Successful coaching shares something important with a successful dating service: both depend on creating the best possible match. Force-fitting a coach to a coaching need is as chancy as throwing two people together simply because they’re single. Success is far more likely if the parties have something in common to create a bond and if the chemistry is right. The more you understand about the two individuals, the more effective you can be in making the relationship work.
At Ayers, we are very careful in mapping and matching coach-coachee profiles. Achieving the right fit involves:
§ Establishing a coachee profile—Every coaching assignment begins with a process of gathering information about the person to be coached. Depending on the nature of the engagement, this may be done through interviewing or questionnaires. Because we coach by objectives, we try to get as specific as possible about what the person needs to get from the coaching experience. The match has to take into account the objectives as well as the coachee’s personality and what it will take to enhance his or her receptivity, improving the likelihood of a successful outcome.
§ Selecting coaches with the appropriate background and expertise—We look at whether the assignment requires a coaching generalist, who can focus on a variety of things, or a specialist. Then we turn to our deep bench of carefully vetted coaches who meet our rigorous standards. (Credientials vs. Certification)
§ Looking for a connection—As we review the profiles of the coachee and the targeted coaches, we look for common factors that have the potential to create the kind of connection that generates good chemistry: a hobby, an interest, a life experience, etc.
One trend that has worked to our advantage in making effective matches is the gravitation of coaches to areas of specialization. (Consultant's Corner) Our coaching team balances coaching generalists with specialists in a wide variety of areas. Some work best with and thrive on solving interpersonal relationship and communications problems. Others focus on assessment coaching—helping determine whether an executive has the potential to take the next step or which path is best for a high-potential executive with multiple options—or transition coaching—helping senior people grow into leap-of-scope assignments quickly.
Some specialties revolve around team building: senior-executive teams (including boards of directors), sales teams, and also corporate start-up or spin-off situations. We recently called on our specialists from the latter category to work with a group charged with carving a particular function out of the client’s corporate divisions and creating a new business dedicated to that function.
We also have coaches who specialize in working with executive women. We recently heard from a client that would like to create separate coaching, mentoring, and training programs for key high-potential female executives. Twenty years ago, the thinking was to avoid development experiences that were exclusively for women. Now that women have achieved critical mass in the workplace, employers are looking at their distinct needs, which has given rise to a coaching specialty.
Good coaching focuses on what’s important to the individuals to be coached, so they know their time is not being wasted. By marrying careful coachee profiling and a deep bench of coaches who meet high standards and have expertise across a broad spectrum of areas, we can create relationships that ensure the best possible result.
