Convincing the Sceptics

"Spending money to make staff feel good is not in my job description."

This was the welcome I received when I called on an executive to discuss the role of coaching in building organisational capability. My response was to describe how coaching can contribute to the success of the organisation and not just the happiness of the staff. I thought the case of the senior manager working seven days a week would demonstrate my point.

The manager in my story finished her day at the office at six, had dinner with her partner and then worked into the night. On weekends she would log on to the company's network from home and continue to work Saturday and Sunday.

Her habit of working these hours had been developed over many years and was reinforced by her can-do attitude. It was, after all, this attitude that had brought her success throughout her career. She was a manager who when given a task would deliver, no questions asked. She was the manager who would simply get on with the job. These work habits were however starting to take their toll. Her health was suffering as were her personal relationships. She began questioning her ability and whether this was the organisation for her. What was apparent was that this work ethic left no capacity to respond when the inevitable crisis occurred, she was operating at peak performance and it could not be sustained for much longer.

And then it happened.

In a meeting with several senior executives our manager was asked somewhat casually, 'So tell me, what do you do?' For the manager this question came as a bolt out of the blue. For her, a woman working seven days a week, surely they, the senior leadership must know the contribution she brought to the organisation. It came as great shock when she realised they did not know.

The reasons for this gap in their knowledge were many and varied and all quite understandable. For the manager, however, it meant one thing; namely, the hours I work are not recognised and I am not valued or appreciated, the only conclusion is to resign from the organisation and go somewhere I would be appreciated. As it turned out she did not resign but rather she called her changedrivers coach and had a coffee.

Over the next several meetings she discussed many things with her coach including her initial response of I will resign. During these conversations her coach explored why she was working these extraordinary hours and she considered issues of delegation and trust. Her coach raised the issue of the role of leaders and strategic relationships within the organisation. They also discussed the rewards and costs of sustaining long working hours with no particular goal in mind just getting the work of the day completed.

As the coaching conversations progressed the manager came to the personal insight that it was she who had to change; not her organisation nor her senior executives. She recognised that change had to come from within her.

She has now taken control of her working hours and they are now within what might be considered normal for a person at her level. She has a new working relationship with her senior executive and is often called on by the senior leaders of her organisation for her opinions and technical insights. She has much more resilience and a new understanding of her role in influencing the organisation. Is she happier? Of course she is! And yes, this was an outcome of the coaching!

So in response to my client's opening statement that he was not here to make his people feel good I responded "And nor am I, my focus is on improved organisational capability through personal change."

His final comment: "I'm convinced, and I think you can help me with a number of challenges I'm facing".

"…Now, let me have another look at that list of changedrivers coaches."