Stephanie got quiet. “I coach. That’s what I do. But, how do I do what I do?”
“That’s a recursive question,” I said.
“I mean, I think I coach. But, it’s intuitive. I don’t know if I know how to coach. Maybe it’s something I do, but is there a method?”
“Just ask these five questions.”
“I think we covered this before,” Stephanie chuckled. “I always seem to drop back to training, more training. If I see something I don’t like, the answer is more training. But training doesn’t seem to move the needle anymore.”
“Think about it this way,” I suggested, “if training is something that happens before the behavior we want, and gets the team to a minimum level of performance, then why doesn’t more training move the needle?”
Stephanie paused. “To move the needle is only going to come with practice. Training only tells the team what to do, in what sequence. Training doesn’t observe their behavior, watch their repetition, suggest small changes in method, drill them with more repetition.”
“Stop!” I said. “Listen to your description. Observe behavior, watch repetition, suggest small changes. Does that sound like training?”
Stephanie’s chuckle turned to laughter. “No. Training gets the team to a minimum level of performance. Observing behavior, watching repetition, suggesting small changes is coaching. Higher levels of performance don’t come with training. Higher levels of performance come with coaching.”
“I am ready to throw up my hands. I have come up with eight ways to Sunday for our route technicians to do a better job on their service calls. I am ready to do a Flutie drop kick and just let them deal with it.” Russell commiserated, hoping I would be sympathetic.
“Well, I think it’s a good idea,” I said.
“What do you mean?” replied Russell, still looking for sympathy.
“I mean, I think you should call your technicians together and let them deal with it. Look, the problem isn’t that your ideas are bad; the problem is they are your ideas. If you want your technicians to do a better job on service calls, the ideas have to come from them.
“One of the biggest mistakes young managers make is thinking that you have to solve all the problems of the world. You don’t. Spread the burden. You will be surprised at how your technicians will step up to the plate.”
Morgan was finally thinking about purpose. What was the purpose of the performance review in the first place? What was the performance review supposed to accomplish?
“Morgan, what is the most critical factor for both team member performance and team member retention?”
At this point, Morgan was gun-shy, he hesitated to respond.
“Let me ask this differently,” I continued. “What is the most critical relationship for both team member performance and team member retention?”
Morgan’s face relaxed. “That’s easy. It’s the relationship between the team member and the manager.”
“Good, now let’s build on that. How important is the conversation between the team member and the manager?”
“Pretty important, I guess,” said Morgan, going tentative on me again.
“Here is why it’s important. The relationship between the team member and the manager is the critical factor for both performance and retention. And the conversation is the relationship.”
What kinds of conversations are happening between your team members and your managers?
___
Conversation is the relationship described in The Heart Aroused by David Whyte.
“Practice makes perfect,” Melanie grinned.
“No,” I replied. “Practice does NOT make perfect. Practice may make you feel better, repeating grooved, routine behaviors, but, those behaviors may still miss the mark. Practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect. It’s not the repetitions, it’s the right repetitions.”
“But, you always say that we learn from mistakes,” Melanie chided.
“Learning is making mistakes, but you have to learn from the gap. What is the future state of performance, what is the current performance, and what’s the gap?”
“So, there is some analysis going on?” Melanie confirmed.
“And, often that analysis is invisible to you because you are getting comfortable with repetition. But, it’s just a feeling. What’s the difference between training and coaching?”
“Training gets you started, but practice makes you better. Learning from mistakes only works when you recognize the mistake, and figure out how to do it differently. And, sometimes we can’t see the mistake, or the correction, as easily as someone else. That’s where a coach comes in.”
“You said you had been through training,” I nodded, “and you were able to describe the training, as scheduled, with a curriculum. What about coaching? How would you describe coaching here?”
Melanie paused for a very long time. “In my days here, coaching seems elusive. I don’t know if I can put my finger on it. Underperformance is more likely met with reprimand and training, more training, back to training. I don’t need more training, I need more practice, perfect practice.”
“What’s the difference between training and coaching?” I asked.
Melanie was a new manager. “I’ve been to training,” she replied. “It’s scheduled, it has a curriculum, it’s disciplined. Someone thought through the sequence of learning, identified specific skills.”
“And, when you emerged from the training program, certificate of completion in hand, did that make you a high performer?”
“That’s was my impression,” Melanie said. “But, that impression turned out to be wrong. The training gave me insight into the way we do things around here, but I was certainly not a high performer.”
“You seem to be comfortable in what you are doing now,” I nodded. “That wasn’t the result of the training?”
“Not hardly. I learned, possessed some technical knowledge about our methods and process, but I was very much a newbie.”
