe those that don’t feel supportive, and choose to say ‘no’ to them.

Make it work

• Sift through your daily rituals
• Discard the rituals that don’t nourish you; keep the ones that do

Fatal flaw

• Failing to pay attention to what you have observed. When you become aware of something about yourself, it’s important to pay more attention to it, rather than merely noting it and moving on to the next thing. Often we can realise something and not take the opportunity to go deeper.

Experimenting

Once you have had a period of self-observation and are aware of what does and does not support or nourish you in your work, or daily living, you can then attempt mini experiments to see what else supports you.

• You could, for example, choose to drink more water, or go to bed earlier for two weeks, and at the end of that, notice any differences it has made.
• You could experiment with saying ‘no’ to demands placed on you that you feel are over and above your capacity for that day or week.
• You could experiment with planning your diary so that it feels more spacious and not so ‘back to back’.

Time to celebrate

When you realise the things that support you, celebrate and confirm to yourself that these are things you want to continue to offer yourself during your working day or week. You will find you already offer yourself a number of supportive things, but you may not be offering them often enough.

1. Serge Benhayon, founder and director of Universal Medicine www.universalmedicine.com.au

About the author

Jane Keep works as a coach, coach supervisor, facilitator, OD consultant, writer, researcher and esoteric healing practitioner. She works philosophically and practically, enabling clients to realise the root cause of patterns and behaviours. Her primary focus is to bring true wellbeing and harmony back into the workplace. She runs the Inner-Heart Esoteric Coaching and Healing Practice. Her thesis is based on the work of Serge Benhayon.

Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 6

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1 The tool

What is it?

The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) assesses an individual’s behaviour in conflict situations. It is measured along two dimensions: assertiveness and co-operativeness. These can be used to define five modes of dealing with conflicts: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodating.

Concise definitions of each mode are given, with a page on interpreting your scores, a full-page description of each mode, what situations it might be appropriate in and diagnostic questions to help demonstrate when it might be over- or under-used.

The TKI is not prescriptive; in a very simple way it focuses attention on how the client prefers, generally, to behave in potential conflict situations. It then prompts the client to become more self-aware and reflect on whether it may be more effective to use a range of approaches.

How does it work?

The client completes a short pencil and paper questionnaire, which they self-score and interpret using a booklet. Scores can be charted on a two-dimensional graph with percentiles derived from managerial norms. The booklet allows the client to keep their own record of their score, but also to compare it with those of others.

2 The administrator

Using the tool

The TKI is quick and easy to do and needs no special training. I use it with coaching clients who are in a dynamic where they need to align their goals with someone else’s.

Other benefits of improving conflict handling skills include: strengthening relationships, increasing effectiveness, developing performance, reducing stress, improving morale and saving time.

The TKI is also a useful team-building instrument as it generates debate.

It can be marked by the client in advance and the results ‘downloaded’ with the coach. This is far preferable to handing out questionnaires ‘cold’ and not feeding back. This way, the results can stimulate a great deal of useful discussion.

The verdict

The TKI focuses on a potentially sensitive aspect of behaviour in an open and matter-of-fact way. The booklet treats conflict as a given (which in the UK we can be squeamish about). It gently encourages clients to question their styles and quickly teaches them to realise that the same mode in every situation is not always going to win friends, let alone influence people.

The brevity of the instrument is not matched by the price – £10 per participant is, in my view, rather high, especially for voluntary, public sector and SMEs. The other criticism is to do with the word ‘conflict’ in the title. I frequently have to damp down preconceptions that this is about aggression or ‘war’.

The TKI can be used in any situation where goals differ. Indeed, it can help in most interpersonal encounters.

The expanded booklets give more useful information and flesh out detail. The team booklet emphasises the value of appreciating other people’s styles and building on strengths – a useful piece of coaching for increasing anyone’s emotional intelligence. It also has passages on what causes conflict in teams, what makes conflict positive or negative, what is behind each style, how to deal more effectively with other people’s styles, a whole chapter on what your team’s conflict style might be, and action prompts.

The team-building element of the TKI is invaluable as it will encourage colleagues to reflect on how their style interfaces with others’ (not always constructively), promotes discussions about different personalities, encourages examples and sometimes airs issues. It is also highly relevant to leadership, persuasion, influencing and potential bullying scenarios.

Overall, I find the TKI an inspiring tool to open up discussion about personal style, both at home and work. It stimulates a cumulative learning curve that stays and grows with the client long after the event.

