The coach/mentor as role model for humility and authenticity

Jim Collins, the US researcher on leadership describes amongst the key qualities of authentic leaders the balance of personal humility and professional will. Personal humility involves, amongst other attributes, “quiet, calm determination”. Humility is equally an important characteristic of the effective coach, because: The danger is that we are either insufficiently humble, or far too...

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Why it’s important to believe in the potential of your coachee or mentee – the Pygmalion effect

The Pygmalion Effect is the name given to a phenomenon, by which belief in your abilities from someone you respect has a dramatic and positive effect on your performance. It also works in reverse – in experiments, even a minor put down by a stranger can have a remarkably negative influence on performance. In classroom...

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Mentoring and the military

Last year I was privileged to assess one of the most well-founded and effective mentoring programmes I have encountered. This programme was not in a sector, where one would normally look for good practice in mentoring. It was in the military and, specifically, in the Royal New Zealand Air Force. People at all levels received...

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Creating a coaching culture

Creating a coaching culture A coaching culture (sometimes also referred to as a coaching and mentoring culture) is one where coaching behaviours are instinctive to the way people think and behave. It is closely associated with high performance amongst leadership teams, with retention of talent, effective decision-making, employee engagement and organisational agility. David Meggison & (more…)

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What if the coaching or mentoring session ends too soon

You have had a useful and helpful conversation about the issue the mentee/coachee has brought for discussion. The mentee/coachee seems happy with what they are taking away, yet you have not used the allocated time. It’s easy to feel the need to prolong the session, but should you? The brief answer is no – not...

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Working with status – when the client feels superior or inferior to others

People often limit their performance by feeling inappropriately inferior or superior to others. Experiments have shown, for example, that even fleeting exposure to derogatory comments about women causes women going for job interviews to lose confidence and be less assertive in what they want. Played out in the workplace, our sense of inferiority to others...

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What if my client is a potential whistle-blower

Whistle-blowers typically get a rough deal. Firstly, they typically undergo a great deal of stress in the period, when they are building up to going public on the issue that troubles them. The decision to blow the whistle is also highly stressful. And they often suffer the consequences of their action, being labelled as trouble-makers,...

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What if my mentee or coachee doesn’t get in touch

Mentor and mentee/Coach and Coachee training usually emphasises that the mentee/coachee should contact the mentor/coach to arrange the first formal meeting, if they have not set a date when introduced to each other. When the mentor/coach doesn’t hear anything from the mentee/coachee for a week or two, it poses a dilemma. Should they take the...

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Working with conflicts-of-interest

Consciously or unconsciously, we all make judgements about how we prioritise stakeholders. Roger Steare, author of Ethicability, suggests the following exercise (here expanded and adapted) to become more aware of the choices we make. Rank the following in order of how much weight you would give their well-being in a conflict of interest: Having ranked...

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