Tall Trees Executive Coaching | Offices in Zug Switzerland and Karlsruhe Germany

The evolution of business coaching: from embarrassment to reward

Krissy Jackson — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 19:50:23 +0000

Views have changed in past decade

By Derek Sankey, Postmedia News November 16, 2011

Ten years ago, when a company hired a business coach, it was seen as a sign of deficiency in the person being mentored.

Fast forward to today and it’s abundantly clear that views on the practice have changed.

“I view it as a reward, a benefit or a perk,” says Jeff Hilton, a vice-president and client representative with SNC-Lavalin in Calgary. “It’s a unique opportunity to get a perspective from somebody who’s not inside the organization.”

Whether you call it executive coaching, business coaching, career coaching or any variation on that, the practice has evolved to become one of the most important tools available to help high-potential employees move into the next stage of their careers.

When Hilton watched his 14-year-old daughter get coached in everything from skiing to horse riding, he quickly realized the value of having a subject matter expert in your corner – in business or in sport.

“When we watched incredibly competent coaches, they go through a process to establish a relationship, a bond of trust,” he says. “There are measurements to understand where you think you are and where others think you are.”

Lori-anne Demers is a master certified coach who has been working with Hilton over the past few months to help him obtain his leadership and performance objectives.

“The big change that’s happened over the past 10 years from the client’s perspective is that there was a time when coaching was seen as remedial – someone would get a coach if they were in trouble or not doing well,” Demers says. “It was almost like coaching in the closet”…

The Future of Coaching Clearer

Krissy Jackson — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:27:03 +0000

7th Annual Survey Underway

By Sherpa Coaching

Published: Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011 – 12:50 pm

CINCINNATI, Nov. 17, 2011 — /PRNewswire/ — For each of the past six years, coaches and customers have gained new insight into the business of executive coaching. The data’s not coming from a professional pollster or marketing group. The survey comes from the coaching industry itself.

The Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey is the longest-running research in the industry, uniquely positioned to evaluate the evolving world of coaching. Every year, full research reporting is released in January. Tens of thousands see the results at no charge.

What few people see is the effort behind the scenes. Karl Corbett, Managing Partner at Sherpa Coaching, is the survey’s creator. He volunteers six weeks each year collecting data, analyzing it, and reporting out to thousands of executives, coaches and clients.

“Back in 2006, there wasn’t any research for us to work from,” Corbett said. “So, we asked what our university students and training and development experts would want to know, because we wanted to add depth to the work we did. We’re emerging from chaos into clarity, and the survey is part of that process.”

Last year’s survey revealed that new technology makes face-to-face coaching less dependent on geography. “Some top-level coaches already rely on high-end video conferencing, but tools like Skype make technology affordable for just about anyone,” Corbett said.

“We’re barely scratching the surface of human potential. With machines doing a great deal of our manual work, we can sit, think, and realize our potential in ways that build relationships, teams and companies. As coaching becomes more standardized, this profession will become more credible and its results more predictable. We will see more use of coaching in the future. There may come a point at which it will plateau. Then we’ll have to go onto the next frontier, but coaching will be on the upswing for a while,” Corbett explained.

Executive coaching is growing in credibility and scope, according to the 2011 survey. Demand for accurate research and reliable data is higher than ever. What truly unites coaches across continents, beyond trade organizations and social networks is the annual document that gives a voice to the coaches and “power to the people.”

The executive coaching survey collects data through December 15, 2011 at http://qsurvey.net/coach

What an Executive Coach Can Do for You

Krissy Jackson — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 10:53:33 +0000

Do you need an executive coach? Do your managers? Here is a useful framework for thinking about the role of coaching, from Harvard Management Update.

by Paul Michelman

Is executive coaching at U.S. companies destined to play a role occupied by psychoanalysis in some Neil Simon version of Hollywood: a virtual prerequisite for anyone who aspires to be anyone?

It might seem that way at some organizations, at least to the untrained eye. IBM has more than sixty certified coaches among its ranks. Scores of other major companies have made coaching a core part of executive development. The belief is that, under the right circumstances, one-on-one interaction with an objective third party can provide a focus that other forms of organizational support simply cannot.

And whereas coaching was once viewed by many as a tool to help correct underperformance, today it is becoming much more widely used in supporting top producers. In fact, in a 2004 survey by Right Management Consultants (Philadelphia), 86 percent of companies said they used coaching to sharpen the skills of individuals who have been identified as future organizational leaders.

“Coaching has evolved into the mainstream fast,” says Michael Goldberg, president of Building Blocks Consulting (Manalapan, New Jersey), whose clients include New York Life and MetLife. “This is because there is a great demand in the workplace for immediate results, and coaching can help provide that.” How? By providing feedback and guidance in real time, says Brian Underhill, a senior consultant at the Alliance for Strategic Leadership (Morgan Hill, California). “Coaching develops leaders in the context of their current jobs, without removing them from their day-to-day responsibilities.”