Lynne Spencer is a work psychologist, coach and facilitator

3 The client

The experience

I am a GP in a small rural practice and I belong to a peer group of part-time doctors who form a ‘learning set’. We invite speakers to talk on various topics and also have an annual ‘half-day’ personal development meeting that is sometimes led by Lynne.

Lynne has also worked with the practice, focusing on team building.

I have therefore taken the TKI both in a peer group setting and with practice colleagues.

It was quite challenging for me – and I think this is possibly true for many doctors – to consider the idea of ‘conflict’ at all. It has rather negative connotations to do with complaints and the General Medical Council!

Lynne overcame our reticence – once she had explained the model it was easy to understand the relevance – as a person, for consultations and when working as a team. It was also helpful to be told that there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ style, but that there may be situations

in which a different approach is more helpful.

The questionnaire was straightforward, and it was interesting to see how the questions were paired to make sure the evaluation was as accurate as possible. I ruefully agreed that I am a compromiser.

In our work with Lynne (which includes MBTI) I have found that the initial result has an ‘aha’ effect, but it is when you consider the other ‘types’ that the real opportunities for change and growth become apparent. We all see the world so much through our own spectacles and it is so helpful to see that there are other ways to interpret and respond to events.

Thus, it was very interesting to look at some of the conflict types that were under-represented in a group of female doctors (such as competing) and realise that there were some circumstances in which different behaviour could be appropriate.

Taking the TKI in the peer group was an affirming exercise in personal growth, but using the instrument with my colleagues was a different experience – both illuminating and dynamic.

The TKI has really helped us with some of our management problems and has continued to be very useful. It has also allowed us to have a kind of internal communication ’shortcut’ when conflict arises. It’s more OK to talk about someone having a ‘competing approach’ than to emulate their behaviour to ‘get even’ – or to retire silent and wounded.

Dr Sara Beattie is a general practitioner

The TKI can be ordered from the publisher OPP (http://shop.opp.eu.com/) and comes in a slim A4 booklet (£99.50 + VAT), for a pack of 10.

There are two further and fuller books in the range, Introduction to Conflict Management and Introduction to Conflict and Teams, each at £14.50

Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 5

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1 The tool

What is it?

PRISM brain-mapping draws on developments and findings in neuroscience and psychology. Its aim is to provide a tool that acts as a light shining down on the brain of an individual. It highlights where behavioural activity and focus is highest and lowest, allowing coaches to help clients explore their strengths and how their experience relates to the reported evidence.

Sound familiar? That’s because the principles, approach and values are very much like those of some other personality and type inventories.

The fundamental difference is in how the tool encourages us to think of the blending of behaviours, where individuals display strong preferences in opposite quadrants. This is reinforced by the illustration of four colours in the brain map, suggesting the mix of a palette of colours that act to alter or soften the opposite behavioural style.

Other inventories create a dynamic or forced choice to give us the final analysis, with little room for manoeuvre if there is no clear preference. PRISM also recognises two different types of activity, or dimension, within each quadrant, giving us a ‘prism’ to view behaviours.

How does it work?

This tool has a widely used job benchmarking questionnaire for organisations, which means it fits neatly into the recruitment process, serving as a final analysis of whether the job and candidate are likely to be a beneficial fit for each other.

However, the value of PRISM extends to offering coaching clients a springboard to explore their strengths, untapped potential, stressors and areas for growth through their own unique brain-map.

Clients are invited to complete an online inventory of their personal profile. They can also receive a job inventory questionnaire to consider commonalities and gaps between their working environment and behavioural strengths.

A report is sent to the practitioner to consider before taking the client through some targetted questioning to explore where their focus lies in the quadrants of: expression, stability, drive and analysis.

These quadrants are represented simply by the colours: gold, red, blue and green.

2 The administrator

Using the tool

I found the tool useful for establishing rapport at the beginning of a coaching relationship by allowing my client and I to build up a simple picture of brain function and personal preferences.

It can also prove invaluable when clients are considering career choices, or improvements to their performance, where they can gain insight into areas to develop or exploit.

My colleague uses PRISM with teams of people to identify similarities and differences through a shared language. They find that PRISM allows a level of flexibility that other instruments do not always provide. I find the language is accessible and memorable and the robust reporting profile gives it a well-researched validity.

The PRISM framework helps me to lead the client gradually from the general ‘human condition’, with its amazing capacity and allowable frailties, to the specifics of their own unique humanity. My experience is that this helps the clients achieve more insight into and acceptance of their less helpful behaviour patterns.

