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Bridging THE GAP
KRIENGSAK NIRATPATTANASAI
James was in an executive coaching session when he told me, "Khun Kriengsak, I want you to coach my personal assistant (PA) as well because I read your column that shared points from the book Tales from the Top by Graham Alexander."
"Why do you want me to coach Khun Lek?" I mention his PA's name.
"Khun Lek has worked for me only three months. Since she has been here, I have had to work harder."
"Why is that?"
"First, she always smiles and nods her head even if she doesn't understand my work instructions. Usually, half of the time she misunderstands and I have to ask her to redo the same work.
"Also, she is a quick person but unfortunately, not a detail person. She always delivers her work to me ahead of time, but there are always mistakes - particularly with numbers or figures. And she always comes back to me whenever she is facing a problem and asks me for solutions."
"James, have you told her this?"
"Yes, I told her twice already. But I think she didn't get the message. Further, I noticed that during my feedback sessions with her, she was scared and under the impression that I blamed her. She has a probation period of four months so maybe she is insecure."
"James, I can coach her," I tell him, "but first let me ask you about her strengths."
"She is a caring person. I've got good feedback from several key customers. They told me that they feel much better dealing with Khun Lek. These are important people for our business. They used to complain about my previous PA a lot. Khun Lek has significantly strengthened customer relationships.
"She is quick whenever I want some information; she comes back to me much faster than my previous PA. Most information has to be obtained from other executives and usually they gave a hard time or played hard to get with my previous PA. But they seem to work well with Khun Lek."
"James, do you want to keep her in this position?"
"I do. I like her. I think with a little bit of behavioural changes, she would be a great PA. I think she might need a junior staffer to help her with small detail work. I am prepared to do that."
"That's good. Did you ever tell her about her strengths that you just mentioned?"
"No, I didn't." James became silent. "Um, she's probably worried a lot because I only told her about her weaknesses twice. What should I do?"
"James, after we finish this coaching session, you call her in. Then, tell her about her strengths. Then, you tell her that you would like me to help her modify some areas for improvement. Please restate what you just said that you would like to keep her within your team."
James does as I recommend. After that, I have a conversation with Khun Lek. "Khun Lek, nobody is perfect. My role is helping people to learn about their areas for improvement and facilitate them to discover the solutions. So let's get to the point."
I tell her about her three weaknesses. Then I say, "Let's discuss solutions one by one. How could you stop misunderstandings when James gives work instructions?"
Khun Lek smiles and says nothing.
I smile back at her. I speak to her with a friendly voice. "Khun Lek, please don't worry. We are brainstorming. There's no right or wrong answer in our discussion today. Remember, you are a smart person and your boss really likes you. The reason I asked for your opinion is because I know you are smart enough to figure out the answer.
"Besides, once you discover the solution, you own it. If I told you what I would do, it might not be applicable because I do not have a clear picture of your role and your situation."
She mumbles with a little bit of self-doubt. "I guess I have to double-check with James when he assigns work."
I reinforce to help her gain self-confidence. "That's good. I think this is a good start. How do you do that?"
She gains more self-confidence now. "I think when James delegates work to me, I will summarise the key points back to him. So he will see how much I understand the subject."
"That's good, what else?" I continue to smile.
"I think I can ask for clarification whenever I'm not sure."
"That's great! Most bosses are very pleased when you ask for clarification. It shows that you care and want to make things right." I continue the session with her until the end.
Kriengsak Niratpattanasai provides executive coaching in leadership and diversity management under the brand TheCoach. He can be reached at coachkriengsak@yahoo.com. Copies of previous columns are available at http://www.thaicoach.com.
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