Getting your mojo back!

I wonder if this is familiar to you: you develop your skills and qualifications, embark on a career, settle, perhaps raise a family, busily meet your family and work commitments, and then one day you think “where am I in all this?” or “what about me?” or “where am I going?”. If it is, you’re in good company.

Our early career/life dreams and aspirations are sometimes dulled and ‘mislaid’ by the competing demands of daily responsibilities and the passage of time. Very often it takes an external event (such as redundancy, the children leaving home, the illness or death of a friend or colleague) to make us pause and realise that we’ve lost something – perhaps some degree of drive, passion or interest. One of my clients described this as having “lost her mojo”**. It’s curious that we can plod along, inured to the blandness of our lives for some time before the trigger event which brings us up sharp, and which causes us to realise our discontent. At that stage we have a choice – to plough on and remain unfulfilled and discontent, or to do something about it. Either way, the genie is out of the bottle.

Taking time out to reflect, take stock and explore new goals and opportunities is a powerful, life-affirming experience. It’s often enough to put the ‘zing’ back into your day and the ‘mojo’ back into your life. As the coach who works to help others achieve this it’s what puts the zing in mine!

My personal coaching programmes are run to help others rediscover their ‘zing’. In partnership with my client we  assess strengths, values and needs, uncover/develop new aspirations and goals, and develop a focused new way forward. This involves deep and insightful questioning and challenge, and can lead to powerful realisations and self-knowledge about who you are and how you can ‘be’ your true self. The result? You are re-energised and your needs are more realistically and rewardingly balanced and met, along  with those of family, work and so on.

If you have lost yourself to the demands of family and work commitments, perhaps you will also make the choice to address the situation, and get your mojo back!

** A colleague of mine beautifully describes a similar state as “a fur lined rut” – thanks Noel Gray (@kNOELedge)!

Sarah is an executive and career coach based in Cambridge, England. To learn more about our coaching programmes, or to make a one-hour consultation, contact Sarah on:

T: 01954 718037
E: sarah.jaggers@managingchange.org.uk
W: www.managingchange.org.uk

Success, willpower and glucose

I was intrigued to read in February’s Psychologist (vol. 25 no. 2) that prisoners whose cases come up just before lunch have a near zero probability of getting paroled. The article showcased Roy F. Baumeister’s (Professor of Psychology at Florida State University) work on self-control and willpower which I find both fascinating and valuable in the coaching context. 

Baumeister’s work has led him to conclude that the most important factors leading to happy and successful lives are intelligence and self-control – and by a long way. “Self-control is what people use to restrain their desires and impulses”. It is essentially about change and our tendency to self-regulate our responses, emotions, thoughts and performance according to some personal standard or ideal. Baumeister’s work has shown that successful self-control depends upon a limited resource of energy. When this energy is temporarily used up (termed “ego depletion”), for example when resisting the temptation to eat another chocolate, our willpower drops and we are much less able to resist the next temptation until the energy reserves are built back up. This explains why self-control is most likely to break down towards the end of the day.

Baumeister describes one study in which five minutes of resisting temptation to eat chocolate biscuits led to a drop of ten minutes in how long people were able to persevere with a stressful task.

In coaching situations where we are working to assist people to change behaviour, thoughts or emotions and stick to their actions, this research has interesting implications. Making change is often the easy part in a coaching intervention. Maintaining those new behaviours is often the most difficult part. Baumeister indicates two areas which might have helpful applications:

1) physiological basis – an accidental finding has led to the understanding that willpower is linked to glucose levels. The effects of “ego depletion” can be addressed by giving a dose of glucose. Apparently a prisoner coming before a judge after lunch has a 65% chance of getting parole.

2) ‘muscle’ development – self-control is considered to have muscle-type properties in that it can be strengthened with exercise. Performing exercises designed to strengthen self-control are effective after just a two week period.

Baumeister states that evidence suggests that the most successful people – and those with the best self-control - spend less time than others struggling with temptations and crises. As coaches perhaps, in helping strengthen the self-control ‘muscle’, we can help clients achieve their goals more effectively. Another glass of Lucozade anyone?

Roy F. Baumeister – Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength (2011)

Sarah is an executive and career coach based in Cambridge, England.
T: 01954 718037
E: sarah.jaggers@managingchange.org.uk
W: www.managingchange.org.uk

Know yourself, Be yourself

Are you able to express your personality, beliefs and values in your work? Are your beliefs and values compromised by what you are expected to do in pursuit of earning a living? Does your current role help you to achieve your ambitions and aspirations? Are you actually clear as to what your personal style, values, aspirations and beliefs are? 