At an even more basic level, many executives simply benefit from receiving any feedback at all. “As individuals advance to the executive level, development feedback becomes increasingly important, more infrequent, and more unreliable,” notes Anna Maravelas, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based executive coach and founder of TheraRising. As a result, she says, “Many executives plateau in critical interpersonal and leadership skills.”

So, should you have a coach? And which managers in your sphere of responsibility might benefit from working with an outsider to help sharpen skills and overcome hurdles to better performance?

The right approach to answering these questions still varies a great deal depending on whom you ask, but input from several dozen coaches, and executives who have undergone coaching, does provide a useful framework for how to think about the role of coaching.

SUP – Walking on water

Krissy Jackson — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 22:51:09 +0000

Sun setting.
Lake, pond-like, reflected glow of pink and orange.
Dull hum of cars and rumble of trains barely intrude.
Peace hangs in the Autumn air.
Fish jump, birds dive or sit majestically atop trees in the twilight,
wildlife unperturbed by this strange intruder.
Villagers watch discreetly from balconies as I glide by,
wishing that they, like me,
were walking on water tonight.

Six Common Misperceptions about Teamwork

Krissy Jackson — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 08:54:11 +0000

From Harvard business Review
by J. Richard Hackman

Teamwork and collaboration are critical to mission achievement in any organization that has to respond quickly to changing circumstances. My research in the U.S. intelligence community has not only affirmed that idea but also surfaced a number of mistaken beliefs about teamwork that can sidetrack productive collaboration. Here are six of them.

Read full article

Seven steps to better brainstorming

admin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:29:43 +0000

Most attempts at brainstorming are doomed. To generate better ideas—and boost the odds that your organization will act on them—start by asking better questions.

From: The Mckinsey Quarterly March 2011
By: Kevin P. Coyne and Shawn T. Coyne

Companies run on good ideas. From R&D groups seeking pipelines of innovative new products to ops teams probing for time-saving process improvements to CEOs searching for that next growth opportunity—all senior managers want to generate better and more creative ideas consistently in the teams they form, participate in, and manage.

Yet all senior managers, at some point, experience the pain of pursuing new ideas by way of traditional brainstorming sessions—still the most common method of using groups to generate ideas at companies around the world. The scene is familiar: a group of people, often chosen largely for political reasons, begins by listening passively as a moderator (often an outsider who knows little about your business) urges you to “Get creative!” and “Think outside the box!” and cheerfully reminds you that “There are no bad ideas!”

The result? Some attendees remain stone-faced throughout the day, others contribute sporadically, and a few loudly dominate the session with their pet ideas. Ideas pop up randomly—some intriguing, many preposterous—but because the session has no structure, little momentum builds around any of them. At session’s end, the group trundles off with a hazy idea of what, if anything, will happen next. “Now we can get back to real work,” some whisper…

Read full article

Boundary Setting, Not Just a Challenge for Women

Krissy Jackson — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 10:39:31 +0000

I wrote the following article a couple of years ago when I was working with women in IT, but on reflection and looking at the problems many of my male clients face, I would like to share the article again. Boundary setting really is not just a challenge for women in the workplace, it is a difficult issue for men too.

Setting boundaries is the single most common issue my clients deal with in their personal and professional lives. Why do women find them so difficult to put in place? And what can you do if a lack of boundaries is standing between you and the career success you desire?

What are Boundaries?

Whether you’re working in the corporate world or running your own business, you need to develop and continually exercise strong boundaries. Boundaries are the environment within which you operate – mentally, emotionally and physically. They separate you from other people.

Think of a boundary like a vase. The vase is holding a bouquet of flowers – these represent your mind, body and spirit. If the vase were to break, the flowers would be scattered about, the water keeping them alive would flow over the table and on to the floor and very soon the blooms would wither. The same thing happens when you don’t have boundaries. You feel overwhelmed, out of control, and scattered. And, still worse, you make yourself vulnerable to being controlled and manipulated by others because you’re afraid to stand up for who you are. We need boundaries, “the vase,” in order to bloom, in fact, quite simply, to survive.

Why are Boundaries So Difficult to Set?

There are several reasons why women find boundary setting challenging:

They don’t like confrontation.

They’re socialized to be nice because “that’s the way they’re supposed to be,” and

They’re afraid people won’t like them.

Women seem to experience more difficulty setting boundaries than men do. We’re socialized in a way which makes it seem like we’re “bad” if we are too assertive. My clients often comment that they’re afraid that if they say “no” or speak out, that their colleagues will not like them, or even heaven forbid that they will become the office B**** that everyone loves to hate.

