090828 ~ o connor ~ coaching

©Moa Resources 2009 O’Connor ~ Coaching [Psyc Soc Conf] p 1

DO COACHES DELIVER DO COACHES DELIVER WHAT THEY PROMISE?WHAT THEY PROMISE?

Frank O’Connor

NZ Psychological Society ~ Annual Conference 2009Palmerston North, Aotearoa / New Zealand

Developing Organisations & Leaders • Improving Business Performance & Management

Moa Resources, 103 Overtoun Terrace, Hataitai, Wellington, New Zealand 6021 +64 21 386-911 [email protected]


COACHING IS CATCHING

It’s appealingIt’s organised

It’s methodicalIt’s applicable

positive

easywith well people

fun

???

Global CC

Assn for Coaching

Sydney Uni

ICF

?

ad hocintuitive

conceptual

formal

???

lifeexecutiveleader

career

sport

?

COACHING IS CATCHINGCOACHING IS CATCHING


DOES IT MAKE THE DOES IT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE CLAIMED?DIFFERENCE CLAIMED?

People who coach human performance in workplaces operate in a wide variety of ways, with relatively little evaluation• Bottom line benefits claimed could be due to other things• Much evaluation is more formative than normative

Evaluation should look at (at least) four types of training effectiveness• Personal Reaction / Happiness• Learning• Behavioural changes• Business impact

Remember Kirkpatrick?


ARE THESE KEY BENEFITS OF COACHING?ARE THESE KEY BENEFITS OF COACHING?

• Set and achieve higher goals

• Make better decisions for yourself and your organisation

• Improve the balance in your life

• Reach for much, much more and achieve results without struggling

• Have more sustainable energy


““COACHING IS EASILY DEFINED”COACHING IS EASILY DEFINED”

• “Executive Coaches have to be a combination of psychologist, businessperson, soothsayer, futurist, diplomat, schoolteacher, wailing wall and the soul of discretion”– "My clients tell me I qualify! "

Thus comments B----- who offers Event Management, Keynote Speaker, USA Partners, Executive Coaching, Planning & Retreat Facilitation, Sales Skills,

Training

• “Professional coaching is an ongoing partnership that helps clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and/or professional lives. Through the process of coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance and enhance their quality of life.”

– “In each meeting, the client chooses the focus of conversation, while the coach listens and contributes observations and questions. This interaction creates clarity and moves the client into action. Coaching accelerates the client's progress by providing greater focus and awareness of choice. Coaching concentrates on where clients are today and what they are willing to do to get where they want to be tomorrow.”


ANONYMISED COACHES PROMISESANONYMISED COACHES PROMISES

– “By implementing well thought out coaching models, organisations have successfully improved internal relationships, up-skilled employees, improved morale and ultimately increased performance of the organisation.”

– “Ever had the feeling that your business is just not going anywhere, frustrated and wondering IF ONLY...............?Designed with the high pressure situation of being an executive in mind, ABCD has developed a coaching programme that will see you reach your objectives faster and more effectively than before.”

– “Our ultimate aim is to help people and organisations achieve their potential. We enable talented leaders to explore opportunities that will empower valuable employees, boost morale and help achieve business objectives.”

– “Currently studying psychology, P---- has a passion to find answers that will allow all her clients to unlock their true potential. P---- is an entertaining and motivated speaker who is deadly serious about `success in the game of life.' Education through leadership and coaching are her formula’s for accelerated success.”


MEET THE COACHESMEET THE COACHES

– “Choosing the right coach is an important process.All our coaches are accredited, have over 750+ hours of experience, hold specific Executive Coach Training and are experts in their field.”

– ACC Accreditation. R--- has 15 years international experience in the business advisory, management consultancy and health industries, working with small businesses, professional organisations and healthcare providers. R---’s initial training was in Pharmacy (B. Pharm), … MBA with distinctions in Leadership and Negotiation.