For most of us, the ability to “be me”, i.e. to be authentic and true to yourself, is an important part of achieving fulfilment and satisfaction in life. For many of us however, the constraints of needing to earn a living, or childhood teaching that we shouldn’t expect work to be fun or enjoyable, and other self-imposed limitations such as age or qualifications, mean that we fail to achieve that fulfilment, and moreover convince ourselves that it is unattainable for us, right now.

The problem with this thinking is that “if not now, when?” We can always find justification for putting these things off to another day. However, there comes a time when we run out of having “another day”.

The start of a new year presents a fresh perspective on the future and often a will to make changes and set goals for the year ahead. If you feel stuck doing the “right thing” in your career but are not achieving satisfaction or fulfilment, now is the best time to start addressing it.

Ian had a successful career in software as a consultant. However he actively disliked his job and felt stressed and unfulfilled in his daily work. Moreover he felt unable to “be himself” and was growing increasingly unhappy and frustrated with the role. As time went by his confidence decreased to the extent that he felt stuck in his role and harboured very strong doubts about his ability to be successful elsewhere. He felt further ‘stuck’ by having a young family to support.

Ian, like many other clients, felt locked in the mindset that whilst not happy in his role, pursuing other directions – in his case a strong desire to start up a new business with colleagues – was “living in cloud cuckoo land”. He feared that this was no more than a fantasy, an unrealistic dream. It is interesting how many of us have our desires so effectively quashed by a dose of the “reality stick”. As a consequence, he stayed put in his job for 4 years, doing the ‘right thing’ by his family and employer, but ultimately at a large cost to himself. Many of us at some time find ourselves in Ian’s position. How many of us really want to reach retirement thinking “if only…” or “could I have…?”

This represents a form of “either/or” thinking – feeling caught between two options: either to stay stuck or to be wildly irresponsible. I think that it represents very limited thinking. When we allow ourselves to think in terms of possibilities and opportunities, new alternatives emerge. When we think about preparing and planning for a career change we are better able to satisfy ourselves (and our loved ones) that the transition to a fulfilling career will be managed with as little (or as much) risk as desired.

We get stuck in careers and jobs in which we are unfulfilled or dissatisfied for various reasons including:

• I lack the skills or qualifications to do what I’d really like to do
• I have no idea what I’d really like to do
• I don’t know if I have the appropriate strengths or abilities to do what I’d really like to do
• I don’t know how to go about achieving my dream
• I have no idea what I would be best suited to
• I can’t afford to switch jobs or change direction
• I am not happy in my current role but have no idea why I feel that way
• I don’t enjoy my work but work’s not meant to be fun or enjoyable anyway
• I am too old to change direction now
• Now is just not the right time to make a change

If any of these resonate with you perhaps it’s time to ask yourself “is this good enough?” and “should I do something about it?”

Career coaching is an effective way of addressing these issues. Every week we help people from all walks of life take stock of their careers to date, assess their own strengths and desires, define a new career direction, and help them in the practical steps of achieving that transition. Ian put a toe in the water initially by having a Career Audit session with us. This enabled him to clearly understand his situation and why he felt as he did, and to define his career coaching goals. In the following coaching sessions, Ian grew in confidence, developed a clear focus and sense of direction, and implemented a career transition plan which is helping him move into his start-up career in a low risk way. When Ian now looks back he says “I can’t believe I stayed in that role for so long. I suppose I didn’t believe I would find anything better and didn’t want to risk ending up somewhere even worse. Now I am much more confident and in control of my career.”

A Career Audit might be just the start you need to take that first step.
Sarah is an executive and career coach based in Cambridge, England. To learn more about a Career Audit, or to discuss further, contact Sarah on:
T: 01954 718037
E: sarah.jaggers@managingchange.org.uk
W: www.managingchange.org.uk

Exceptional Executive Coaches

What does it mean to be an exceptional executive coach and what does it take?  A recent study of the practices and personal attributes of exceptional executive coaches provides valuable information both for purchasers of executive coaching services and executive coaches themselves.

Gavin R. Dagley’s study sought to understand what the typical purchasers of executive coaches (human resources professionals) considered to be the outcomes of exceptional executive coaching and what the underlying factors to these outcomes were.

