Avoiding the platitudes and simple solutions

Wonderful! The Wall Street Journal today has an article called, “Not communicating with Your boss? Count your blessings.”

The wisdom in this article offers a fantastic criticism of much advice that some executive coaches spew. For instance:

- Asking “How can I help?” can be a good thing to do, but can also offend certain people by implying they need help.

- Paraphrasing what people say to show you are listening can make you sound like an idiot and offend others (who may not appreciate being paraphrased).

-  Some problems between people can’t be solved by 5-step formulas or action plans.

- Open communication can backfire with easily threatened managers, or managers with borderline personalities.

- Don’t confuse communication problems with much more serious relationship problems. The latter requires much more nuanced understanding and actions.

- Don’t confuse talking with doing. Results speak the loudest.

- Sometimes no communication is much better than communication — even if, for instance, a boss asks for open communication and feedback. (The article gives the example of a boss who asked a manager for feedback about why his direct reports seemed fearful of him. When she explained why people reacted the way they did to him, he almost fired her).

At the Center for Executive Coaching, we do our best to avoid platitudes (the article notes one article on communication that advises, “Listen to gain understanding”) and instead focus on real-life situations in all of their complexity. The best coaches avoid lazy advice, and have the depth of experience required to help their clients succeed in challenging, politically charged, and often dysfunctional environments.

Case study of a coaching program with fantastic potential

Yesterday I was delighted to have a prospective student contact me and share some of his plans and marketing materials to be a coach.

He showed me a coaching program he wants to offer with the following advantages:

1. He targets an extremely specific target market. This is a huge advantage because his solution and marketing materials speak the language of the market (a specific profession) and goes deeper than more generalized coaching solutions. Plus, he can reach his market easily and at a low cost, compared to going after a wide swath of different businesses.

2. He offers tremendous value and a compelling marketing message. His one-page program description makes it impossible NOT to respond to learn more about his services. He identifies the problem he solves, the benefits of his solution, and the specific results he gets. The only thing he needs to add are testimonials to prove his results, and those are coming.

3. His solution is repeatable. He can package it as an information product (or products), sell it as coaching services, offer seminars, or take a share in companies he helps to build with his methodology.  While most coaches “wing it” or offer custom solutions, this individual does what we teach in our program: He has created a repeatable methodology and a system for getting results for clients.

I love seeing these kinds of focused solutions and plans. This individual will be successful!

Improving your client’s Power Base (and your own)

Right now Center for Executive Coaching members are studying power and influence. At the Center for Executive Coaching, we focus hard on how well clients influence others. The framework is an effective one:

First, we start with one-on-one influence. Most executives don’t understand the need to vary their influence style and strategy depending on the situation and their goal (In fact, many executives don’t even set an explicit goal before going into an influence situation). The coach can help executives choose the right style for the right situation. Does the client want to convince, get compliance, get commitment, or generate alignment? There are different styles that work in each situation.

As part of this training, executive coaches can develop an entire practice around working with clients to rehearse high-stakes conversations and make them more effective prior to a key meeting.

Next, we shift to how to coach executives to get an idea accepted throughout an organization. You can’t influence “them.” Influence happens one person at a time. Coaches can help executives see the political playing field and figure out how to get enough people on board to make an idea happen.

Finally, we move to helping clients build their power base — up, down, across, and outside the organization. Formal authority is very limited, especially these days. Coaches need to help clients build strong business relationships and alliances. That way, they can get things done more rapidly in their own organizations, and also assure career success if and when they choose (or get asked) to leave.

During this entire process, coaches are challenged to look at their own influence styles and, most importantly, power base. That way, they “do the work” too, and also build a stronger network to develop new clients.

Would you rather be successful or ….

It all comes back to outcomes.

Sometimes executives are getting terrific payoffs for neglecting outcomes.

A great conversation to have with your clients in these situations starts off, “Would you rather be successful or….?”

You fill in the blank, depending on the situation:

- Look smart

- Have status

- Look good

- Be safe

- Be popular

- Have perfect information

- Be invulnerable

- Protect your ego

If you have a client whose behavior indicates that they get payoffs through non-productive behaviors and values like the ones above, then you can provide data documenting these behaviors and what they are costing him or her. Next, work with the client to understand why they values these behaviors over the true success that comes with results.

Successful outcomes are hard to achieve. It is much easier to look good, stay safe, or be popular. Take a stand for the results your clients hired you to get.