What I am mindful of is that I need to challenge any thinking around using the profile to excuse certain overdone behaviours because the client is a ‘red, gold, green or blue’.

Ros Soulsby is a coach and principal director of Soulsby, specialising in leadership development and communications

3 The client

The experience

My main reason for working with a coach was to explore some ideas I had for making changes in my career and business. I was keen to analyse those choices and see where I could capitalise on my strengths and assess what I might have overlooked.

When Ros suggested we use PRISM as a way to initiate our discussions I was interested, although uncertain as to whether this would be the best route to consider my strengths.

What I found was that the tool, with different aspects of human characteristics displayed against images of the brain, was more revealing and useful than other inventories I had completed.

Having the representative colours and charts made it illustrative and tangible – the visual metaphor helping me create meaning and link clearly to my personal and professional styles.

I was able to visualise using my strengths in different work situations. Through guided questions and build-up of explanations Ros and I used these maps and my experiences to analyse my behaviours and preferences.

What I then realised is how I could have been overplaying my strength for explaining complex information with some customers. I had also sometimes been making assumptions that they would ask if they had questions and that their silence signified understanding.

I have also been able to apply my learning to make a small, but critical adjustment to my next steps in diversifying my business. While my choice about the area I was going into made perfect sense, what I became aware of was that the environment would demand behaviours from me that were counter-intuitive and stressful. With this awareness I am able to adapt my decision to suit my style and provide the quality of service that I consider so important.

The verdict

I was surprised by how accurately the session and the report captured my characteristic behaviours in a way that was easy to understand. The approach, together with the final report, helped me to feel assured of PRISM’s basis in scientific rigour.

Tony Hughes is owner of Leedryte Services, a TV and audio installation service

The pros and cons of PRISM brain-mapping

UPSIDE

• Its methodology is based on thorough neuroscientific findings and ongoing research
• It has flexibility in interpretation that is sometimes missing with psychological instruments
• PRISM brain-mapping provides an ongoing level of support for its practitioners

DOWNSIDE

• As with many tools, the value of the approach relies on the skills of the facilitator
• The report, though robust, is a snapshot in time and may be inaccurate if the client is going through a stressful situation
• It is not a simple model and requires a qualified practitioner to question and guide through it

Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 4

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Why do organisations need good leaders? To develop and direct the business on its path to success. But without good communication their ideas and strategies will never make it off the ground. How can coaching help them develop the most vital skill of leadership?

Communication is the single most important responsibility of leadership. A leader’s ability to detect trends, develop strategy and execute plans depends entirely on their ability to communicate.

But leadership communication isn’t just about clarity of direction. Instead, leaders must articulate their ideas in a way that connects and resonates with the people they want to reach. At the same time, leaders need to be keenly aware of their impact on others.

Some leaders are naturally skilled orators with a seemingly inherent gift for connecting with people’s needs and aspirations. But they are few and far between. For the rest of us, leadership communication is a skill we can – and must – develop to succeed.

Good training helps. Coaches can enlist specialised support from experienced speakers and actors to help their clients learn tools and techniques to improve their performance on stage.

But it’s important to note that coaching for leadership communication is not simply about helping a leader become a better presenter. It’s really about helping leaders develop three essential skills: first, to expand their awareness of how they come across, second, to finetune their language to increase clarity and third, to encourage inspiration among the people they lead.

Here are some tools to use with clients to help them make progress.

Expanding awareness

The notion that we are always communicating is especially true for those in leadership roles. People around them often hang on their every word – searching for meaning in the most mundane of remarks. People are even more attuned to a leader’s facial expressions, tone of voice and body language.

Part of the coach’s job is to help the client become more aware of the signals they’re giving off – and to check whether those signals are congruent with the message they want to send.

To illustrate the concept of congruence, I will show clients examples of incongruence. One is looking down at the floor and speaking in a dejected tone of voice while talking about how excited I am about the work we’re doing. Another involves doing my best impression of an American game show host while describing the need for massive layoffs.

Next, I’ll ask clients to be playful – to deliberately choose postures, gestures and tones to express given emotions. I help them become familiar with their own signals for being happy, sad, angry, excited, bored or curious.How do they know when they are experiencing a particular state? What do they sense inside – and where do they feel it. How does that feeling come across in their facial expression, their tone of voice and their movement?