His study found that the single most important outcome was “behaviour change” measured both by the executives themselves and by their colleagues. Critically, such change was not compliant but sustained. These changes manifested themselves in:

• Personal outcomes (eg increased self-confidence, motivation, etc)
• Realisation of potential (eg career development, retention, etc)

So what did these coaches do that weaker executive coaches did not? Capabilities included:

• Credibility
• Empathy and respect
• Holding the professional self
• Diagnostic skill and insight
• Approach flexibility and range
• Working to the business context
• A philosophy of personal responsibility
• Skilful challenging

Dagley’s findings indicate that these capabilities are not necessarily absent in weaker coaches but that exceptional executive coaches “are able to deliver against all and any of these quite basic characteristics and deliver at an observably superior level of expertise”.

As a consequence, executives typically experienced:

• Engagement
• Deeper conversations
• Insight and responsibility

In comparing exceptional coaches with weaker coaches, comments included “the weaker coach just plays out what is in front of him, and then drags out one of his tools or techniques…” while exceptional coaches are “able to get to deeper conversations more quickly, and motivate people to take personal responsibility for their own development and growth”.

Dagley concludes that exceptional coaches display “exquisite expertise” and that they are differentiated from other coaches by “the essentially human and personal qualities that underpin such expertise”.

To read the full study, see Exceptional executive coaches: Practices and attributes – International Coaching Psychology Review Volume 5 No. 1 March 2010.

Sarah is an executive coach based in Cambridge, England.
T: 01954 718037
E: sarah.jaggers@managingchange.org.uk
W: www.managingchange.org.uk

The value of business coaching from Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Raising awareness and gaining perspective…

Sarah is an executive coach based in Cambridge, England.
T: 01954 718037
E: sarah.jaggers@managingchange.org.uk
W: www.managingchange.org.uk

Are you just ticking the boxes of staff development?

Many organisations, particularly small and medium sized enterprises, consider the use of executive coaching for staff development to be expensive. As a consequence many implement ‘halfway’ measures which appear to be less costly. These measures include psychometric assessment, team building days, feedback sessions, etc. Whilst these also incur costs they represent a smaller ‘per head’ cost than a one-to-one or even group coaching programme.

In my experience, and that of many of my coaching colleagues, this often represents a poor investment both in direct cost and also in staff time. Staff returning from away days or training programmes, or newly clutching a psychometric report or 360 feedback report, may well be keen to act on their new skills or awareness. If time and support is not provided (by internal or external coaches, and by line management) further development is unlikely to happen as people quickly get drawn back into the demands of their day to day activity. Progress on development is then frequently only picked up as part of the six monthly appraisal conversation. There are important implications here:

1. These ‘halfway’ interventions run the risk that the topic of ‘staff development’ can be mistakenly ticked off as ‘done’
2. Such interventions are unlikely to bring about desired changes or performance improvements. This leads to a view that such expenditure is poor value since clear and measurable benefit did not result, and may then be further cut back.

When I begin a coaching assignment, I always ask whether there is any 360° feedback or psychometric assessment that may be available for use since I am keen to work with the investment the employer has already made. When I discuss what the assessment or feedback has helped them to understand or how they’ve used the material, clients will usually say ‘little’ or ‘nothing’. This is almost consistently the case with one or two notable exceptions and these are always where the organisations run comprehensive and integrated coaching development programmes. Many of these leadership or management development programmes involve a workshop, psychometric assessment and one coaching feedback session. When rolled out across teams these are costly. Yet the return on that investment is likely to be poor.

I recommend that better value is had from coaching support following the 360° and psychometric assessments that helps the individual commit to take action and receive support in achieving goals. If this is properly integrated and coordinated with the line manager’s activity, this will further secure effective development and help to ensure a better return on investment.

Sarah is an executive coach based in Cambridge, England.
T: 01954 718037
E: sarah.jaggers@managingchange.org.uk
W: www.managingchange.org.uk

Learning Styles and Other Myths

As coaches we all know about learning styles. That we all learn differently with varying preferences for visual, auditory and kinaesthetic (VAK) modalities. This is so well established that coaches, consultants and trainers have been using this model in organisations for years. By assessing the individual’s preferred learning style we can adjust the delivery of information and experience to best effect. Schools and colleges are also using learning styles in the classroom. My daughter came home from school earlier in the year telling me about her own learning style which had been assessed that week with the rest of her year group. A subsequent evening event at the school, put on to help parents support their children through exam preparation, explained the importance of learning styles. The speaker, an external educational consultant and experienced ex-teacher, spoke authoritatively and convincingly about learning styles and related topics in what was otherwise a very valuable evening. I say ‘otherwise’ because learning styles is one of a number of supposedly factual models which appears to have no basis in fact at all.

