Posts Tagged ‘360 degree feedback’

More often than not, a leader is told that they are getting an executive coach without being part of the decision process. As a coach, it can create a variety of reactions from the coachee. Depending on the situation and events leading up to the decision, the continuum of reactions can be from enthusiasm to apprehension, fear, and even anger.

Variables that can influence the reaction to being coached can include but are not limited to: coaching history within the organization-positive or negative, performance feedback from the leader, leadership development plans, recent 360 degree surveys, and relationship with the leader.

So where are you on this continuum?  My experience is that if you are at the anger or fear side of the spectrum and you remain there, your opportunity to grow and learn will be a missed opportunity.

All too often, a successful leader’s initial reaction to a coaching assignment is as one of being penalized rather than one of being rewarded. And yet, once they understand the motive of their leader, more often than not it changes their perception of the coaching opportunity. Those that do make the transition from negative feelings and emotions over to a positive place can actually take advantage of the opportunity to work with an executive coach and perform to their best. The rate of this transition differs by individual and those who remain firm to their negative beliefs longer will benefit the least from coaching.  Often they move into apathy and just go through the motions.  They make changes but they aren’t developed into habits and thus the changes may dissipate after the coaching assignment has concluded.

How can you move up the continuum so that your mind opens to new ideas and perspectives and you can take full advantage of your coaching opportunity?

The first step is to understand how your manager made the decision to provide you with a coach and what her goals are for you. Often your executive coach will be involved in this discussion. Was it in a place of caring for you and a desire to see you develop to a higher level of performance? Or was she looking for one more way to try and “fix” you? And then you need to understand what she is looking for as an end result in the process.  What will she observe or measure that proves you have progressed?

Once you understand what his reasoning is and the goals he has for you then you are ready to start the coaching process by talking to several coaches. Since you will be working closely with this individual over a 6-12 month period of time, it will be important that there is a good “chemistry” between the two of you.

As you work with your coach, he will provide you with opportunities to raise your awareness of the environment and people around you as well as your self-awareness. A high level of awareness drives a high performance levels. The other necessary step in the coaching process is an acceptance of responsibility in your own thoughts, feelings, and actions. No one controls any of these personal aspects of your person. Learning to manage these parts of your persona can have a powerful impact on your performance and relationships.

The opportunity to have an executive coach is just that, an opportunity not a penalty.  An executive coach can assist you in learning more about your strengths and challenges, as well as develop into a better, higher performing leader and individual.

Do you often wonder why you get information late and when you do,  are you surprised by it?  Or during meetings, you seem to be the only person talking? What is happening to cause these communication breakdowns?

Recently I was working with an executive who was frustrated that the information flow in his organization was often slow and/or incomplete. As we explored potential reasons, it became evident to me that the environment was one of distrust and fear.  Historically, when an employee had bad news to be delivered, the consequences for the person delivering the message were less than desirable. In addition, the leader went into a micro-managing mode as a defense mechanism to eliminate any future bad news. So what’s the message to the employee?  Bad news leads to bad consequences.

In addition when team members were asked for their suggestions and opinions, the leadership often ignored or dismissed them. No wonder communications were ineffective. 

The article , “Ruthlessly Realistic: How CEO’s Must Overcome Denial”, in HBS Working Knowledge March 29, 2010, points to CEO leading to a breakdown in communications as well. Middle managers are generally the leaders who will initially identify a problem. Yet when the bad news finally makes it up to the CEO who chooses not to acknowledge the reality because it doesn’t fit with his “reality”, guess who looses her job?  It is the middle manager who dared to speak the truth.

If you want to increase the flow of communication here are some tips:

1. If in fact you have an unsafe environment for communications, you need to be transparent with your team and share with them your desire to change the environment and ask them for to help you with the change process. How do you find out if they believe it to be unsafe? You can measure the level of communications safety by way of a 360 degree feedback tool or interview process using an outside resource to insure anonymity. This process will give you a benchmark of communications safety which you can then re-measure after a significant time period to see how you have progressed.

2. When in meetings where it is important to get many ideas and opinions out on the table, don’t dismiss an individual’s comments.  A great technique to use is the “yes, and” technique.  This is opposite to “yes, but”, which people use when they don’t like a person’s idea or opinion. Commit to this technique and see how the volume of ideas increases.  Also, others will notice and start to adopt the technique as well.

3. There are always individuals on a team that you can count on to speak up and voice their opinions and then there are the extreme introverts that need to be invited to share their thoughts.  Make sure that all voices are heard during a meeting. If you have someone who may be uncomfortable sharing their ideas, let them know in advance that you will be asking for their opinion during the meeting so they aren’t caught off guard.

So the next time you are having a meeting, listen and observe. Are people not sharing their ideas or revealing problems in a timely manner because of a behavior that  you are displaying or not displaying? Don’t be a victim of denial and take the steps to change the dynamics of communications within your team or organization.