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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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Why leading change just keeps getting more complicated

There are thousands of studies and books on managing change or leading change. The former tend to focus on ways to work with and overcome people’s resistance; the latter on creating a vision that people can sign up to and engage with. Of course, both these perspectives are important and indeed implementing change usually requires (more…)

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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Contracting in coaching

Using a professional coach creates a different dynamic to the developmental relationship. A contract is essential for several reasons: What should the contract specify?   Essential elements include: © David Clutterbuck...

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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…)

Gaining commitment to your coaching and mentoring strategy

It’s evident that a coaching and mentoring strategy – especially if the aim is to create a coaching and mentoring culture – requires the sustained support and energy of an organization’s leaders. In our interviews on this topic with both HR professionals and leadership teams, a number of themes recur frequently enough to warrant inclusion (more…)

Interviewing and selecting external coaches

Some key points to consider:   Executive coaches are used mainly by senior managers or professionals, to help them work on specific aspects of their performance. As a relatively expensive resource, it is important to ensure that: The Executive Coaching Strategy sets out broad policy for using executive coaches. This guideline builds on the policy...

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Contracting with the team in team coaching

One of the most common issues for team coaches is that the team is unused to having open conversations. At the start of any team coaching intervention, therefore, it’s important to help them contract with each other – and with you. Useful questions to consider include: Creating the contract with you is best done individually...

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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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When the team breaks into subgroups with different agendas

When teams develop into subgroups with different agendas or priorities, honest communication is one of the first casualties. An important part of both the team leader’s role and the team coach’s role is to prevent this kind of disunity – which we call “fracking” – from occurring. Warning Signs in Team Coaching Sessions Intervention Strategies...

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