A group of managers are to be trained in coaching, along with their CEO. Participants must practise together between sessions but the CEO is not keen. How can he be persuaded to take part?
I have been asked by a medium-sized organisation to train a group of managers in coaching skills. The training will be spread over three months, in pairs of days, and a key aspect is for the participants to practise with each other between training sessions. This is an essential part of the programme because people learn best by making mistakes, and working with a course buddy provides a safe place to do so.
Most managers will not risk taking the new skills straight back into the workplace, where there is a risk of failure, so without the practice, the new learning would remain unused and eventually be forgotten. The practice also enables managers to integrate the skills into their own authentic style of leadership, so that coaching techniques are available automatically and fluently when required. This is vital for managers who have to switch between styles of leadership, sometimes directing reports and at others asking for input.
The CEO has agreed to attend the training, but is not comfortable about practising with subordinates. It is advantageous to have a senior manager on the programme, both for him and as a role model, but he needs a ‘safe place’ to practise. How can we get round this?
Carol Wilson
Managing director, Performance Coach Training
When people are concerned about practising coaching on training courses, it is usually because they do not know what to expect. They may have been put in embarrassing positions on previous courses and are wary of committing themselves again.
I would have a private conversation with the individual, listen to his concerns and then explain clearly what will happen. There are usually two aspects to the practice: co-coaching in the training room and co-coaching between training sessions. I would mention that although it is preferable for co-coaching to be about business topics, he could choose a neutral topic, like redesigning his garden, if confidentiality is an issue.
I wouldn’t try to persuade the CEO or mislead him. Once he has the facts, he should decide for himself. I think it is essential that he feels in control – and that he will continue to be.
This dilemma has arisen several times for me and it has never had to go past the conversation – once people understand what is involved, they agree to participate.
If this CEO was still unhappy, I would suggest either he joins an open coach training course such as ours, where the participants will not be from his own company, or find a qualified coach in the organisation with whom he could complete the sessions. He could also be provided with an external coach for a practice partner, but that would be a significant financial investment.
If the CEO did not agree to participate in the co-coaching in the training room, then perhaps he should not join the course at all.
Amanda Bouch
Founder, Amanda Bouch Consulting
There are a couple of reasons why the CEO doesn’t want to practise with his subordinates: a) he doesn’t want to make mistakes and appear fallible, and b) he doesn’t want to talk with a junior about his issues.
The first action would be to have a conversation with the CEO to seek to understand his position. This would also be an opportunity to help him understand how the training is structured and what he should expect during the modules as well as the practice sessions.
Should reason a) be the case, then it’s important to talk about how the training is structured. The CEO may not understand that he will have to practise during the sessions so the trainer needs to manage his expectations to ensure he participates fully. If this is an issue, an alternative may be one-to-one learning.
The CEO also may not understand adult learning and could be a block to implementing coaching. This needs to be addressed as the programme could fail if the CEO and directors are not behind it.
If b) is the case and the CEO doesn’t want to be coached on his business issues, then advising him to bring non-sensitive issues to the coaching makes sense, such as challenges in his non-work life, eg, finding more time for a favourite hobby or getting fit.
If there are other directors on the programme, he could be paired with them for the coaching practice. There should also be non-sensitive business topics that he can raise with his peers.
Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 3