Life is filled with confrontation of one sort or another. We must all learn to deal with it. No one will agree with you 100% of the time. The opposite is also true. And, others will not always treat you with respect, no matter how much you may deserve it. Confrontation is where problems are aired and new lines are set. When you look at it from this perspective confrontation actually plays an important part in our growth as people.

Being nice and having boundaries are not mutually exclusive. Setting boundaries does not mean that you’re bad or wrong. Instead, it means you value and respect yourself. You need to define what is acceptable in terms of how others will treat you. So what is the best way to move into your power by setting boundaries? Here are seven tips to help you get started.

Build Better Boundaries: 7 Success Tips

1. Model success. Think about someone you really admire. I’m sure he or she has strong boundaries. While you might sometimes find it somewhat annoying, that’s probably the single most important reason you respect them as you do. How do they manage their boundaries? Observe their behavior – then try modeling it.

2. Think first, act later. What’s important to you? How do you want others to treat you? Spend some quiet time thinking things thru before you decide to let others know how you feel. This is a much better approach than suddenly deciding in the middle of a heated argument, that you’re “just not going to take it anymore”, often a very expensive mistake. Don’t risk damaging your career, business, or personal relationships by acting on impulse.

3. Teach others how to treat you. Every day, you’re training people how you want them to treat you, whether you know it or not. By not speaking up, by not informing people about how you wish to be treated, you are confirming that this behavior is completely acceptable in your world

4. Management by following up. This strategy is especially important if you’re working with others to whom you’ve delegated tasks. Write down the deliverables, when they were committed to, and their expected completion dates. Follow up daily by phone or in person to make sure that others are working towards completing things according to plan. Regular and focused follow-up reminds others of your expectations.

5. Say “No” and tell them why. When you say “no” to someone, offer a reason. “No,” in and of itself, can come across as harsh and abrupt. Lighten up your communication by extending the conversation with some details. “No, I’m so sorry, but I have a lot of commitments right now and taking on this project – would be too much at this time.”

6. Say, “Yes, but …”. When faced with the inevitable last minute request, typically delivered by those who live in chaos and overwhelm, make sure you’re even stronger with your boundaries. If you can handle the task, say “yes” – but with the provision that you’ll do it when and only when you’re completed with working on your current projects.

7. Under-promise and over-deliver. When you’re asked to do something, tell them that things will take a little longer than you expect. This way, if something does come up you’ll still be able to deliver on time. And, if everything proceeds as planned, then you’ll finish early and they’ll be pleasantly surprised. Setting boundaries and setting expectations in the minds of others go hand-in-hand.

Boundaries and Your Success

In summary, boundaries are critically important to your success in life, both personally and professionally. They define who you are and who you are not. They empower you to value and respect yourself. And, when you do, others will as well. It all starts with you. Take on the challenge – I guarantee you that the rewards will be well worth it.

Human Capital – an Appreciating Asset

Krissy Jackson — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:40:48 +0000

Business leaders frequently state that people are their greatest asset – but in reality very few of them have the evidence to back up their claim. A recent Mercer study1 found that while most executives believe that “human capital” (the value of people and what they produce) is very important, far fewer of them measure it or have any idea of the return on their investment.

Mercers analysis of the way organizations measure their human capital has led to a number of recommendations.

Read the Mercer 2010 Anthology for this and more.

International Postings Can be Challenging for All the Family

Krissy Jackson — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 20:12:30 +0000

The Impact of Relocation

The driver held open the door as she stepped into the car, which would take them to family and friends waiting to celebrate the birth of their now two week old son. She looked back at the 19th century cottage they had owned for just three months, imagined her fledgling family growing there and sighed contentedly; settled with a family, her dreams were fulfilled. Her new husband turned to her and smiled: “I have great news; the company is moving us to Switzerland.”

Read full article

Things are Looking Up for Graduates

Krissy Jackson — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 12:37:45 +0000

2011 heralds a brighter outlook for graduates as vacancy numbers increase for first time since recession began

The number of graduate vacancies rose in last year’s recruitment season for the first time since the recession started to bite, according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), which published the winter edition of its bi-annual survey this week.

Despite a slow start to the recruitment year 2009/10, leading to initially pessimistic forecasts, employers reported a surge in graduate vacancies in the closing months, resulting in an 8.9% rise in vacancies on the previous recruitment round. This upward trend is predicted to continue with a further increase of 3.8% in 2010/11.

However despite a brighter outlook in terms of vacancies, the median graduate starting salary was fixed at £25,000 for the second year in a row in 2009/2010 and is predicted to remain stagnant for an unprecedented third year.

Many graduate employers will also be holding back other financial incentives for graduates in 2010/11, with only one quarter likely to reward successful candidates with a lump sum payment and approximately two-thirds (67.8%) saying that they do not intend to offer education premiums.