How Coaching Has Helped Me: A Coach’s Perspective

To celebrate International Coaching Week (ICW) I'm running a series of daily blogs on both coaching & mentoring.

Today I am delighted to host a guest post from Vera Woodhead (@verawoodhead).  Vera is a professional coach, facilitator, trainer and lecturer in business, leadership and personal development. If you haven't already, I'd recommend checking out her blog here.

Vera's post gives a great perspective on the learning & development that coaches themselves take from the coaching process. It's a great story to end this weeks series of guest posts. I hope you enjoy it!

How Coaching Has Helped Me: A Coach's Perspective 

Having spent over 15 years in people development, the route to coaching seemed a natural progression.  Of those the majority was spent in large organisational environments where performance, effectiveness, goals, strategic direction… were part of the coaching repertoire.

This changed when I undertook my Masters in Coaching and Mentoring some years ago where we engaged with ‘coachees’ to practice new skills, techniques... etc on. I used my contacts to find 5 professional women who wanted to take up the offer of 6 free coaching sessions. They included a head teacher, lawyer, judge, HR director and a business owner. They were all local and came to my house (where I have a private ‘coaching room’) for their sessions. I was surprised about the type of issues that were being raised.  They were intertwined with aspects that were personal, professional, family and much more emotions were coming through than I was used to.

Many of our conversations resulted in shifts in paradigm and beliefs and in most instances were cathartic.  I was struck by how much they seem to get out of the sessions, the transformational changes and how liberated they felt. My approach since been one that is holistic, developmental and works with core values and beliefs.

However, the most transformational change was in myself. I arrived in England as a young teen and have been financially, emotionally, psychologically independent since the age of 17 years old. I was tough, hard, aloof, didn’t show any emotions as this would be a sign of weakness. I had to be strong, to cope with whatever challenges came my way - on my own. This continued throughout my married life and even when I had my children. 

It wasn’t until I worked with this group of women, that I became aware that showing signs of vulnerability does not make you a ‘less strong’ person. I was also moved that they felt safe and trusted me enough to share some of those inner feelings. This was a huge turning point for me and the start of my journey in getting in touch with my emotions, being aware of them and sharing them. I became better at asking for help and in talking about how I was feeling. I find it much easier to be empathetic and to share my own feelings.

My thoughts, feelings and actions are much more aligned and the perspectives and learning that I get from coaching clients continues to help me grow and develop.

Friday Wondering - What is Coaching & Mentoring?

Each Friday I'm posting a "Friday Wondering". These posts are meant to explore & discuss observations or issues which I think would benefit from discussion. Participation is open to absolutely anyone regardless of their expertise or knowledge. Just bring your curiosity!

If you'd like to discuss on Twitter rather than here then why not. It would help though if you could use the #FridayWondering hashtag. Thanks!

What is Coaching & Mentoring?

As part of International Coaching Week, I’ve accepted a challenge from @StirTheSource to deal with the question of “what is or isn’t coaching & mentoring?”. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Textbook stuff... 

Actually, that’s the challenge. Hundreds of books have been written about coaching & mentoring by academics, trainers, practitioners & consultants. For all that intellectual resource there is no apparent definitive answer, not even if you look to the professional bodies. 

The Definition Dilemma 

So why is there no definitive answer? Let’s start with the obvious. There is no overarching professional body for either coaching or mentoring as there is with say Accountancy. 

In the absence of an overarching professional body a variety of similar definitions can co-exist. 

For all the historical references to Coaching (Pendennis) & Mentoring (Homer - not the Simpsons!), the question of definition seems only to have become important in recent years with the advent of coaching & mentoring in organisations or as a service. Clients want providers to explain their solutions. Authors want to assert their views. Professional bodies want to set standards and expectations. 

The commercial market demands explanation but not a single definition. 

I think there is also another commercial (or perhaps human) interest at play here which is the need to differentiate from other practices. Coaches, as an example, are generally quick to point out that coaching is most definitely not consulting, mediation, training, therapy, counselling or even mentoring! 

There is perceived advantage to describing coaching & mentoring in a way that differentiates. 

I believe that the above dynamics have contributed to a crowded and extremely varied UK market to the extent that coaching as an example has a bad reputation for some. 

So with the above in mind there I have a dilemma about how do I answer the question of “what is or isn’t coaching & mentoring”? To answer provides another perspective and reinforces the above status quo which may not be seen as helpful. To not answer would seem to say that I don’t know how I practice coaching & mentoring! 

What coaching & mentoring is & is not 

As I’ve already mentioned, coaching is not consulting, mediation, therapy, counselling or even mentoring. The most effective way I’ve ever seen anyone describe this comes from @SandroDaSilva who wrote “A butterfly goes to a coach”. Do take a look over on his blog if you’ve not read it already. 