– RCS Certified Coach. V----- has 16 years international experience in management and leadership development working inside medium and large organisations. V-----’s training is in Adult Education (Grad Dip Ed, Tertiary) and leadership and organisational development (H--- S--- Accredited Practitioner)

– MCC Accreditation. L------ is one of New Zealand’s most sought after Executive Coaches and holds the Master Certified Coach Credential from the International Coach Federation. She is emphatic about organisations, really understanding all the potential value of robust and considered whole person development programmes.


THE BENEFITS RECEIVED ARE AMONG THE THE BENEFITS RECEIVED ARE AMONG THE CONCERNS CLIENTS HAVECONCERNS CLIENTS HAVE

• “Clients report” significant benefits through coaching:– Greater clarity around their objectives and how to achieve them – Increased awareness of how others see them, their strengths and

key development opportunities– Improved leadership, communication & relationship skills– Improved motivation for them and their team– Greater ability to lead and facilitate change– Ability to get beyond challenges and to optimise opportunities– Reduced stress and greater levels of resilience and work life balance– Increased confidence and ability to take effective action– Optimised thinking, attitude, and behaviour– New levels of performance & results on a personal and team level

The usual reliable sources: promotional material and the ‘net

All sounds pretty good, but how do I know I got my share?


A PSYCHOLOGIST WHO COACHES

DataResearch

GutsPractice

A PSYCHOLOGIST WHO COACHESA PSYCHOLOGIST WHO COACHES


COACHING PSYCHOLOGY IS …COACHING PSYCHOLOGY IS …

• … for enhancing performance in work and personal life domains with normal, non-clinical populations, underpinned by models of coaching grounded in established therapeutic approaches

Grant & Palmer, 2002

• … an applied psychology, draws on and develops established psychological approaches, and can be understood as being the systematic application of behavioural science to the enhancement of life experience, work performance and well being for individuals, groups and organisations who do not have clinically significant mental health issues or abnormal levels of distress

Interest Group in Coaching Psychology (APS)

• … for enhancing well-being and performance in personal life and work domains underpinned by models of coaching grounded in established learning theory or psychological approaches

Special Group in Coaching Psychology, BPS

– Coaching psychologists are less likely to adopt the ‘diagnostic’ stance of the medical ‘expert’ model


WHAT ARE EXPECTED COACHING WHAT ARE EXPECTED COACHING OUTCOMES?OUTCOMES?

• Generic ‘intangible’ outcomes– reduced experience of stress– improved leadership skills– better relationship handling– improved goal attainment

• Generic ‘tangible’ outcomes– improved direct report and supervisor ratings of performance– significant return on investment

• Specific outcomes– improvements in performance and self-perception– transfer of training and coaching skills– change in behaviours due to increased change motivation and goal

concretenessGrant, 2008


SOME SCIENCE AND EVIDENCESOME SCIENCE AND EVIDENCE

• “Coaching Psychology focused on the application of validated psychological methods to facilitate the growth and development of our clients”

Grant, 2008

– Early predominance of uncontrolled group studies and case studies– Emerging empirical support for the effectiveness of work place and

life coaching

• Underpinning ideas– Assumptions about people and how people become motivated– Adult, person centred process, – Uses theories about development – adult and child– Often strengths based


A SERIOUS ATTEMPTA SERIOUS ATTEMPT

• Practical relevant and evidenced- based leadership framework– Focus on strengths rather than weaknesses– Comprehensive 360 report– Constructive discussions in workshop

• Structured and clear way of linking results of 360 to personalised practical action plans:– Capability strengths– Personal interest / “passion”– Organisational needs

• Sound justification/ motivation for further development– “Very positive response where participants shared their results with

direct reports”• Some incorporation of learnings/ action plans & language with

existing change & business processes, making the learnings “part of the day job”

Deloittes Brisbane, 2008


EVALUATION / TRACKING OF ROLLOUTEVALUATION / TRACKING OF ROLLOUT

Evidence in Kirkpatrick’s framework• Personal Reaction / Happiness:

– “Workshop good”• Learning:

– “Workshop feedback indicates a level learning of the leadership framework and approach. [CE] observed that already the quality of discussion and level of insight around leadership matter between Partners has increased noticeably already. Early days”

• Behavioural changes: – “Nothing reported apart from verbal behaviour (above). Early days”

• Business impact: – “Nothing reported so far. Early days”

Deloittes Brisbane, 2008

We can only conclude it’s too early to know


AIMS OF SYDNEY COACHING RESEARCH AIMS OF SYDNEY COACHING RESEARCH PROGRAMMEPROGRAMME

• Develop evidence-based approach to coaching

• Study the development of the coaching industry

• Examine effectiveness of coaching– Range of populations (adult, workplace, schools)– Use coaching as real-life experimental methodology

• Develop more sophisticated coaching frameworks– Integrate coaching and PP, use of mindfulness etc

Anthony Grant 2008


WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE COACHING PROCESS?COACHING PROCESS?

• Questioning – in particular, reflexive questioning

• Goal setting

• Type of intervention

• The coaching relationship (trust, collaboration, expectation management, person centred, ‘authenticity’)

• Co-creation of meaning and learning conversations


RIGOROUS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCERIGOROUS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

• “To me, the single most important thing for coaching (and positive psychology) to keep in mind is the necessity of collecting rigorous empirical evidence

This may be the only this that separates the field from earlier humanistic psychology and from current non-validated self-help books, while also dealing with difficult scientific issues concerning demand effects, placebo effects and just plain wishful thinking”

“Coaching … is especially vulnerable to these problems because of the commercial and money-making possibilities it presents”

Ken Sheldon in Grant, A M, & Cavanagh, M (2007). Evidence-based coaching: Flourishing or languishing? Australian Psychologist, 42(4), 239-

254.


A PROGRAMMEA PROGRAMME

• Assessment and gap analysis– Clarify where things are now and where they need to be– Identify baseline business data– Gain commitment from the client and selected individuals

• Outcomes defined– Establish compelling and measurable outcomes– Establish timeframes and measurements for success

• Delivery– Work on the achievement of outcomes– Address other challenges raised by the client

• Measurement and feedback– Measure progress: new behaviour and business results– Ask what they see and tell them what you see – is it the same?


““PSYCHOLOGICALLY-BASED” PROCESSES PSYCHOLOGICALLY-BASED” PROCESSES ACHIEVE MOREACHIEVE MORE

Psychological approaches compare favourably in benefits achieved • Measured differences in well-being before improvement and

vice versa – paradoxically? Anthony Grant, 2008 etc

• Fit to capacity of the individual rather than one size fits allAly, 2009

Psychological clarity lifts funder confidence• Making explicit agreements with clients about

– roles and ways of working– goals, standards expected and results achieved

• Encourages client to more rapid achievement … and us to more work opportunities


WHICH BIT OF COACHING IS WORKING WHICH BIT OF COACHING IS WORKING AND HOW DO WE STOP DOING THE OTHERAND HOW DO WE STOP DOING THE OTHER

• Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS)– Simple scaling; Levels of attainment

• Presence/Absence of Mental Distress– DASS: Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale

• Presence/Absence of Well-being– QOLI; PWB; SWB; Hope; Cognitive Hardiness;– Workplace Well-being Index

• Metacognitive Processes– MAAS; SRIS: Schutte EI Scale

• Skills Development– Goal-focused Coaching Skill Questionnaire


A PSYCHOLOGIST WHO COACHES

DataResearch

GutsPractice

results-based

to beevaluated sniff out

snake oil

to evaluate

beyondeasy

showingbenefits

turning downbad business using

data

using theory

A PSYCHOLOGIST WHO COACHESA PSYCHOLOGIST WHO COACHESefficiencyeffectiveness

practicaloptions

theory

best method

baseline

plans & goals

needs & gapsbefore & after

facts not faith

priorities


DATADATA

• Facts not faith– Ready, willing and able to use data and research in practice

• Needs and gaps– Comparison with other investments in performance improvement

• Priorities– Value for money / effort / time?

