Praxis Management Ltd.

My favorite book on coaching is John Whitmore's Coaching for Performance. It makes coaching sound as easy and accessible as I believe it is. What I want to do here is put coaching in the perspective of a high performance business culture to show you where it fits and how essential it is for making the whole jigsaw fit together.

Coaching is the heart of a values based leadership process. It is coaching that can help people fulfill their potential and contribute to the profitability of any business.

In a knowledge economy the potential of any business is tied up in its people. The challenge is to bring out the very best in each employee. This is not achieved by a directorial style of management.

It is achieved by coaching. Coaching at its core is a fundamental shift from a telling to an asking culture. It’s respectful, encouraging and inspirational.

Asking people questions helps them reflect, and in reflecting builds their awareness. With greater awareness comes a realization of responsibility. When an employee starts taking responsibility then they have started on the journey in the search for solutions to business challenges. This level of staff engagement can only benefit a business. When staff are committed to finding solutions, they commit to their professional development in line with business objectives.

And where does this all come from? It comes from a small shift from tell to ask. There is a simple well respected sequence for asking questions. It is the GROW method. Goal, Reality, Opportunity and Will. It all leads up to the Ws. What will you do? The final question in the sequence calls for a person to take action, to commit.

In a while I will post some suggested GROW questions aimed at helping you get the process started. If you can’t wait, email me for and I will send you a draft copy.

The skill of the coach is fundamental to achieving high levels of engagement. To achieve this, a coach must establish empathy with the coachee. The coach must leave their own ego outside the door. They must focus only on the coachee and commit to helping them succeed. Where the coachee feels this commitment, energy and enthusiasm all focused on helping them achieve their success, it is like nothing else they will experience in their working life. The process itself is a powerful motivator and generates self confidence and aspirations for an individual to fulfill their potential.

This is what person centered means. It is putting the individual employee at the center of the management process. Remember that values and purpose have already been established and aligned. That the company has a BHAG which each employee has already signed up to and is inspired by. Then, when they come to a coaching session excited to be involved in a process that can help them be more successful in a cause for which they are proud.

Remember too ( from the posting on motivation) that motivational levels are already being measured, and each person will have a clear idea of what is holding them up. And, any manager will know where they have to work more effectively with their team. The performance management system provides the focus on business priority which everybody has signed up to. It provides the measure which enables a continuous improvement process to kick in. And, the coaching session is one moment in a month when each person is given time to reflect and prepare an action plan for the next big effort.

Coaching is the safe space where creative ideas can be tested in a non judgmental environment with a critical friend. The coaching space is the powerhouse of personal development. It is where human capital is created and built. And, human capital is critical to any company that is involved in the knowledge economy.

There are now many organizations offering training in coaching. Some offer long and expensive courses. The bare bones of coaching can be picked up very quickly and inexpensively. The real challenge is to practice coaching effectively.  We have developed a simple and useful coaching evaluation questionnaire that we will post. ( for the posting date you can go to forthcoming article)

Using this tool offers the coach the chance to reflect on their performance and success as a coach. It enables them to look at ways to achieve continuous improvement. It provides good material to discuss in subsequent sessions.

Coaching can work well on an individual basis but it works much better if it is part of a consistent company wide culture, where all employees are coached.

If some people in the company are being coached and others directed or managed in a traditional command style, an inconsistency which I call dis-articulation then occurs. Then, dissatisfaction and de-motivation can set in with everyone.

The directed are jealous and feel neglected, and the coach becomes frustrated with the company culture which does not truly embrace the benefits of a person centred culture. These people, the high achievers, are likely to move on in search of a company with a truly articulated culture. However, once coaching becomes a consistent and an inclusive culture, then the company will become really aspirational.

If you have ignited energy level through effective coaching, then you need to develop an expert understand of strategy, particularly how to develop ‘foresight’ so you can focus this invaluable energy for the organization’s benefit. So from here you might want to start reading the posting on strategy.