To add to this, I do not believe coaching is just about asking questions. Some people do. For me a human interaction that connects with you requires more than just asking questions. Feedback, observation, reflection are all valuable tools that we can share with our clients to support them. It’s worth also referring to my recent post on “Advice in Coaching”. 

The Confessional 

Personally, I don’t believe that there needs to be a single definition of either coaching or mentoring. 

I believe that coaching & mentoring have a variety of similar but differing definitions because they describe relationships based on deep levels of trust. Without such levels of trust I don’t believe coaching & mentoring can be successful. We all see such relationships through our own eyes, experiences & emotions hence the diversity of similar definitions. 

I value the diversity that exists and I think clients do also - they want a variety of solutions that create long lasting sustainable change. However, we should be more definitive regarding poor practice - I think that’s a whole different blog! 

I've said plenty!  What are your thoughts on coaching & mentoring?

Advice in coaching

Traditional wisdom in coaching suggests that advice giving is poor practice. The rationale is that by giving advice to a client you are leading or telling the client what to do. 

This directive action introduces a form of judgement and potentially takes away the clients’ ability to create their own solutions. In its purest sense this can have a consequence in terms of the coaching relationship and even limit the impact of the coaching. 

However, it’s often raised as a debating point in coaching circles, even by experienced practitioners. Is advice giving really poor practice? 

My view 

I believe that no matter how you practice as a coach, it is always to serve the interests of the client not yourself. If this care is absent then you are not coaching. 

There are a broad range of coaches, coaching practices & client needs out there. I think the question of advice in coaching is more an issue of how can advice help or hinder a client during a coaching session. 

From this perspective, in terms of advice giving, I think it’s helpful as a coach to be conscious of  two simple calibrating questions first: 

What form could the “advice” take? 

Be clear about what form the “advice” could take and how it might be received - feedback, observation, information, recommendation, obligation, expectation, judgement, critique, criticism. 

Who would giving advice truly serve? 

Connected to how it might be received, assess who does this input really serve? What are your motivations? What could the consequences be? Will it help shift thinking or action? Do you have an obligation to provide this input? Do you need to do it now? Are you the best person to provide this input? What will happen if you don't do it now? 

Using these two calibrating questions I find that I don't have to worry about the word "advice". I can focus my attention on how can I best care for the client at that moment in time. 

As it happens I almost never find myself feeling the need to give advice whilst coaching. When it does happen, I’m able to recognise it and if appropriate, offer it the client as it is meant, even “pausing” the coaching session if necessary.  Above all, this process ensures that the client can retain autonomy & self-determination in the coaching process.

What do you think about advice in coaching?  How do you deal with it in your practice?

The Coaching Journey

To celebrate International Coaching Week (ICW) I'm running a series of daily blogs on both coaching & mentoring.

Today I am delighted to host a guest post from Karen Locking (@karenlocking) who is a Workforce Development Resource Officer. Her post gives a wonderful sense of the coaching journey of an L&D professional. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

THE COACHING JOURNEY

I’ve been training and practicing as a Performance Development coach for ten months and I cannot believe the impact the programme is having on me as an individual.

I signed up go on a coach programme to become a coach seeing it as a way of providing a service our workforce needed, we were offering performance development coaching and they needed people to train as coaches, I love learning and thought “I’m in, I’ll give it a go!”. I didn’t expect the transition to be personal and have such a huge impact.

I believed I had a reasonable level of self awareness, I thought I knew what made me tick and I knew how I learnt and how I worked. I have had counselling before and am a self confessed “overthinker” so I truly believed I had learnt a lot about myself. However, the world of coaching has opened newer areas of thought and continuously challenged what I thought I knew about myself. It has changed how I interact and my thought processes and patterns in ways I didn’t ever think it would.

For example - I find myself asking my husband questions when he’s stuck with a problem instead of giving him answers for ease and quickness (much to his annoyance some days! – “Don’t coach me” he replies!), I listen more attentively and find myself asking people questions about why they used specific words and where assumptions have come from.

And this isn’t even in my formal coaching sessions! The formal sessions have been so very eye opening, my self reflection afterwards about whether I ask questions linked to my comfort zone and way of thinking and then trying to ask questions around their way of thinking to build rapport and open doors for them has been unbelievably useful. The feeling of “wow the coachee has shifted mindsets” is so fabulous and to know all I did was continue being inquisitive through questions.

I have had the new coach internal panic and I don’t think I’ll have buried it forever. The “overthinker” inner critic in me has had a feeling of worry as well as excitement before a coaching session and I realised mid way through my training I was procrastinating with the finest level of skill before setting up my first session with a coachee however, overall my experiences have been one of unbelievable personal accomplishment and satisfaction.

