The most surprising part of our research was that 98% of professionals think he or she is successful at leading effective conference calls and that “everyone else” needs training. This is a perfect example of the “Blind Spot” quadrant of the Johari Window.

Hiring a good coach is a proven way to quickly identify and eliminate your leadership blind spots.

Byron
Co-Author: No More Lame Conference Calls (Kindle)

http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/topic/training-cycle/return-expectations-ultimate-demonstration-training-value

Adding to the complexity is the fact that coaching is only a part of the required spectrum of effective management and leadership behaviours, no wonder it’s tough!

What works well in my experience is to build internal coaching capability, using external qualified expertise, and use this to support key managers to implement the ‘coach approach’ effectively. All this over an intial 9 – 12 month period and ongoing.

The next step for me is to get beyond coaching as ‘a tool’ and have it be, ‘it’s the way we behave around here’ – so it gets way away from a ‘doing’ activity towards new management / leadership behaviours which define an open collaborative purpose. The deal becomes to encourage new identities in leaders who believe that they can be effective by creating environments which foster joint accountability for extraordinary results in their people and teams.

Whilst I would not ask these questions as a coach directly to my client, I belive it is a good set of questions for the client to answer for themselves and THEN BE COACHED on the results – how to be more effective based on this short assessment.

Answer the following ‘Yes’ or ‘No’

Have you agreed with each of your subordinates his/her main targets and continuing responsibilities, together with standards of performance, so that you can both recognise achievement?

Do you recognise the contribution of each member of the group and encourage other team members to do the same?

In the event of success, do you acknowledge it and build on it? In the event of setbacks, do you identify what went well and give constructive guidance for improving future performance?

Can you delegate more? Can you give more discretion over decisions and more accountability to a sub-group or individual?

Do you show to those that work with you that you trust them, or do you hedge them around with unnecessary controls?

Are there adequate opportunities for training and (where necessary) re-training?

Do you encourage each individual to develop his/her capacities to the full?

Is the overall performance of each individual regularly reviewed in face-to-face discussion?

Does financial reward match contribution?

Do you make sufficient time to talk and listen, so that you understand the unique (and changing) profile of needs and wants in each person, so that you can work with the grain of nature rather than against it?

Do you encourage able people with the prospect of promotion within the organisation, or – if that is impossible – counsel them to look elsewhere for the next position fitting their merit?

Can you think of a manager by name who (a) delegates more effectively (b) less effectively than you? What are the results in each case?

(a)

(b)