“Technical knowledge, but not competence? On the other hand, you appear competent now. What happened?”
“Practice,” Melanie smiled. “Technical knowledge will only get you so far. Competence requires taking those first steps, hands on, then practice, lots of practice.”
“But, training is my easiest and fastest way to get James some help,” Marie protested. “I told you I don’t have time to coach.”
“There is a short story about someone, at midnight, looking for the keys they dropped in the parking lot,” I started. “Where did you drop your keys was the question. Over there, by my car, was the response. Then, why are you looking over here? Because there is more light over here.”
“You are saying I am looking in the wrong place?” Marie asked.
“Training is the easiest and fastest. You can shove James off to someone else, but that may not be what James needs. Training only gets you so far. Did you know I was a champion ice skater?”
Marie was surprised at this turn in the conversation.
“Little known fact,” I said. “At least I will be a champion ice skater if you will agree to be my coach. Two things you know about my ice skating behavior – I have a strong right push off the skate, and my bootlaces are untied. As a habit, I am sloppy about my equipment. The knots in my laces are loose and within minutes, they come apart, the laces drag the ice. As my coach, you want to be positive, but my laces are untied. Do you ignore this weakness, or is it part of your obligation, as a coach, to deliver some negative feedback?”
“Well, yes, I have to tell you to tie your bootlaces,” Marie was hesitant.
“So, I tie my laces, secure. Am I now a champion ice skater?”
“No,” Marie was more sure of her response.
“Training only gets my bootlaces tied. Champions only come through coaching. You have to get my bootlaces tied, but if you want me to be a champion, you have to work with my strong right push. James may understand, through training, about schedules, workloads and capacity, but if you want James to become a champion, it requires coaching.”
“But, I don’t have the time to coach James,” Marie complained. “He should be able to figure this out on his own. I’m a manager, not a mentor, we have work to do. I don’t have time to be a counselor to everyone on the team. Can’t I just send him to training?”
“Interesting use of mixed metaphors,” I replied. “Let’s look carefully at the four managerial processes you used in the same sentence.”
“All of these processes are valuable, but the application will depend on the context.”
“When you talk to James about his new way of checking project status the day before his crew is supposed to work, what does he say?” I asked.
Marie had to think back to her last conversation. “James is right. There is no sense showing up if the project isn’t ready, even if our contract says we are supposed to show up according to the project schedule. He still documents the delay, but says he looks for a more productive use for his crew, rather than having them stand idle waiting for the project to catch up to us. He used to look only at the project schedule, but now, he says, he looks for buffers in the schedule where another team might take longer than expected. He used to be a stickler with the schedule, now he says, why get so upset, go with the flow, plan for the schedule, but execute for reality.”
“And?”
“I guess I do the same thing,” Marie said. “It’s just such a change for James.”
“Are our projects different, now? Are the other project teams different? Are we using different materials? Are we using different equipment? Are our project schedules any different? What has changed?”
“You’re right,” Marie concluded. “The thing that is different is James.”
“My guess, as James’ manager, you didn’t have to coach James very much because he was always predictable, by the book. But, James woke up one morning and saw, sometimes, the book was wrong. The schedule was not right. He began to see the schedule, not as black and white, but something variable, you used the word buffers. And, you admit, you do the same thing in your role.”
Marie nodded, so I continued. “James is maturing. It’s not just that he is gaining more experience, he is maturing in the way that he sees the world. He used to see the world as a set of unbending rules. He now sees the rules as a set of intentions embedded in reality. You observed this new way has created some problems with his crew, not knowing, for sure, what they are supposed to do. Your job, as James’ coach is also shifting.”
“So, what does the mentoring session sound like?” Brendon wanted to know. “If it is different from the direct manager coaching session, what does the manager-once-removed talk about with the team member?”
“First, this is NOT a coaching session, so the mentoring session does not happen as often, perhaps once every three months,” I replied. “This is a longer timespan discussion, so more reflective than action oriented. They talk about the role, the role’s contribution to company, where that fits. They talk about the decisions the team member makes, the problems the team member solves and their capacity to do so. The purpose of this conversation is to create a clearer picture of the team member’s current contribution and their potential contribution. When the team member has a clearer picture of their potential contribution, their current contribution improves.
“In this conversation, the MOR also asks about the aspirations of the team member. Some team members have no idea of their own aspirations, never thought about it. The MOR is looking for intersection between the team member’s aspirations and the company’s aspirations.
“Most of all, this is not a psychotherapy session. The focus is on the work, challenge in the work, learning opportunities, advancement opportunities, to create a vivid picture of where the team member stands and steps forward.
“People feel fulfilled when they can see their future and opportunities to pursue it, and, they feel frustrated when they do not.”