I would invite any individual interested in coaching to speak to a coach, have some sessions perhaps and explore this way of learning. Not just as a way of learning about yourself but learning about others as well. I began my training seeing my coaching experience and training as a journey with a final destination, however the more I explore and the deeper I dive into the world of coaching

I’m realising there will be no final destination no final finish line, the journey will be the reward if I continue to learn about myself, and through the people and sights along the way.

Ironic or is it?

To celebrate International Coaching Week (ICW) I'm running a series of daily blogs on both coaching & mentoring.

Today I am delighted to host a guest post from Jon Bartlett (@ProjectLibero) a professional coach, mentor and health worker. If you haven't already, you can read more of his excellent blogging here. Here, Jon gives us a perspective on coaching in the workplace which I hope will resonate with you.

IRONIC OR IS IT?

When David first asked me if I wanted to do a blog for International Coaching Week I had just agreed to carry out some mediation training. It seemed slightly ironic that during the one week that is dedicated to coaching I would be doing mediation. However, as I thought about it made a lot of sense, let me explain.

For those of you who are unaware how a basic mediation works, let me do a (reasonably) quick explanation – basically you get the two protagonists in a room without all the attendant hangers on, be it HR staff, union reps or their best pal. You sit down individually with each of them, work out what is important and send them away to have a think about what they want to say to the other person. Then when they’ve decided you work with them to craft a form of words which honour their intent whilst also not starting a small office war. That takes up the morning, then after lunch you bring the two parties together. They both get an uninterrupted speaking time and it goes from there with the mediator(s) helping the flow of discussion, reframing some of the content, enabling them to see the others position. With any luck an agreement can be reached which enables them to continue to work together and saves on tribunals, oceans of paperwork and their pent up emotions ruining work for everyone else.

Now as a coach I often work with clients who are in conflict with someone else, and they want to examine how they perceive this person and how in turn they are viewed. So, transferable skill to mediation right there. I also work with clients who can only see one way forward in a situation and need to reframe their position, another transferable skill. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this but lets add another, deeper layer.

What about the clients who are in conflict with themselves, the ones who sabotage their own best efforts, or think the world is against them and that they have no control over anything? Well a surprising amount of people who are hugely aggressive during a mediation are in fact acting out of very positive intentions. They may have become the office “problem” because it was the only way they knew how to express themselves and they often feel powerless against the system / their manager / their team. Given a voice and the chance to build a rapport with the other person they become like pussycats. Well it’s the same with coaching clients. They don’t know how to talk to themselves, how to break free of years of poor programming, how to take charge of their own lives. They have basically fallen out of rapport with themselves and the skill of the coach is sometimes in highlighting that fact and starting the conversation anew.

So it’s appropriate that I’m mediating this week because actually, I’m just coaching in a different way. One of the many methods available to a coach and I’m sure you will hear more about other coaching perspectives during David’s great series.

Working With People

To celebrate International Coaching Week (ICW) I'm running a series of daily blogs on both coaching & mentoring.

Today I am delighted to host a guest post from an experienced HR professional. Given the personal nature of the post they have asked to remain anonymous but I think you'll agree it's a tremendous story about the impact of a mentoring relationship.

WORKING WITH PEOPLE

I was fortunate enough during last year to be put in touch with a senior HR person who agreed to mentor me. At that point in my career I had felt lost and deeply unhappy. There were days when I wondered how I would escape the feelings of isolation and desperation and when I would have given anything not to work in HR anymore. I couldn’t see a way out but I couldn’t see a way forward either. Unusually for me, I started to feel stagnant and trapped. It had a very negative impact on my mental health and started to chip away at my confidence. Because of the impact it was having on me, I started to doubt my own abilities and all I wanted to do was run away from the problem because I couldn’t see how to fix it. I would like to add here that I’m typically a glass half full person and so once faced with this trap, my optimism and upbeat self slowly disappeared.

Then along came Harry* (*not his real name), someone who very quickly built up rapport with me and who earned my respect just for being himself. I remember that for the first couple of conversations that we had, I went around in circles, not really knowing what the problem was. Harry was one of the most patient people that I’ve ever come across and looking back now I realise he is someone who has a real gift for working with people.

After some time, Harry helped me to identify that my deepest trigger for being unhappy at work was not the work itself but my personal perception of a particular relationship with a person at work. I felt we were too different and that they didn’t understand me. From time to time, I saw challenge as conflict and slowly over time, I had built a wall around myself in order to cope with what I saw as a relationship that was slipping away. I had also felt ignored and because I felt that praise didn’t come very often, I started to believe that everything I did was wrong. It was made worse by a performance review that didn’t quite go as I’d expected.