Sometimes, I’ll hold the mirror up to nature by matching the client’s physical and vocal behaviour as closely as I can – and then I’ll ask them what non-verbal signals they’re receiving.

When they know their own signals better they can choose more specifically the signals they wish to send. They even find that assuming the posture of a desired state helps bring about those feelings inside.

Make it work

• Help the client identify their own signals and deliberately choose which ones they want to send

Fatal flaws

• Forcing it. Don’t ask your client to put on a face or tone that makes them seem like an entirely different person

Increasing clarity

Technical language is useful for speaking about complex topics. However, it can become a smokescreen that blocks understanding. Even among those who are familiar with the same technical terms, dependence on jargon can prevent people from getting the point.

I recently worked with a client who is bringing a new drug to market. When describing the product, she talked in sophisticated technical language about the chemical properties of the drug’s ingredients.

As she was telling me all this detail, I continued to ask: “Why does that matter?” Not rudely, but with genuine curiosity. Her responses caused her to ‘chunk up’ higher and higher away from detail to provide the bigger picture – eventually getting us to the real advantages of the product: it’s faster, it’s stronger and it lasts longer.

Make it work

• Encourage the client to think about the bigger picture and to identify why it matters to their audience/readership

Fatal flaws

• Getting too embroiled in technical jargon

Encouraging inspiration: for what purpose?

Leaders inspire by being clear about their purpose: about why they do what they do.

While physical and vocal training can help to improve one’s oratory skill (and I work with clients on these points as well), the key is to help the client connect their work with their own values – and the values of the people they want to reach.

A few weeks ago, I worked with a leader in the luxury goods industry. When his presentation focused exclusively on maximising operating profits, it fell flat. But when he drew the connection between their business success and protecting a tradition of craftsmanship and artistry in a world of mass-produced tat, it soared.

Make it work

• Help clients link their goals to a purpose beyond simple commercial gain – and help them express that purpose with passion

Fatal flaws

• Failing to connect with values
• Communicating solely about commercial profit

By asking how clients’ work brings a greater good to a wider number of people, coaches can help clients draw a clear line between what they do and the benefits of a larger whole.

In other words, they can help their clients lead.

About the author

David Thompson is founder of Total Awareness Coaching. He is a consultant, trainer, facilitator and coach, having trained with the Coaching Academy, and received master coach certification through the Behavioural Coaching Institute. He is also a master practitioner and certified trainer of NLP, and an actor and director of Shakespeare’s plays.www.totalawareness coaching.com

Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 4

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1 The tool

What is it?

Team Profile Analyzer (TPA) is a powerful software application for group level analysis and visualisation of assessment data. Scores on assessment variables such as personality scales (eg, the ‘big five’ factors of: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness and emotional stability), aptitude tests, assessment and development centre data, 360-degree feedback and performance data (especially KPIs), are entered through a spreadsheet-like interface.

Selected variables are used to calculate the similarity between individuals to place them on a topographical map. Differences can be explored across all variables and for each one. The ‘Sociomap’ viewer allows users to ‘fly’ through a 3D space, enabling an exhilarating exploration of differences in a group of individuals.

The reporting module calculates descriptive variables and significance levels, and saves statistical and graphical outputs in common file formats to a very high finish. The report can be easily edited, or presented interactively through the user interface.

How does it work?

At the heart of the system are sophisticated algorithms that Dr Radvan Bahbouh, director of the QED Group, Prague has been developing since 1993. According to the QED website: “Sociomapping is based on the theory of fuzzy sets, mathematical topology and pattern recognition.” In short, complex equations are used ‘behind the scenes’ to place individuals on a map that visually represents their similarity, and expresses their scores through a ‘weather report’ colour scheme ranging from blue (low) green (moderate) to red (high).

The tools were originally developed to support scientific experiments (eg, recently for the ‘MARS 500′ long-term space flight simulation), and are now used widely to support assessment and coaching interventions at work.

Coaches can enter results on their favourite assessment tools into TPA and instantly access a holistic view of a group of clients based on the constructs measured. The tool supports team coaching by illustrating and quantitatively describing the social context of the individuals.

www.sociomap.co.uk/team-profile-analyzer.html

2 The administrator

Using the tool

Whenever groups are involved, the challenge of group data aggregation and interpretation arises. Today, this often requires extraction of data from online platforms, data preparation in Excel, running SPSS syntax, pasting outputs into documents and drafting text that captures and interprets the group trends and dynamics.