The VAK learning style (and indeed others) has been extensively studied for over 30 years. Writing in 2007, Baroness Susan Greenfield (an eminent neuroscientist) said “The rationale for employing VAK learning styles appears to be weak. After more than 30 years of educational research into learning styles there is no independent evidence that VAK, or indeed any other learning style inventory, has any direct educational benefits”. And yet we are still confidently and authoritatively rolling this stuff out to people. According to Susan Greenfield, the practice is “nonsense” from a neuroscientific point of view: “Humans have evolved to build a picture of the world through our senses working in unison, exploiting the immense interconnectivity that exists in the brain. It is when the senses are activated together — the sound of a voice is synchronisation with the movement of a person’s lips — that brain cells fire more strongly than when stimuli are received apart.”

In her 2010 book “Evidence-Based Training Methods: A Guide for Training Professionals,” Ruth Clark also challenges the use of learning styles, “The learning style myth leads to some very unproductive training approaches that are counter to modern evidence of what works…The time and energy spent perpetuating the various learning style myths can be more wisely invested in supporting individual differences that are proven to make a difference—namely, prior knowledge of the learner.” (Clark, 2010, p. 10)

It seems that when an idea develops some ‘pseudo-scientific feel’ behind it, it runs and runs. I know that many will (and do) argue that it doesn’t matter that there no evidence behind it and that the discussion and the focus it engenders is more important and valuable; that as long as people derive some value from it that’s OK. I come across exactly the same argument from those still using certain psychometric instruments for which there is little or no validity at all. Whilst I agree that thinking about how best we learn, or how best to assess various personality characteristics and styles is valuable and helps to broaden our awareness and understanding, I can’t believe that it is good professional practice to promote models and ideas with no factual basis to them at all. I think it is good practice for us all as professional coaches running ethical practice to ask rather more frequently “so, where’s the evidence?”, “is that true/accurate?”, etc.

When we select tools and models to use with clients let us at least take the time to establish their credibility and worth. If we chose to use a tool or model that has as yet, little or no known weight behind it, let us at least be open and mindful of that and not ascribe greater credence to it than is true.

Sarah is an executive coach based in Cambridge, England.
T: 01954 718037
E: sarah.jaggers@managingchange.org.uk
W: www.managingchange.org.uk

Companies want chemistry and professionalism from executive coaches

The most important characteristic companies are looking for when selecting external executive coaches is personal chemistry according to research from this year’s Ridler Report. The study found that of the companies surveyed 81% considered personal chemistry “highly relevant” or “essential”. Next in importance were ‘depth and rigour of professional coach training’ with 58% of respondents indicating that this was “highly relevant” or “essential”, followed by evidence of high professional coaching standards (eg. regular supervision) with 55%, and ‘professional reputation in the marketplace’ (53%).

The study also found that external coaches are more commonly used among senior managers than internal coaches. Coaching was most frequently used in leadership development programmes for top talent, with 63% of surveyed companies doing so. Coaching to support the transition into a newly promoted appointment was next with 59% of respondents indicating this was “often” or “very often” used.

The Ridler Report is based upon annual research into executive coaching and has been published over the past four years providing a picture of changing trends within the profession. Clive Mann, editor of the Ridler Report and managing director of Ridler & Co, said: “The Ridler Report research programme has, over its first four years, surfaced evidence of an increased emphasis among users of executive coaching on coaching professionalism when assessing executive coaches’ effectiveness.” The Report also indicates that most companies using internal coaches also use executive coaches, particularly for senior executive level employees, and above. 69% of CEOs and main board directors, and 52% of senior executives, “always” or “usually” used external rather than internal coaches.

The full Ridler Report 2011 will be made available after the summer and can be ordered by contacting Laura Taylor – laura.taylor@ridlerandco.com

Sarah is an executive coach based in Cambridge, England.
T: 01954 718037
E: sarah.jaggers@managingchange.org.uk
W: www.managingchange.org.uk

The indulgence of executive coaching?

I heard an interesting comment recently – no one wakes up in the morning saying “I must get a coach”. That’s probably true. Certainly when I was in corporate life I never uttered those words. Yet when an executive coach was appointed to work with me it provided a landmark point in my career.

I didn’t have any particular performance issues or other difficulties and everything was going well. I was fortunate enough to be working for a CEO who had valued coaching himself and who felt it would be valuable to provide all his directors with the opportunity should they wish to take it up. I did, and I never looked back.