Harry asked me to consider my Myers-Briggs personality and also think about the person I was feeling unhappy about. He was quite simply, amazing. Just from a few conversations he had decided my profile in his mind but also that of the person I wasn’t getting along with. From there, he helped me to see that the other person saw the world very differently to myself and highlighted where there were real differences in our views. Harry encouraged me to speak to that person about how much the issues were bothering me and he assured me that by asking for praise once in a while was not an unreasonable request.

I had a meeting coming up and I wanted to address the problems head on. Harry helped me with setting my agenda, the use of language that I was going to use to address the problem and talked me through the different scenarios. When the meeting came and went without a hitch, I started to see the world from the other persons perspective and I realised that there wasn’t a personal issue at all, we were disjointed and I had taken something personally that was never intended that way.

A year later, I’m in the same job. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect but for the most part I enjoy what I do. I still work with the same person and our relationship is much improved. The other person hasn’t changed much at all but I have adapted my style when I’m with them and I’ve learnt not to take things personally. I don’t think that Harry will ever quite understand what a difference he made to me. I feel indebted to him for his kindness, patience and empathy.

Before this experience I had never been mentored before and I wasn’t sure how it would be able to improve things. Sadly Harry has moved onto other things and I’m on the lookout for a new mentor. I’m hoping too that at some point I’ll get the chance to give something back and that I’ll be able to make a difference in the way that Harry did for me.

Celebrate!

This Sunday 5th February marks the start of International Coaching Week (ICW). A week long global celebration of the coaching profession held annually, during the first full week in February. You can find out more here EMCC and here ICF. 

There are loads of ways to celebrate and participate. Amongst other things, I’m providing pro-bono coaching and helping a fantastic group of EMCC volunteers to launch the EMCC UK Cambridge Network on Tuesday evening. 

I’m also going to run a series of blogs through the week on the theme of both coaching & mentoring. I have a few ideas but then thought why not ask you to join in the fun!  Here’s how you can participate: 

Challenge me!

So what are the questions you have about coaching & mentoring? Is there anything you’ve always wondered but have never asked about? Do you have questions or concerns about coaching or mentoring?

Just share what you'd like to be discussed and I'll try to blog about them.  I don't promise any answers but I will happily explore with you!

Collaborate with me!

Would you like to guest blog here on any coaching & mentoring related subject? You don’t have to be an expert. You don’t have to be a coach or mentor. If you have a perspective or experience related to coaching or mentoring that you’d like to share in detail here then I’d be delighted to help. 

Celebrate with me!

It would be great to celebrate your own activities and experiences of ICW.  If you are already participating in #ICW then let me know what you are up to - blog links also welcome.

Need Help?

If you want to celebrate but don’t know how, just give me a call. Myself and I’m sure other colleagues would be happy to either suggest ideas or even support you. 

What next? 

Well if the above has piqued your curiosity or just want to jump in with both feet then just let me know!  You can either use the comments form below, tweet me directly here or email me here. 

Look forward to hearing from you!

Friday Wondering - Our Social Contract

Each Friday I'm posting a "Friday Wondering". These posts are meant to explore & discuss observations or issues which I think would benefit from discussion. Participation is open to absolutely anyone regardless of their expertise or knowledge. Just bring your curiosity!

If you'd like to discuss on Twitter rather than here then why not. It would help though if you could use the #FridayWondering hashtag. Thanks!

Our Social Contract

At work we normally have a legal &/or psychological contract with those around us.  This may be imperfect or unbalanced but it's there in some form or another.

Outside of work, we have what might be called an emotional contract with our personal relationships such as family, partners, children, friends.

So on Social Media, where we've not established the above relationships, what exactly is the contract with those we engage with?

Friday Wondering - HR Bugbears

Each Friday I'm going post a "Friday Wondering". These posts are meant to explore & discuss observations or issues which I think would benefit from discussion. Participation is open to absolutely anyone regardless of their expertise or knowledge. Just bring your curiosity!

If you'd like to discuss on Twitter rather than here then why not. It would help though if you could use the #FridayWondering hashtag. Thanks!

So here's the first.....

HR Bugbears

Over on @robjones_tring "Masters or Bust" blog yesterday, @naturalgrump commented raising an interesting bugbear about abbreviations.  He observed & I tend to agree that :

"Abbreviations such as JV and BAU take me time to decipher and are painful to place in the context of the post".

Although an expedient form of shorthand, I wonder if abbreviation also takes away meaning and even the power of the original words...

So when we talk about for example H.R. are we taking away the meaning and power of what is actually "Human Resources"?

Warnocking & Leadership

Even if you don’t work in the HR space, you know that feedback is important. It’s how we learn & develop. If it’s well delivered, feedback is engaging. It’s a gift.

