Oh all this coaching lark is becoming too difficult. Why can’t we just tell people and have done with it? Why can’t people just follow instructions or even better, just get on and do what they get paid to do without us having to fret about what they are doing?

Well of course they can, and in many many cases they do just that. However we are completely blind to the ways in which WE get in their way or throw them off course. And we underestimate the vital importance of coaching to support people in having the courage and confidence to perform to their very best. So I’m afraid we have to keep going on this coaching lark. If we genuinely want our people using their initiative, thinking for themselves and solving their own problems then we need to change the way we manage them – we need to become genuine Coaches.

This behaviour change is the hardest part for us, because it involves the almost unthinkable risk of changing the very thing that has made us successful. And why on earth would we want to take that risk? Let’s understand how we got to be a manager in the first place – because we demonstrated to others in authority that we possessed the ability to solve problems and martial resources to implement our solutions. It’s a skill that is highly (MOST highly) prized in organisations. If we demonstrated this skill at a very early age then we got to manage people very early. And once we got on the management treadmill, the way to make progress was to get noticed higher up the tree, and to solve bigger and bigger problems.

The more problems we solved and the better we got at motivating others to implement solutions, the more successful we became and the better we got at it. It was a virtuous circle for us – it was like everything else in life; the more we practiced the better we got. And now here we are, solving problems all day long – it’s what we do and it’s who we are. If we only knew it, we even create problems for ourselves to solve. A life without problems for us would not be worth living! It is so much of an ingrained habit that we now do not know when we are doing it. It is a truly unconscious competence. And we are fabulous at it. In fact it has become an addiction.

Of course we sometimes lose good people who move onto bigger and better things in a different company – but we tell ourselves that they are not really ready for the job they have found and it will all end in tears. We often complain that our people do not show enough initiative, but explain this to ourselves by realising that we cannot expect them to be like us. And so the insanity starts and grows until we have become the monster – the block on growth; the barrier to people developing their potential – the problem. We think its them but now we know it’s us. We have to get out of the way; we have to change. So let’s make a start.

We must liberate ourselves from the belief that we know what is best for others; that we help people best by taking decisions for them, and that we care for them best by exercising responsibility on their behalf. It may be daunting to think about starting to coach people. However if we think of coaching as simply a leadership intervention – a one off act that can make a real difference - we may just give it a try.

The reality is that we learn more about someone’s true ability and potential by coaching them, than we ever do by giving them solutions

About the Author:

Gareth Chick is a 40 year corporate veteran with a global profile. His career has included hugely successful spells as CFO, CEO and Chairman in both public and private sectors, including private equity. What makes Gareth's experience unique is that he combined those executive roles with a part time career as a leadership trainer, researching psychology, neuroscience and psychotherapy to create leadership development programmes used now by many major global corporations. In the last 15 years Gareth has trained over 5000 managers and served as Executive Coach to over 200 senior execs including FTSE100 CEOs and Fortune 500 VPs. As Founder of Collaborative Equity LLP, “promoting corporate cultures and sustainable business models of shared ownership, shared responsibility and shared rewards", Gareth acts as consultant to many global leaders, specialising in first time CEOs and Start Up founders. ↠ find out more at ceq.com

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