Challenges in Adapting

Recent posts have been exploring the seven behaviors most commonly seen in derailing a career. [Links connect to original publication in Read Solutions Group newsletter.]

• Believing that skill and results are the sole keys to success
• Being arrogant and not open to feedback, introspection and personal growth
• Consistently acknowledging yourself for the successes and blaming others for the failures
• Failing to staff and develop a strong team
• Lack of composure
• Unwilling to adapt to change and compromise
• Inability to develop a strong professional network, internal and external to the organization.

From the final two career stallers – willingness to change and expecting results to be the key to success – with change present in my life, we’ll focus on the outcomes of resisting change and compromise, what might ensue during a change and how you can support yourself and others in change and compromise.

Let’s start with some definitions appropriate for this career staller, offered by www.dictionary.com:

To adapt is to adjust oneself to different conditions, environment, etc.

• Change, the noun, means the supplanting of one thing by another.
• To compromise is to settle difference by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands. An alternative definition for compromise used, as a noun, is an endangering, especially of reputation; exposure to danger, suspicion, etc.
• Willingness is freedom from reluctance; readiness of the mind to do or forbear.

This staller appears in the person who seems to resist new programs, philosophies or even people. They may be seen as disagreeing inappropriately, vocally, or perhaps subversively with senior management. Conversely, Buckingham and Clifton in their book, Now, Discover Your Strengths define the person with a strength in adaptability as one who lives in the moment, seeing the future not as a fixed destination but one that is discovered a choice at a time. The adaptable person responds willingly to current demands, even if pulled from original plans.

With credit markets and currencies gyrating wildly, with companies turning overnight from sound financial institutions to those warranting a government bailout, an ever-increasing pace of change is a certainty. If so, then does adaptability become even more important – perhaps a key competency to develop? Adaptable behaviors will involve a readiness to explore change, openness to new ideas and the opinions of others, and skill at challenging ideas and people in constructive ways.

At the base is what Runde and Flanagan in Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader: How You and Your Organization Can Manage Conflict Effectively define as the passive-constructive behavior of “adapting”. They define adapting behavior as “staying flexible and trying to make the best out of situation”. This can range from taking a positive attitude, to making adjustments that will minimize unnecessary problems in the future. At the most skillful level, active-constructive conflict behaviors include “perspective taking” and “creating solutions”; that is, the ability to clearly understand the other person’s point of view and then to work with them to arrive at a resolution.

At the heart of change is conflict – conflict in perceptions of the “right way”, conflict in understanding, conflict in expected outcomes, conflicts in beliefs and knowledge, conflicts with prior experience. Increasing skills in conflict management becomes key in improving adaptability. When we are clearer on whether a change is worth it, and learn how to make the change, then we can move forward. Skillful conflict management enables an individual to dig into the why, to be clear on the impact, to explore what is known and what is not, and then to create a solution that skirts endangerment and allows for broader success.

Runde and Flanagan offer the following suggestions for these constructive conflict behaviors:

• Listen to understand rather than debate
• Practice active listening to ensure that you are clearly hearing the message
• Never stop at one potential solution
• Explore the viability of multiple options to gain greater understanding of the constraints
• Gain agreement on the path forward and possible future decision points

Not only is change inevitable, the pace of change continues to accelerate. So, where does that leave the serenity prayer that suggests that you should “ask for the serenity to accept the things you cannot change, the courage to change the things you can, and the wisdom to know the difference?” Perhaps the wisdom lies in knowing that the only thing in our lives over which we have control is ourselves. When we couple with that the wisdom that changing ourselves can be extraordinarily difficult, perhaps we’ll also find the courage and skill to willingly adapt to change.

Is Coaching a Fad?

With so many organizations rushing to develop programs for managers as coaches, is coaching turning into a fad?

A recent presentation sponsored by the Human Capital Institute, and given by Peyton Daniel and Anne Doster of DBM gave the statistics that over 80% of the respondents to their survey used "coaching skills training" at least sometimes, and nearly 70% were using external executive coaches at least sometimes. Now, survey samples are notoriously, so we don't want you to conclude that coaching is, as yet, that prevalent. But could it be well on its way to becoming too fashionable for its own good? The perquisite to go with the corner office? The emblem of the high-potential? The consultant's favorite gig?

Before we dismiss coaching and mentoring as another passing fad, let's look at more closer what current research is showing us about executive coaching.

• Executive coaching is found increasingly on a routine basis for C-level execs, and both less frequently and less often for senior executives; and almost never for non-managers.
  
• The primary drivers for coaching are:
  • Derailed executives
  • Enabling capable executives to achieve greater excellence
  • Supporting the development of high-potential employees
  • Improving team effectiveness
• Executive cite benefits for coaching to include
  • Continuous one-on-one attention
  • Expanded thinking through dialogue with a curious outsider
  • Increased self-awareness, including blind spots
  • Personal accountability for development
  • Effective learning delivered just-in-time
• Coaching failures are linked to
  • Lack of commitment from the client
  • Lack of clear goals and purpose
  • Client too busy to focus on developmental goals
  • A mismatch between client and coach
  • Client's manager is not involved or supporting
• ROI ranges from the value of the coaching investment up to more than 500% depending on study cited
  
• Successful coaching engagements have:
  • Coach evaluation including
    • Coaching methodology
    • Senior-level business, industry and/or functional experience
    • Chemistry with client
    • Measurement system
  • A willing client
    • Open to increasing their self-awareness and enhancing their personal growth
      
    • Entering coaching with enthusiasm, interest and a commitment of time
  • Measure the ROI of all coaching assignments using
    • Achievement of agreed-upon objectives, including performance metrics as appropriate
    • Evaluations by client, clients boss, and coach
    • 360 assessments
      
  • Clear expectations around the process from initial meeting, overall time commitment (typical agreements are 4 to 6 months, twice per month), confidentiality, and management support and involvement

David B. Peterson, in a chapter on Coaching and Mentoring Programs, adds depth to this research report by outlining the major assumptions around effective coaching. His assumptions about positive, proactive coaching are modified and included below.

• People are motivated to learn and grow; the coach's role is to clarify and engage that motivation
• Insight is ever-evolving and should be developed through the coaching process, whether initiated with a current situation or a 360 assessment
• While coach can and does provide feedback, the main goal of the coaching is to enable the client to gather and gain their own insights
• Coaches should be expert in helping people learn how to change and adjust their behaviors to become more effective, with a goal of enhancing ongoing learning and development
• Coaching is about achieving results by working on the areas of greatest leverage and payback.

The executive coaching methodology practiced at Read Solutions Groups is then to provide customized coaching that moves iteratively through the following steps:

• Clarify personal goals, values and motivations
• Develop insights into what needs to be developed
• Establish and agree to measures for success
• Evaluate reasons for and barriers to change
• Explore or chose alternative ways of behaving
• Practice new skills and behaviors
• Develop action plan and measure progress, watching for additional insights
• Ensure that other people and structures are put in place to support progress and ongoing feedback

So, is coaching a fad? Studies, whether focused on feedback from executives, clients or HR, point to solid returns on the investment of coaching when the systems employ recommendations like those above.

Email us to receive references to additional studies on executive coaching.