Warnock’s Dilemma 

Those of you who blog may be familiar with the phenomenon that is called Warnock’s Dilemma. If you are not then there is a good description on Wikipedia here and even a dedicated website here. 

The problem it describes comes from a lack of response to a posting. Any blogger will be familiar with posts that don’t attract comments – sometimes it can be quite discomforting. Warnock’s Dilemma explains this lack of feedback as being for 1 of 5 different reasons: 

1. The post is correct, well-written information that needs no follow-up commentary. There's nothing more to say except "Yeah, what he said." 
2. The post is complete and utter nonsense, and no one wants to waste the energy or bandwidth to even point this out. 
3. No one read the post, for whatever reason. 
4. No one understood the post, but won't ask for clarification, for whatever reason. 
5. No one cares about the post, for whatever reason. 

Whether you blog or not, it all makes perfect sense doesn’t it… so what? 

Well, have a think about the 5 different reasons and replace the word “post” with “Executive Communication”. It’s a slightly different perspective isn’t it... More than that, I think it perhaps illuminates some broader issues. 

Leaders hide their discomfort 

We know that dealing with ambiguity is part of the leadership role, along with the need for strong communication skills. 

Often this means we develop leaders who are able to function without much feedback and are able to communicate strongly, sometimes perhaps in a way that even stifles feedback. I suspect that the combination conspires against leaders receiving the feedback they need, as humans. 

To not get the feedback you need as a human. That would feel discomforting wouldn’t it? Shouldn’t it? More than that, doesn’t that lack of feedback limit learning and development? 

Organisations that recognise this develop leaders to have strong reciprocal communications skills and can both give & elicit feedback effectively.

Take a look around your organisation. I’d guess there may be leaders you can see who don’t function at this level.  Are they learning & developing as they need to? Are they hiding their discomfort? 

Warnock’s Dilemma is incomplete 

Warnock’s Dilemma is great but it’s important to recognise its origins are in the online world of forum posting 10 years ago. I believe there are 4 other reasons people don’t contribute to postings & blogs which we already understand from the corporate world. 

• The post is good/bad but the writer is weak at eliciting feedback. 
• The post is good/bad but the readers’ feedback skills are weak. 
• The post is good/bad but the reader has no time to comment. 
• The post is good/bad but the reader does not care enough about you to “gift” you their feedback. 

I think these are accurate additions but test them. Replace the word “post” with “Executive Communication” or something else that you find relevant. 

What do you think? What else would you add to Warnock’s Dilemma? 

Self-Leadership Postcript 

If we are interested in feedback and dialogue on ourselves then I believe it helps to be aware of the various reasons why others may not comment. The issue could be us; it could be others; it could just be circumstantial.  If we feel discomfort or are not getting the feedback we need then the only positive remedy is to solicit feedback from people whose opinion we care about. 

If we read the work of others who actively or passively seek feedback & comments, what stops us from doing so? Feedback is a gift. If you are time poor then why not find quick ways to share your sentiments? If you disagree why not tell the author?   If you don’t care then why are you reading their work – really think about why.

As leaders or advocates of feedback we know the value of walking the talk.  How much walking the talk do you need to demonstrate in the world of social media?

It’s a personal decision but perhaps this really is the dilemma that comes from Warnock....

Just One

Today is this blog's 1 year anniversary - you can see the first post here.

I like to think I've improved and I certainly feel happier and more confident about writing a blog than I did 12 months ago.  Who would have imagined me sharing poetry here!

Along the way I've found huge support, kind words, intelligent comments and challenging thinking.  A lot of this has come from the ConnectingHR & EMCC communities on Twitter.  Thank you so much!

To anyone contemplating taking that step into blogging, I have to say to you make the time and just start.  Do it for yourself & learn from the experience - it's a great source of reflection.  Find your way - it's hard at first but you will get great support.

Perhaps most importantly, just remember this little quote from @Projectlibero....

"You get a wonderful view from the point of no return"

Giving Back

On this anniversary, the blog has just hit 4,000 views!  So to celebrate this landmark & as a thank you to the community I want to give something back.

I have "just one" free ticket to give away for the first of the new EMCC UK Symposiums on "Mapping the Mind".  The lucky winner can chose whether to attend in London on 6th March or Manchester on 15th March.  All I ask in return is that the winner writes a guest blog post here about their experience.

Here's what you need to do

Please nominate someone who isn't already going but you think is both deserving of the ticket and would value the symposium.  Please ensure that they are able to go and willing to provide a guest blog.  Then just email me with a brief explanation of why you've nominated them to david@changecontinuum.com

My choice of the lucky winner will take place on Friday 27th January.

