Published in Kingstown College Coaching Magazine 2020/2021
Have you noticed the massive increase in people who are seeking coaching? Have you noticed the increase in organisations who are embracing a coaching culture? Have you noticed more leaders adopting a coaching style of leadership? Of course you have! Well, I’m not concerned about them. I am concerned about those who are not in coaching, and the organisations who are stuck in a traditional culture. I’m concerned the gap will grow too wide, too quickly, and people are being left behind.
In my role at Kingstown College I have the privileged opportunity to exchange thoughts with some of the most brilliant minds in coaching – industry professionals and college faculty. I hear about the success stories of clients; I discuss new inhouse training; I talk to the global companies who roll out complete culture change.
Those who are coached receive a gift. They experience another human being listening to them for an hour. Truly listening. No agenda. It’s an opportunity to hear their thought out loud and gain clarity on their position, cohesion in their planning, and confidence to take massive action.
The opportunities for success and progress are phenomenal. And so a gap is created.
Envy
Have you heard the news reports and studies that are telling us that young adults are browsing Instagram to see the amazing lives being lived by bloggers and high flyers, only to find that it makes them feel even more down about their own life? The air brushed life that is published is often far removed from the truth of how that blogger lives and the quality of the relationships they have.
But what about witnessing a person who is in coaching? What about seeing them excel with confidence and speed? They are overcoming challenges and achieving goals and targets like it’s going out of fashion! Is that not causing the same affect as the big bad social media platforms?
It could be argued that it is worse. Those who are in coaching may actually, really, be that successful and happy! Which in turn makes the gap wider, and the motivation to get started even more difficult to muster up.
In a recent interview with Dave Reedy, a Senior Director at Paypal, he told me that they deliberately hire people who are “intraspective” (Websters Dictionary would define this as ‘capable of seeing inwardly’). Isn’t that interesting: The recruitment policy is deliberately favouring those who are capable of self reflection and personal growth. They are hiring people who are “coachable”.
It makes sense that if you have a coaching culture that you would hire talent which ‘fits’ with that culture and the practices that go with it.
Take a moment to think about that. A global multinational, a household name experiencing massive revenue growth, is consciously recruiting coachable people. They are training leaders and site coaches in line with ICF competencies, and creating a culture to grow and, dare I say it, self-actualise. What a powerhouse that creates! What a powerful endorsement for the benefits of coaching for the organisation and the individual!
And so, the gap gets wider.
UnCoached or UnCoachable?
If progressive organisations are identifying and hiring the talent which is coachable, what are the options for those who are not coachable (yet!)? As a coach, I imagine you have encountered people who do not share your excitement for coaching. You may hear responses such as “Oh, that’s too deep for me!”, or “I don’t have any goals I want to work on”. What if they just haven’t had that type of conversation before with someone who is prepared to champion them? It’s not that they don’t want to have it, but they don’t think it’s possible. And why would I set a goal to work on if I don’t think I would have the support or ability to go after it? These are possibly the symptoms of a person who has not yet experienced a coaching conversation. So is uncoachable what we see on the surface of a person who is simply uncoached? Is there an ‘aha!’ moment inside them just waiting to be shown the way out?
An interesting thought from Sir Ken Robinson, (paraphrased from Michelangelo) is that “the problem with human beings is not that we aim to high and fail, but rather that we aim too low and succeed”.
How can we unlock the potential and the possibilities for those who have not yet discovered that they have the capacity to be sufficiently intraspective to be coached towards a chosen ambition? If we can crack that nut, we open up huge possibilities for our organisation and ourselves. Imagine a world where even more people experience the emotions of being valued, self confident and motivated.
If we don’t find a way to achieve this, the gap will get wider. Those who are coached will grow exponentially while those who are not coached, or coachable, remain stuck and stagnant. Watching others around them succeed, while they perceive themselves as perpetually stuck, can’t be a good thing.
As a profession, I think we have a duty to explore how we can address this gap. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of being at the front of the herd, but what about the vulnerable at the back? I’m certainly not saying we should stop what we do, or that we should stop being amazing organisations, but we may need to be more cognisant of those who are not at the same stage of the journey. In fact, they may not have even been aware a journey was possible.
Just a thought….
By Alan Brereton
Alan Brereton is an Executive Coach and Faculty Member at Kingstown College. With an education background in HR and Law, and experience which includes TV and Media, Alan brings a unique blend of experience and insight to his work as a coach. He also serves as Head of Marketing at Kingstown College and Editor of Coaching Magazine.
