coaching

We help our coaching clients to create change that leads to the attainment of their immediate and long term goals.

Coaching helps people to learn from their own experiences, to take control over their performance, development and career and achieve an enhanced sense of well-being and fulfilment.

Coaching succeeds when the client and coach work together to achieve the client's goals. The contribution of the coach to engage the strengths and resources of the client to build upon their existing positive qualities and successes, as well as eliminating obstacles which detract from their performance, well-being or success.

Insight & Influence’s coaching programs help people to:

Underlying our approach is the 70/20/10 principle; that


However, experience by itself does not necessarily lead to learning - people usually need to be guided to make full use of their developmental experiences.


Our contribution is to provide structure, focus, challenge and encouragement, to support and enhance our client’s experiential learning.

The Learning and development Cycle

We find coaching works best when it follows the natural learning process that people follow in a wide variety of development situations.

We developed our Five A's model of learning and development using lessons from the best existing models of strategic planning, project management, learning and coaching.

I&I Learning and development model

Aspire

Our aim in any program is to create intentional change. To do this both the coach and the client need to know what they want to change.


What does the client want to be different as a result of the coaching?

What is the gap between how things are now and what they should be?

What do they aspire to?


This stage is a combination of goal setting, awareness raising and motivating. Based on personal values and motivations we set a "light on the hill" that our clients can aspire to even in the most difficult parts of their change journey.


Assess


The next step is to raise participants' understanding their current challenges, capabilities, resources and performance, as well as barriers. We can examine these at the organisational, team and individual levels. This allows us to know the strengths and resources we have available as well as the client's weaknesses and barriers to success.

Specific objectives for change and development are created from this improved awareness and forms the basis for the actions developed in the Acquire stage.

This stage raises self awareness but is also important for boosting participants’ motivation for change by clarifying the difference between the status quo and the desired future.


Acquire


Achieving change often requires new capabilities including skills, knowledge, and beliefs. We work with our clients to develop a detailed and comprehensive Coaching Action Plan that sets out exactly what needs to be done in order for their goals to be achieved.

This plan links the specific objectives from the Assess stage "upwards" to the high level gaols of Aspire and "downwards" to the actions that need to be taken to achieve these goals and objectives. The plan can include specific workplace behavioural changes, skills and knowledge to be learned, attitudes, beliefs and other thoughts that need to change. Actions, responsibilities and timeframes are all specified. An important element is KPIs for each objective - how will we know when they have been achieved?

This stage also includes any education, formal learning programs, reading, and generally obtaining whatever resources are required to make the plan work and the changes happen.

This is the 10% element of the 70 / 20 / 10 principle and we consider it to be necessary but not sufficient for a successful coaching program. One metaphor is that it is like a grain of sand in an oyster - something new from outside that may initiatly irritate but the response creates something valuable and beautiful.


Apply


The Coaching Action Plan provides guidance and structure for what really matters; doing things differently and better in the workplace. The participant needs to put their plan into action in the workplace for any real improvement to occur.

This is the vitial 70% component of the 70 / 20 10 principle. Research on the effectiveness of training programs show that training programs by themselves only result in 16% of participants improving their performance (Wick, Jefferson and Pollock, 2008). One of the benefits of coaching is that can improve the application of new skills and knowledge in the workplace in a way that actually improves work performance.

This diagram shows how this occurs.

workplace learning process

A sense of purpose is required to provide a context or direction for the learning. In our system this is provided by the Aspire stage.

The coaching participant must be ready or motivated to learn. Just attending a workshop or going on a program will not result in any improvements or changes.

Formal learning or instruction is necessary and shouldn't be underestimated. One colleague put it that " if we only spend 1% or 2% of our time in training and contributing 10%, it's punching above its weight."

People learn by doing. Good training programs simulate it in exercises, we can role play and practice in coaching sessions to help gain a partial experience of what it is like to do what we are trying to learn but nothing beats doing it for real. One of the most powerful learning experiences is to try something new and fail. The emotions associated with learning outcomes provide a powerful boost to the learning process. The trick is how we respond to the outcomes; this is where the feedback, support and encouragement of a coach can make the difference between a negative and positive learning experience.

One of the challenges of modern working life is that it is very time poor. Managers have always been busy but 21st century working life is hectic for everyone. This reduces the time available for people to reflect on their workplace experiences and to learn from them. Coaches can encourage and enhance reflection (many coaching clients see the "time out" provided by coaching sessions as their favourite benefit) and ensure that challenging experiences lead to learning and development.


Achieve

 

Coaching needs to be purposeful; we need to know why we are doing this, what we are trying to achieve and at the end, have we achieved what we have set out to achieve.

Aspirations, goals and objectives set at the start of the program are compared against actual outcomes. We also celebrate other learnings and achievements that may not have been anticipated but came to be an important part of what our clients have gained. Coaching is a journey of change where we can go to many places and experience many things on the way to our intended destination.

Consequently, evaluation actually occurs constantly throughout the coaching program with the coach constantly monitoring the progress of the client against expectations and the Coaching Action Plan. Often the key contribution of the coach in the Apply phase is to maintain consistent application and to deal with "relapses" or drops in motivation and application of the client. Success in coaching as in anything, is persistent effort despite setbacks.

Once the formal program is complete, participants are encouraged to re-launch their development into a new cycle of setting aspirations, of growth and learning.

 

 

Behind our approach is an awareness that our role as coach is to accelerate, support and focus our clients’ development through a collaborative interaction that has performance and capability outcomes. The contribution of the coach occurs through following a structured process, as outlined above, and by developing a supportive, collaborative relationship with our client.


Most corporate coaching clients are capable, effective individuals who are facing challenges to learn new capabilities, meet higher demands and accept greater responsibility. Our shared challenge is to build on strengths so as to make good performers exceptional.