UPDATE - 27/3/2012
With a very heartfelt nomination from Ian Pettigrew (@KingfisherCoach) the lucky winner is Bev Holden (@stickythinker) who will be going to the Manchester Symposium on the 15th March.  Watch out for her guest blog post on the experience!

Guru Haiku

By unknown 18-19th century (old book) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In social media, if not all things, everyone hates a self proclaimed guru. Twitter abounds with such profiles - Followerwonk shows nearly 28,000 profiles using the word guru!

Yet a guru means one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others. Perhaps take a moment to read the definition of Guru on Wikipedia.

In other words, a guru is a teacher or leader. Someone who shares their wisdom and that of others. They would willingly help you. This is someone that we would appreciate & value wouldn’t we?

The Popularity Difference
So we know how to spot those sham gurus and avoid them like the plague.

What about the gurus we create? You know, they are the ones we love to follow & connect with. The ones we always hope will see our blog or even comment. The ones with big Klout.

The trouble is that they are sometimes a creation of the environment if not of our imagination. At worst, it’s a bit like the school playground… remember those really popular kids who everyone wanted to be friends with. Why? Because they were the most popular kids… Do you see what I mean?

Meet the Guru
Whether or not you like the word guru, I think what most of us want is to engage with people we value not those who are "just popular".

I value those who share knowledge, wisdom & authority freely and in an inclusive manner. So I’m taking a much closer look at the Twitter playground to separate the "just popular" from the real Gurus.

Here are a few ideas if you want to do the same...

• Do they really retweet? I took a look at TweetStats and was shocked to see how little some “big names” retweet. Yet when I thought about it I knew this to be true – sharing on Twitter is easy to do so what stops them? 
• Do you get a sense of cliques forming around them? @dileeshus wrote a good piece on Twitter exclusion here and others have spoken to me about this trend. I think if you sense a clique that’s an amber warning – don’t ignore it! 
• Do they reciprocate? You both blog and you have a relationship on twitter. If you comment on their blog then why don’t they comment on yours? It’s not a lot to ask and the best ones do it already. 

There are some really great people out there - some are truly gurus. Just watch you don't get caught up in the schoolground popularity show!

As always I'd really appreciate any thoughts or experiences on this you’d like to share here or offline.

Haiku Guru
I’ve been curious about Haiku for a while now and have been playing around with it. This website provides some great resource and also a description of Master Basho (picture above) - a Haiku Guru if you ask me!

So here’s a little offering from an amateur on the subject of Twitter Gurus…

Guru bathed in Klout;

Missed oyster-pearl tweets abound

shared by those without.

Why don't you have a try at Haiku and share it with us!

Bloganalysis

This blog has been going for nearly a year now. What started as a tentative dip of the toe has now become part of what I do and integral to my business. 

Ultimately though, if I want my blog to achieve something for my business then I need to be able to measure its impact. The question is what to measure? 

The numbers game 

Blogging tools are great at cranking out basic statistics but a lot of what I see is based solely on number of visits or views. The implied ambition seems to be having an increasingly large number of readers… 

For this blog, December was an amazing month reaching an all time high of 1245 views :-

But what was being read? Was December a better or worse month than say September when I had 485 views? Or August when I only blogged once? How do I compare month on month? How do I gauge engagement? 

On their own, absolute views are in my opinion limiting and tend to lead us to view quantity as the objective rather than quality. So what else should we measure? 

Some Alternative Blog Measures 

I’m at an early stage with this but I‘ve been using a set of monthly measures to keep an eye on what seems to be most important. Here are some alternative blog measures & personal observations that I hope you  find interesting.

New Blog Reading vs. Exploration

What I’ve found is that increasingly my blogs readers are taking time to read posts from previous months. This is wonderful and I want to take account of this in my blog stats.

Looking at December, it’s important that I had 1245 views but perhaps more interesting is that nearly half were views of older blogs :-

For me, this starts to indicate something interesting and different is happening with my blog readers.  I would have missed this if I'd not taken time to track these statistics!

Average Views per Post

The number of views an individual post receives is relevant, but we all know that some posts are more of a hit than others. 

Measuring the average views per post each month helps take in an overall picture and smooth out the impact of for instance when you blog more or less often than usual :-

My blog is still developing but it’s great to see a steady and continuous trend upwards. It also helps combat those fears and insecurities of a single post that didn’t attract the usual interest! 

Comments per 100 views

I write my blog both for reflection and for engagement. So to receive feedback in either the form of a twitter reaction or a comment is wonderful. Sometimes, a blog post sparks a fire and the comments rush in. Sometimes there’s a deathly silence or silent appreciation – you choose!