TPA promises an effective alternative to this lengthy process. Within two hours I downloaded the free trial software, entered data into the Excel spreadsheet-like interface and conducted analysis for two groups.

For my first case study I entered the cluster scores on the Saville Consulting Wave online questionnaire cluster scores of 16 elite performers featured in the book, Talent, (Saville & Hopton, 2009) in order to see communalities and differences.

Transformational inclinations are measured in Wave though Influencing People and Adapting Approaches, while Transactional inclinations are measured through Solving Problems and Delivering Results clusters.

Figure 1 shows where the 16 individuals fall on the map in terms of similarity, and also indicates their scores on the Transformer scale.

Many elite performers show transformational inclinations (red areas), although intellectuals such as Nobel price winner Ronald Stouffer and maverick footballer Stan Bowles score low (blue areas).

My second case study put a management team ‘on the map’.

Figure 2 shows the Sociomap for the team showing the high degree of similarity of the chairman and MD – members of the same family – and also of holders of key organisational functions. R&D and IT directors are relatively distant, reflecting their somewhat detached Thinker-Influencer Wave type. The sales director position is unique – driven by a highly transformational style coupled with low scores on dependability related scales.

My first coaching assignment use of TPA was with an e-commerce start-up company experiencing the pressures of rapid growth. I entered Swift Executive Aptitude Stens covering verbal, numerical and abstract abilities, 12 Wave Focus styles section scores and three Performance 360 overall scores.

Figure 3 illustrates the composition of the team, with the visual including a commercial director due to join – with characteristics very similar to the CEO.

Team coaching is an exciting new trend in coaching psychology that puts the intervention in the cultural context of the client. TPA is a powerful tool for illustrating and documenting the role of each individual in that context.

Dr Rainer Kurz is a director at Saville Consulting
rainer.kurz@savilleconsulting.com

3 The client

The experience

I was intrigued and impressed by the visualisation of my team. The similarity chart revealed the ‘psychometric DNA’ of the company. Discussion of individual and TPA results quickly led to a re-organisation that relieved some of the pressures by creating a closer fit between individuals and responsibilities. The dynamic line graph comparisons illustrated to all stakeholders the collective strengths and limitations that make up the ‘culture’ of the company. This was handy when employing further staff.

The verdict

The coaching intervention was hugely assisted by use of the TPA tool, which helped key stakeholders grasp the issues at hand. An understanding of the team dynamics helped us shape and foster continued growth of the business. I have recommended such an intervention to several business associates.

Chris Newson is chief executive of Acumen PI, the owner of The Student Room, the UK’s largest student community website

The pros and cons of Team Profile Analyzer

UPSIDE

• Intuitive operation (spreadsheet-like) and outcomes
• Flexible definition of variables
• ‘Temperature’ analogy works well
• Similarity algorithm constructs unique 2D topography
• Copes well with up to 12 variables
• Facility to create edible reports with visuals and analysis

DOWNSIDE

• Computer novices may take longer
• Group level interpretation rests on quality of assessment tool, and user’s interpretation may clash with Red-Amber-Green evaluation
• No way to fix x and y axis, eg, for Wave Transformer and Transactor
• Must use survey version of software if variables exceed 20
• No facility to automatically ‘tone down’ statistical coverage

Figure 1. Talent Book Wave ‘Transformer’ TPA Graph
Figure 2. Management Team ‘Sociomap’ showing ‘Profile Similarity’
Figure 3. Team Profile Analyzer Profile Similarity and Group Profile Comparison

Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 3

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What makes some people more able to bounce back from adversity than others? While resilience may be inbuilt in some, coaching can help others find their way again – by showing clients how to accelerate that learning

Resilience has interested psychologists for the past 50 years, but it has found its coaching zeitgeist in this recession, when uncertainty, increased pressure, reduced resources and job losses are stretching our clients, sometimes beyond their capabilities.

So what is resilience? One definition is “the ability in the face of difficulty to retain flexible cognitive, behavioural and emotional responses”1. If you stretch rubber bands, some will break, but most will revert back to shape when the tension is released. The same is true of individuals.

Most of the time, when stretched, we hold under pressure, eventually getting back to an equilibrium. However, the process is often difficult. Like elastic, we become rigid when stretched. The individual able to deal with ambiguity and to adapt to changing conditions becomes fixed on doing things one way, and is actively resistant to alternatives.

Those who laugh at themselves and the ups and downs of working life, narrow their range of emotional responses. Those who see themselves as creative thinkers find their thoughts repetitive and negative.