• Plans and goals– Match to business benefits most valued and impact felt

• Before and after– Lessons learned, by coach and coachee, in the eyes of self, oner another

and respective peers, seniors and clients– Are we there yet?

Ask Fitzpatrick!Ask Fitzpatrick!


RESEARCHRESEARCH

• Theory– Why coaches and coachees achieve differently?

• Baseline– What are we trying to fix? Why?

• Practical options– Which coaches achieve with which methods?– Which methods work with which issues?

• Best methods– Approach? Framework? Values? Philosophy?

• Efficiency– Cost? Time? Effort? Acceptability? Desirability?

• Effectiveness– Durability? Comparability? Sustainability?


PRACTICEPRACTICE

• Using theory– Not necessarily based on it, but aware of and influenced by it– To contribute to development of more practical theory

• Using data– To set expectations about what is and isn’t achievable– To select practical options best suited to goals sought– To gauge appetite and cost of change – responsibly

• Showing benefits– To prove we did what we promised, in the agreed time and way

• Turning down bad business– To get out of working for people for whom I’ll add nothing– To avoid clients who don’t really want to progress– To have more fun – together


GUTSGUTS

• Results based– To recognise that affiliations and qualifications and good practice are

no substitute for achievement and performance – ever

• Beyond easy– To do the job that needs to be done, even when individual clients are

willing to pay for comfort instead

• To evaluate– To close the data-gap between intention and achievement

• To be evaluated– To listen and learn from the uncomfortable – at least sometimes

• To sniff out snake oil– To ask questions, wait for answers, insist on evaluation and stop doing

what doesn’t stack up – if it’s snake oil, burn it


PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OR WELL-BEINGPSYCHOPATHOLOGY OR WELL-BEING IN THE COACHING POPULATION IN THE COACHING POPULATION

After Anthony M Grant, Coaching Psychology Unit, Univ. of Sydney 2008Is coaching psychology flourishing?

Very High Very High Psychopathology Well-being


THE DOWN SIDESTHE DOWN SIDES

MajorMajorPsychopathologyPsychopathology

HighHighWell-BeingWell-Being

LowLowMental HealthMental Health

High Level High Level of Intentionalof IntentionalGoal strivingGoal striving

Low Level Low Level of Intentionalof IntentionalGoal strivingGoal striving

AcquiescentAcquiescent

LanguishingLanguishing

‘ ‘Normal’ Normal’

DistressedDistressedbut functionalbut functional


BUT ABILITY BUT ABILITY WILLINGNESS WILLINGNESS

Anthony M Grant, Coaching Psychology Unit, Univ. of Sydney 2008Is coaching psychology flourishing?


WHICH WAY TO GO FURTHER?WHICH WAY TO GO FURTHER?

– Working allianceO’Broin, A., & Palmer, S. (2006). The coach-client relationship and contributions made by

the coach in improving coaching outcome. The Coaching Psychologist, 2, 16-19.

– Solution-focused counsellingEgan, G. (2002). The skilled helper: A problem-management and opportunity-

development approach to helping (7th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

– Transtheoretical model of behaviour changeLevesque, D A, Prochaska, J M, & Prochaska, J O (1999). Stages of change and

integrated service delivery. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice & Research, 51, 226-241.

– Motivational interviewingPassmore, J. (2007). Addressing deficit performance through coaching – using

motivational interviewing for performance improvement at work. International Coaching Psychology Review, 2, 265-275.

– Adaptation to transitionSchlossberg, N. K., Waters, E. B., & Goodman, J. (1995). Counseling adults in transition:

Linking practice with theory (2nd ed.). NY: Springer.

– Client assessment for therapyJoyce, A S, & McCallum, M (2004). Assessing patient capacities for therapy:

Psychological-mindedness and quality of object relations. pp. 69-100 in Charman (Ed.), Core processes in brief psychodynamic psychotherapy NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

– Integration of multiple theoretical approachesPassmore, J. (2007). An integrative for model for executive coaching. Consulting

Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 59, 68-78..

090828 ~ o connor ~ coaching

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