I now measure the number of comments and the number of reactions per 100 views each month. This helps give me a sense of proportion and gives me a different benchmark for engagement other than blog views :-

There's something here about the expected response rate for blogs which I'm still pondering...

Other Perspectives

Analysis of the blog statistics is useful but it is just a monthly gauge I use to check in on progress.  Perhaps more fundamental are the other perspectives I'm becoming aware of.

On a qualitative level, I’m noticing that the posts that generate the most interest are typically edgy/challenging or community focussed. They also generate more thought and dialogue. Expect more of this from me! 

In terms of audience, perhaps unsurprisingly 2/3rds of readers are in the UK and Ireland and seem to be the most actively engaged (i.e. ready to comment or react).  Unexpectedly, a quarter of readers are US based and there is a growing following across Europe, Russia & Asia.  This is making think about how UK centric my writing focus is and whether it needs to change.

I’ve also realised that there is an unnecessary separation between this blog and my company website.  This is manifest in the web statistics. I’m still exploring options but I might end up embedding the blog in the website.  There's something to be said for having everything in one place!

Perhaps I’m learning the hard way but thought I share these experiences with you.  I hope you've found these interesting or even useful.  Would love to hear your thoughts!

What are you planning for your blog in 2012? 

What measures are you using to gauge impact & engagement?

A Calendar of Blogs

Who’s on your blog radar?

There are lots of good blogs out there aren’t there.  At various times of the year various listings or rankings of top bloggers hits the timeline providing great endorsement and signposting to some wonderful reading and discussion.

But what about all the other bloggers?  You know, the ones who blog religiously but perhaps don’t get the notoriety that others do.  The ones who don’t blog each week or even those who have taken a blogging break.  They maybe haven’t hit people’s blog radars yet…

A Calendar of Blogs

Well let’s change that a little bit.  I’d like to share with you some of the fantastic people I’ve come across this year who may not be on your blog radar.  Some of them I’ve known a while; others I only connected with a few weeks ago.  However, I appreciate what they have to say and if you don’t know them already, I think you might too.

I’ve selected one for each month of the year because each is different and bloggers are not just for Christmas!  There are others but hopefully you might add them here yourself…

Who would you like to recognise that might not be on most people’s blog radars?

Please feel free to create your own list in the comments below.  The only criteria is your appreciation and the fact that they may not be on peoples radars!

My Calendar of Blogs

Thanks for such great dialogue, sharing, engagement and writing.  I hope you have a wonderful 2012!

Emily Stone (@Em_Stone) http://wellconnect.co.uk/blog/

Emma (@Onatrainagain) http://www.myblogmyrules.co.uk/

Huw Sayer (@huwsayer) http://huwsayer.wordpress.com/

Ian Perry (@Ianperryemerge) http://emergecoaching.typepad.com

Ian Pettigrew (@KingfisherCoach) http://www.kingfishercoaching.com/
Jan Bowen-Nielsen (@janbowennielsen) http://www.quivermanagement.com/blog/

Jon Bartlett (@Projectlibero) http://projectlibero.wordpress.com/

Martin Couzins (@martincouzins) http://itsdevelopmental.com/

Natasha Stallard (@StirTheSource) http://stirringthesource.com/

Sam Lizars (@SamLizars) http://www-theinsider.blogspot.com/

Vera Woodhead (@verawoodhead) http://verawoodhead.wordpress.com/

Zoe Mounsey (@zoemounsey) http://ideasandscribbles.wordpress.com/

Social Media in Coaching & Mentoring

So, is there any application for coaching or mentoring using social media?

I recently spoke with a group of fellow coaches & mentors about this (see here).  The focus of our conversation and thinking was to establish what value there could be rather than what such a solution might look like.

What the conversation generated was some interesting insights into how social media and both coaching & mentoring have some common issues at heart.  It also showed how coaching & mentoring is in danger of ignoring the evolving communication preferences of our clients.

Issues in common

There is such a broad range of experiences and perceptions of Social Media yet for many it still seems to be something to be held at arms length rather than embraced.  The main issues creating this perception seem to be trust & value.

Now rephrase that paragraph....

There is such a broad range of experiences and perceptions of Coaching & Mentoring yet for many it still seems to be something to be held at arms length rather than embraced.  The main issues creating this perception seem to be trust & value.

Isn’t it curious that we are dealing with some common issues…

Trust

If you want to engage with people on platforms such as Twitter you have to place trust, faith even, in the fact that people will engage with you, respectfully.  You have to trust the sentiments of strangers.  You have to trust exposing yourself in this way.

It takes trust to build that all important rapport.

Doesn’t this describe social media as well as coaching & mentoring relationships?

