Coaching towards people excellence (Part 1)

Coaching towards people excellence (Part 1)

'At a very young age, we are certainly 'takers' because we have to rely heavily on somebody else. We need food, shelter and receive full support from our parents. When we grow up and become adults, we start to give back to others. By the time we have transformed ourselves into regular 'givers', I consider that we have crossed the line and become mature leaders," Jon Eddy Abdullah says as he outlines his philosophy for leading people.

"For me, I consider myself to have crossed this line about 10 years ago."

At the helm of Total Access Communication Plc (DTAC), the second largest mobile phone operator in Thailand, Mr Abdullah occupies a simple and functional office that belies the power he exerts in the industry. It is a lot smaller than the offices of many other top executives.

"I prefer to have a glass wall so that it is transparent, which allows my people to see me what I'm doing," he tells me. "Besides my desk, there's a small table for general meetings, and two single couches. Whenever I'm sitting on the couch with another person, my people will be aware that I'm taking time for coaching (or mentoring) that person, which usually takes around one and a half hours."

Never-ending practice: Mr Abdullah spends at least 30% of his time coaching and mentoring his people, a ratio that is considered very high for a top executive. Currently, he carries out coaching and mentoring for 15 people. Five are his direct reports and the other 10 are foreigners who require special support in terms of work and adapting to the local environment. He coaches 10 people on a monthly basis, while another five are on a bimonthly schedule.

"The coaching practice can be considered a norm," he says with a touch of pride. "Although I do it with 15 people, I do not dictate my direct reports to do so. They should know by themselves how to improve and develop their own subordinates.

"However, we do have coaching guidelines in place. What we clearly state is the 'coaching template', which covers key development goals, actions, progress, next steps, and so on.

"In general, we expect that coaching sessions will be geared to the behavioural aspect of a human being. It is not a routine discussion. There are tasks as homework to do for the next coaching session. This is very legitimate and can run for year after year without end. In this aspect, we focus on our specific terms, which are Means, Ability and Accountability. Each person who works for me will go through the programme with me whether they like it or not."

Means, Ability and Accountability: At DTAC, Means refer to the raw materials to produce the result. These relate to systems, structure, human capital and experience in order to get the job done.

"The Ability relates to knowledge and skill, expertise, management and leadership capability, to develop and utilise the Means," explains Mr Abdullah. "I have found that most of the time, some manager may shoot for the result without ensuring the Means and Ability of their subordinates to get the job done."

Consequently, employees who have proper Means and Ability should be able to deliver expected and outstanding performance.

"Handling Accountability is a challenging effort," he says. "Human beings usually expect rewards and recognition but may not really be aware of the importance of accountability. However, we can only enhance this accountability under the condition that they have proper Means and Ability with continuous development in both areas. This can be considered the most difficult part for the coach.

"Normally, coaching will take place every other month and last as long as two hours. In the coaching session, the coach will go through, with the coaching subject, all three aspects _ Means, Ability and Accountability _ in terms of actions and progress topics.

"Both of them will review what has happened in terms of these three main items and talk about actions that were taken and the outcomes. They then think forward about what the next steps should be, and these will be reviewed in the course of two months."

Involved leadership: "I'm a risk taker but I always remain mindful," Mr Abdullah continues. "Still, I regularly assess myself: whenever I do, I will take time to think back and review myself. I also am highly involved with the development of people in the organisation."

An electrical engineer by training, Mr Abdullah has always worked in telecommunications except for his first three years with the Boeing Aircraft and Defence Group.

"Even though I moved from one company to another, I do understand what my people are doing and why they are doing it," he says. "I'm not the kind of leader who just comes from somewhere else to move into the top job. I am very experienced in what I do because I grew into it. I have seen many issues multiple times.

"Although I'm pretty tough and have high expectations, I'm not too much of a results-oriented leader. Some might say that I am. Practically speaking, I measure results in the same way that we look at a scoreboard. For me, we are in the game and the game never stops. Some might comment on corporate results, to which I usually respond that you cannot say outright what is happening because you are not close or in the game. So when we see the score, that is when we get involved in the coaching. Then we discuss what should be done."


Sorayuth Vathanavisuth is principal consultant and executive coach at the Center for Southeast Asia Leadership and lectures at Mahidol University's College of Management. His areas of interest are corporate strategy, executive coaching and leadership development. He can be reached at sorayuth@sealeadership.com

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