'Coach Kriengsak, I'm doing a PhD research project on executive coaching. Will you help me?" Panya asks me.
"Khun Panya, go ahead."
"Coach, how long have you been doing this work? And what is the definition of executive coaching?"
"I've been doing this work for 12 years now. There are several definitions depending on each school of thought. The one I use at my company, TheCoach, is as follows: 'Coaching is a development approach that someone (the coach) uses to constructively facilitate growth by another person in a specific subject, knowledge, skill, viewpoint or belief."'
"What coaching model do you use?"
"After I tried several models _ mostly from the West _ I came up with TheCoach's model which I call the 4-I's. "It helps a coach to identify and apply a coaching approach that is appropriate to each situation and each person.
It starts with Individualise as a principle. Then you select one of the three I's _ Instruct, Inspire, Inquire _ depending on the situation. Let's explore each one.
"The need to Individualise is fundamental to coaching. Training and teaching are mass approaches to help people learn in a group setting. On the other hand, coaching is about an individual. You have to consider each person's style, beliefs, potential, background, preferred learning style and willingness to learn.
"You can't coach everyone the same way. That's the most common trap for most rookies, particularly high achievers who are ambitious and love to learn as they will assume that everyone loves learning and welcomes coaching.
"Once you learn this principle, you can choose an approach from the rest of the 3 I's.
"Instruct teaches others by instructing or doing things with them. It works best for coaching on work processes or specific knowledge, such as your company's core values. You want to give them what they need to know.
"Inspire helps people learn indirectly. There are several methods:
- Walk the talk by being a role model. Do what you say and say what you do. For example, if you want your team to be customer-oriented, you should receive complaint calls personally from your clients.
- Tell a story. There are lots of stories that impart lessons. They could be about a positive attitude, professionalism, dealing with adversity, leadership, or management excellence.
- Use your own experience. If you have gained trust because people know who you are, what you stand for and your success, sharing lessons about your success can inspire someone else. Still, you should check with your coaching client first on whether he or she wants to hear about your experience.
"Inspiring people is less directional. You can be a good role model or share a worthwhile story but your clients will have to decide whether they want to apply what they learned from you.
"Inquiring is coaching by questioning. This is an effective way to coach knowledge workers. The questions help people to think on their own. This method is the most difficult, but I write about it a lot on my website. The book I always refer to is Quiet Leadership by David Rock. The author explicitly teaches you how to use questions effectively help other people think better."
"Coach, what differences do you see between coaching Generation Y and baby boomers in terms of the models you use?"
"Khun Panya, that's a very good question. What do you think?"
"I guess it depends on each individual."
"You're right."
"From your experience, what are some of the patterns between these two generations in response to the model?
"Let's take a look again at each 'I':
- Instructional. At the start of coaching, both generations perceive that a coach is similar to a teacher. Hence, they have a tendency to show respect by keeping silent when the teacher or coach talks. They keep silent but that doesn't mean they agree. Hence, in terms of applying what the coach instructed, only a few followed through. In my opinion, the instructional approach is the least effective among the 3 I's in coaching any generation _ except for infants.
- Inspiring: Both generations are very receptive to this approach. But Gen Y are more receptive compared with baby boomers.
- Inquiring. In my experience, baby boomers have a tendency to respond to the inquiring approach more because they are veterans in their careers. Gen Y may be a lit bit reluctant to answer coaching questions since they lack work experience. But once the trust level has established, both generations do respond to coaching questions receptively."
"What else can you share?"
"Some common coaching tips for both generations are:
- We cannot change people who don't want to change.
- A coach has to suspend judgement of the person being coached.
- Coaching on strength is more effective than coaching on weakness.
- Coaching has to be done at the right coachable moment."
Kriengsak Niratpattanasai provides executive coaching in leadership and diversity management under TheCoach brand. He can be reached at coachkriengsak@yahoo.com. Daily inspirational quotations can be found on his Facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/TheCoachinth. Previous articles are archived at http://thecoach.in.th