Value

Naysayers talk of social media as a waste of time - it’s just people chatting.  Well, I believe value is to be found where you create it.  Engaging with people you trust nearly always creates value.  Sometimes we do it through chatting just as you would in the workplace.  Sometimes the dialogue is much deeper, perhaps in a way we don’t experience in the workplace.

With people the value is in the conversations and relationships you build.

Doesn’t this describe social media as well as coaching & mentoring relationships?

Communication is not a generational difference!

Many people have developed careers and worked in businesses that have had little or no engagement with social media.  Over the years we’ve developed successful practices without social media.  However, the reality is that people are now engaging differently & more frequently because of social media.

If we look at the “standard” executive coaching engagement, many people will talk of something akin to 6 sessions over 6 months.  Regardless of the value this does or doesn’t create, how do we know this format is still appropriate?  Is it still relevant for a social media savvy population?

What method(s) and frequency of engagement do clients find most relevant and supportive? Are we even asking them?

The Future?

We can’t let our own tried & tested practices stop us from embracing more appropriate tools or methods of communication or engagement.

We must maintain high standards and explore how we can embrace more appropriate tools or methods of communication & engagement.  Don’t get caught up on how it can’t work.  Focus on how it could work.

If our clients are working in the real-time world of social media, why aren’t we?

Coaching & mentoring are both often framed as conversations with a purpose.  That sounds a lot like social media to me!

What do you think?

The Trickiest Question in Coaching

My experience of professional external coaches & mentors is that they are generally giving of their time and often willing to share & support other colleagues who ask for their help.

However, there does seem to be one exception. It's perhaps the trickiest question in coaching... 

What do you charge? 

I recently wrote here about Sheffield Hallam Business Schools' quarterly Coaching & Mentoring Research day.

During the day a group of us (largely strangers) had a discussion about pricing and marketing coaching services. We shared our individual views on the market, how we saw the market was priced and where we thought our services sat in that mix. Each of us took something from it but we all felt it was a healthy conversation not often had. 

Now I've had very honest conversations on pricing with colleagues before and we've found it easy to talk about our experiences. Similarly, I've found clients very supportive in helping understand market rates. It takes trust but it's not that hard to do. 

However, it does seem that the subject of pricing tends to be avoided between coaches & mentors. I know others share this view. 

What is stopping you?

So what's stopping coaches & mentors from having this discussion? 

I'm aware that in some jurisdictions, conversations on pricing are not permissable as it could be construed as price fixing. However, to my knowledge this is not the case in the UK. 

There is an argument that the pricing is so variable dependent on industry, individual and need that any conversation would be mixing apples & pears... I think that's an excuse. Arguing the variables would be a conversation about pricing! 

Coaching & mentoring as "professions" are embryonic and practices can be diverse so perhaps the lack of clarity on pricing is a market phenomena... so how come clients know what the market price is? 

A theory

Bear with me on this as I attempt to journey into amateur economics... Paul Stokes in our group mentioned the Giffen Good in terms of exceptions to the normal supply & demand curve. What I actually think he meant was the Veblen Good.

Veblen Good describes a commodity where after a certain price point, rather than demand falling it actually increases - luxury cars being a good example. Now this doesn't necessarily sound like coaching or mentoring until you overlay a few key features of the current coaching market:

1. The market is diverse with a spectrum ranging from high end organisational needs to more personal coaching
2. Executive Coaching is seen as the preserve of the most highly paid.
3. Client ego or perceived value can have an impact
4. Unlike other markets, price often bears no correlation to the quality of the coaching

You'll find some interesting references to these points on Coaching at Work here and here (you may need to be a subscriber).

For external coaching & mentoring, I think this implies that there is price point at which prestige kicks in (snob value) but has no relevance to quality necessarily.

What's compelling for me in this theory is the fact that there are a good amount of coaches & mentors working at the high end of the spectrum. Similarly there are many more advertising their services at the low end of the spectrum. Where there appears to be a dearth is quality coaches at reasonable prices for middle-management...

What this means?

Firstly this is a theory. It has some attraction but it is just a theory.

However, it may be that coaches & mentors are reluctant to discuss pricing because we are working in a market that is exceptional to normal supply and demand. This makes it harder for people to gauge where their pricing should sit between the highest and the lowest.

Beyond the reticence of coaches & mentors to discuss their pricing is the observation that perhaps clients are paying a premium to support the egos of the most highly paid.

Perhaps more importantly is the opportunity to provide high quality external coaching to lower levels of the organisation based on the "real" price. 

I would really appreciate any thoughts or reactions, specifically :

• Are coaches & mentors slow to have discussions about pricing? What creates such examples of reticence?
• How well does the Veblen Good diagram above relate to your view of the coaching & mentoring market?
• Is pricing the only perceived barrier to providing high quality coaching to lower organisational levels?  What other barriers do we face?