There goes my hero, watch him as he goes (Foo Fighters)

 

Dan Rockwell on coaching:

Coaching is slow

In the short-term command and control is fast. Eventually, authoritarian styles stifle initiative, create bottlenecks, add stress, cause adversarial relationships, and demotivate.

Coaching requires up-front investment that produces long-term benefit. Coaching-leaders go slow to go fast.

Talk less and ask more/ your advice is not as good/ as you think it is (Haiku)

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As part of my teacher inquiry I'll continue to analyse some key words/ concepts:

• Strategic leadership of the CP
• Line-management of the CP
• Mentoring the CP
• Coaching the CP
• Supporting the CP

Today - coaching.

So far, not much has stuck from the purposes explained in the guide document which is based on the UK model for District Principals.

Coaching can be broadly defined as working with someone 'in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.'

Coaching involves listening to a person, identifying what they need, and helping them develop an action plan. The emphasis is on the person finding the solution, not instructing or leading them.

I like the GROWTH coaching model (there are many variants).

This involves asking a series of leading open questions:

• Goal - what do you want to achieve?
• Reality - what's happening now?
• Options - what could you do?
• Will - what will you do?
• Tactics - how and when will you do it?
• Habits - how will you sustain success?

Compared to mentoring, coaching is more short term, formal and structured, and centres more on specific situations. 

As a District Principal is assigned their Principals strategically (usually geographically) in NZ, the coaching model works best for us, I feel.

Although I may have the same Principals in the next year, the coaching situations are more short term focused, and more formal than mentoring (our Kiwi style is more informal in these coaching moments).

Final post next up on Supporting The CP.

 

One thing I've learned...

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One thing I’ve learned as a coach is that you can’t force your will on people. If you want them to act differently, you need to inspire them to change themselves.

Phil Jackson

In my mind I see a mirage on the wall, but unfortunately it's not there at all. (Iron Butterfly)

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Recently, I had occasion to reflect on my reflections on coaching (it's a room full of mirrors).

I've been posting on this blog since 2008 and in these last 13 years I've put up 16 posts on coaching. That's a fair amount.

I'm a solid believer in the idea that coaching happens in many different forums, mostly when I'm conversing with staff around the campus.

As a young teacher Colin Prentice had two coaching discussions with me as we walked around the Macleans College campus. I can't recall any kind of formal sit down with him but those two informal occasions changed my life. Yes, they did!

After that, as a middle and senior manager (starting as Head of English in 1990 at Waimea College and then as a senior manager in 1996 at MAGS) I have had many coaching and being coached sessions over the years.

As a professional development trainer and consultant in the Middle East (2009 to 2012) I led discussions of coaching with senior Qatari and Emerati school leaders.

Did I always get it right over those last 31 years? Do I know all there is to know about coaching? Ha ha. Of course not!

As Mark Manson says in his book (subtitled, a counterintuitive approach to living a good life):

Growth is an endlessly iterative process. When we learn something new we don't go from 'wrong' to 'right'. Rather we go from wrong to slightly less wrong.

He goes on to say:

We shouldn't seek to find the ultimate 'right' answer for ourselves, but rather, we should seek to chip away at the ways we're wrong today so that we can be a little less wrong tomorrow.

It's in this spirit that I participate in coaching sessions in 2021 - still aiming to be a little less wrong as a coach.

Which brings me to the best coaching session I've had this year. It was with a colleague who I trust, having previously worked with her on professional development for staff in our organisation. She's a fellow Campus Principal so she knows the territory.

During the coaching session she asked excellent questions (we're following a GROWTH model this year) and it led to me making some interesting changes towards developing students as self-directed learners in my own campus.

It's like anything, a work in progress, but I feel like we're on the right path of being less wrong each time we discuss it as a staff.

And that concludes my 17th post on coaching since 2008.

We might still survive and rise up through the maze, if you could change your life and never be the same (Crowded House)

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While still on holiday, I thought I'd include this Seth Godin's post as it resolves a few issues for me:

A coaching paradox

At the top tier of just about any sort of endeavor, you’ll find that the performers have coaches.

Pianists, orators and athletes all have coaches. In fact, it would be weird if we heard of someone on stage or on the field who didn’t have one.

And yet, in the world of business, they’re seen as the exception.

Part of the reason is that work feels like an extension of something we’ve been doing our whole lives. Figure skating isn’t like school, but showing up at work seems to be. “I’ve got this,” is a badge of honor.

And part of the reason is that a few coaches have made claims that stretch belief, and we’re not actually sure what they do. It doesn’t help that there’s no easy way to identify what sort of coach we need or what we’re going to get…

It turns out that the people with the potential to benefit the most from a coach are often the most hesitant precisely because of what coaching involves.

Talking about our challenges. Setting goals. Acknowledging that we can get better. Eagerly seeking responsibility…

And yet we avert our eyes and hesitate. It might be because having a coach might be interpreted as a sign of weakness. And what if we acknowledge our challenges but fail to overcome them? It could be that we don’t want to cause change to happen, or that we’re worried that we will.

One company I admire believes in coaches so much that they’ve put several on staff, ensuring that their leadership all benefit from one. But mostly, it’s something we have to pay for ourselves.

And so, paying for a coach, for something that’s hard to measure, which might be socially awkward, to get better at something that feels normal—combine that with a hesitancy to ask for help—it’s a wonder anyone has a coach.

The paradox is that the very things that hold us back are the reasons we need a coach in the first place.

A manager is a guide. He takes a group of people and says, ‘With you I can make us a success; I can show you the way (Arsène Wenger)

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Arsène Wenger's autobiography has an interesting section on what he thinks makes someone a coach. Here's his summary about what a coach should have:

• A clear vision, a strategy
• Clear expression, good communication, remains lucid
• Action on their plans and buy in from the team members
• Ability to handle stress, judgement, pressure
• Reflective - able to be objective (someone who doesn't respond to stress with passivity or aggressiveness)
• Strong convictions
• Role models behaviour, values and words to influence others possitively
• Experience and empathy for others' opinions, keeping an open mind
• Be humane, compassionate
• Seeks out the best, aims for excellence
• Detail oriented - focusing attention on each detail

It's quite a list and very demanding. He clearly is the epitome of each bullet point.

The last one is interesting to me - when does detail oriented stray into micro-management.

In the book he says that he knows all of the secrets into the building of the Emirates stadium. He was clearly involved every step of the way in its construction but I don't get the sense that he micro-managed the project. In fact, how could he? He was managing Arsenal to 19 Champion League qualifications along the way.

Detail oriented. I like that.

To say good morning and really mean it (The Mamas and Papas)

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Recently, while cleaning up my bookmarks, I came across the Eight Habits of Highly Effective Google Managers list again.

You're busy, so just a quick refresher for you - the top five (and it's in order of importance) are:

• Be a good coach;
• Empower your team and don't micromanage;
• Express interest in employee's success and well-being;
• Be productive and results-oriented;
• Be a good communicator and listen to your team;

I love this list!

The top habit is be a good coach.

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What does that mean?

Luckily, I can tell you, because I have always had this list pinned to my wall (or in my teacher's planbook).

Here's what it says:

• Talk with your employees, not at them!
• Don't exaggerate situations or behaviour
• Talk about behaviour, not attitudes
• Aim not to assume stuff (seek first to understand)
• Follow up!
• Reward improvements.

I love this list too. I gaze at it frequently.

Be a good coach!