I had a good coach – not a superstar, not a guru, not someone who writes best selling books or appears on TV shows. I had a good, solid, experienced coach with huge integrity and great insight who showed me warmth and positive regard. It provided me with a time each month in which I had the freedom and the space to talk about, think about and reflect on me, my performance and my career. And to do so with someone whom I trusted and who would not judge me or tell me what to do.

Initially it felt like a huge indulgence, after all I had work to do, people to see, decisions to make. Time just spent talking about me and myself, well wasn’t that a little too self-centred, frivolous, even a little ‘un-English’? But I very quickly came to realise that what emerged from those reflections and discussions was of critical importance to me and what I was doing with my career and life. I was able to sharpen my performance even more and in such a way that I rapidly saw the benefits in the results I was getting and in the people with whom I was working and leading. I began to see myself differently and consequently to communicate differently, and of course that meant that I met with different responses. In my case, I felt clearer and more focused about what I was doing, and why I was doing it. That led me to behave with more gravitas and authority: when we feel differently, we behave and perform differently – and people notice!

When we make a difference to people’s lives – to how they see themselves, how they believe in themselves, in the potential they begin to recognise – the ‘knock on’ effects are immense, to them and correspondingly to all those with whom their lives touch, whether colleagues, family or society in general.

From an initial experience of feeling a little guilty about the ‘indulgence’ of my coaching sessions, I quickly began to see them as an essential part of my leadership ‘equipment’ and to derive enormous value from them. Thirteen years on I still reflect on some of our conversations and I continue to put into practice what I learned. In my case the impact of coaching was so catalytic that I retrained and became an executive coach myself, and since then I have been able to impart to others what was given to me.

So, it is probably true that no one wakes up saying they must get a coach. However, it is true that when we allow others in to help and support us, good stuff happens!

Sarah is an executive coach based in Cambridge, England.
T: 01954 718037
E: sarah.jaggers@managingchange.org.uk
W: www.managingchange.org.uk

Coaches – do you take notes from your sessions? Are they an accurate reflection?

If you’re a coach or mentor and you take notes from sessions with your clients, a few questions:

1. Do you check their accuracy?
2. To what extent do you rely on them?
3. Have you ever received note-taking training?

I am currently mentoring a trainee coach who provided me with a valuable learning experience recently. He had been set an assignment to interview a professional coach on various aspects of experience and practice, and I was happy to help. He subsequently sent me a copy of his written notes for my reference. They contained a number of inaccuracies both in terms of factual information and also in the omission of particular points which led to a very different picture emerging.

As this was part of a learning experience this presented no problem, and indeed we both derived value from the situation. We reflected that in our coaching training neither of us has ever received specific training in note-taking. As an experienced coach I am more practiced in checking back with the client to ensure that I have understood what was said and, importantly, intended. My mentee reflected that he felt a little stressed in his attempts to simultaneously listen fully, identify what he should focus on, and take accurate notes. Of course as he gets more experienced, this becomes significantly less of a problem, but we were both struck by the fact that this topic is rarely covered in books and training for those starting out.

As the subject of the note-taking, I was interested in my own feelings on reading them. I reflected that I felt misunderstood and even a little irritated on reading the answers since I considered that they didn’t reflect what I had said or meant. It presented me with a sharp sense of what our coachees might experience when we, as coaches, don’t listen well enough or jump to a conclusion which is inaccurate. It feels uncomfortable to be misunderstood or misrepresented.

In real-life coaching situations, most coaches do not share their file notes with the client. This presents little opportunity to check their accuracy. Yet, when preparing for a coaching session it could be very easy to rely on notes previously taken. An experienced coach is less likely to fall into this trap not least because they will normally be more skilled in listening and checking understanding. Additionally they may be quicker and more confident at detecting discomfort or unease in the coachee and addressing the situation. For beginners or the less experienced this may be more of a problem. For us, it was a useful lesson to be sure that we are taking accurate notes and we can do this by practicing, and by listening, and checking our understanding.

Coaches: What is your experience of note taking in a coaching session – do you take them at all? If you are starting out as a coach, what are the main difficulties you face? I would love to hear about your views and experiences.

NB: on a more formal point, coachees and sponsoring clients are entitled to ask for their file notes. Furthermore, in some situations coaches may be asked to supply file notes in respect of legal action, disciplinary hearings and the like. It is therefore important to ensure that they are factually accurate as well as fully conveying the meaning intended.