Take Sophy, a director in the public sector. She sees that change is placing less value on her area of expertise, so she becomes fixated on the failings of her staff. She is constantly angry at their inability to understand what she wants. She sees her boss as not supporting her. She works harder, sleeps rarely and instigates a punishing exercise regime built around goal achievement rather than enjoyment. She stops meeting friends as she can only see how she is failing in comparison to them. When her personal rubber band breaks she is forced to take time off work and re-evaluate the life she has created.

What made Sophy’s experience so difficult for her was that she never expected it to happen. She is what Tal Ben-Shahar calls a “perfectionist” – people who expect their journey through life to be “direct, smooth and free from obstacles”.2

It drives them to control the journey through a focus on outcomes, being highly demanding of themselves and fearing failure. Many of our coaching clients are perfectionists, but their very success can make them susceptible when bumps appear. It is then that it is more valuable to have the skills of the “optimalist” – believing that life is not a straight line, that obstacles are inevitable and that when we are less harsh on ourselves we become more adaptable.

Psychologist Mark Seery has shown that too much adversity is harmful to mental health, but too little means there is nothing to call on when difficulty strikes.3 Perfectionism is a great driver for success, but optimalism makes us hardier.

We all know individuals who are innately resilient. They deal with whatever is happening while continuing to function, keeping a sense of perspective and remaining anchored to who they are. It came with their DNA. For this reason many psychologists see it as a desired attribute of leaders. Others see it as a continuum of behaviours along which we move in response to events. What is known, however, is that most people become more resilient over time, not to bounce back but to move forward. As coaches, we must accelerate that learning.

Diane Coutu, in an article in the Harvard Business Review 4 highlighted three elements that help build resilience:

• Facing down reality
• Finding meaning
• Innovation

When Christopher Galvin, Motorola CEO (and grandson of the founder), was sacked, he said “the most terrifying thing to look at is a blank piece of paper”5.

When resilience goes, life looks like a blank piece of paper from which achievements have been erased. Coaching is about helping them find ways to start rewriting the page.

Make it work

If a client has lost resilience, invite them to:

• Do something new It should be something that positions them completely outside of how they are seeing themselves, for example, salsa dancing or rock climbing, It takes their mind off the immediate worry and provides pleasure.
• Do something different Spend time with people who are different to them, spend a different quality of time with family, put themselves forward for something at work they would normally shun. Flexibility increases when we break our habits.
• Keep connected The enemy of resilience is isolation. Contact with people who are ‘on side’ gives an alternative view of themselves.
• Develop ABC thinking patterns Where A is the activating event, C the consequential act and B, the beliefs they bring to the event, from which their action follows. Recognising that it is not the event itself but the beliefs we attach to it that shape our outcomes, allows the client to start developing plasticity in their thinking.
• Reconnect with core values

They should be values from which they want to live their life.

• Test resilience Complete an online questionnaire such as Robertson Cooper’s i-resilience (www.roberstoncooper.com/iresilience/) to both celebrate what is there and to identify areas that need attention.
• Write down their worst case scenario Think colourfully then look at the results with their rationalist self.
• Notice the differences Our resilience goes up as well as down, so it is vital to notice when it is available and when lacking.
• Think of times of resilience What were they thinking, doing, feeling and how were other people involved? What can they take from that?

Fatal flaws

• Colluding with the client when tough stuff happens
• Denying the impact of negative experiences
• Offering false optimism

Moving forward means learning to live with what is, not hoping it ‘is not’. As reality is faced, the individual can start to find the meaning that they want to make of the experience and can be helped to contextualise the event within a wider picture.

Carole Pemberton runs Coaching to Solutions, is a faculty member of the Academy of Executive Coaching and author of several books, including Coaching to Solutions.

References

• 1. M Neenan, Developing Resilience, Routledge, 2009
• 2. T Ben-Shahar, The Pursuit of Perfect, McGraw-Hill, 2009
• 3. M Seery, A E Holman and R C Silver, “Whatever does not kill us: cumulative lifetime adversity, vulnerability and resilience”, in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(6), pp1025-1041, 2010
• 4. D L Coutu, “How resilience works”, in Harvard Business Review, 8(5), pp46-57, 2002
• 5. A Redmond and P Crisafulli, Comebacks: Powerful Lessons from Leaders who Endured Setbacks and Recaptured Success on Their Terms, Jossey-Bass, p85, 2010

Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 3

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