Potential and pitfalls While in the United States, the role of mentor may often be combined with that of either boss, or sponsor, or both, in most countries around the world (and particularly in structured mentoring programmes) this is seen as inappropriate. The relationship between boss and direct report involves many conflicts of interest. When...
“Presence” is one of those easily recognisable but hard to define qualities. It plays a significant role in how we assess competence, promotability and other factors that make or break reputation and careers. So what exactly is presence? A pragmatic definition is: “Influencing others simply by being there”. Someone, who has presence commands attention and...
In coming to virtual group supervision, people tend to have two main aims: Virtual group supervision sessions tend to be relatively short (60 to 90 minutes maximum) compared with two hours or more for face-to-face group supervision. So it is important to prepare well to make maximum use of the time. Typically, a session would (more…)
Group mentoring is a relatively recent innovation. It is typically used in situations, where the demand for mentors outstrips the supply. In a typical group mentoring programme, the mentees might meet on their own once a month, acting as peer mentors and agreeing topics they want to bring collectively for discussion with their mentor. They (more…)
A survey reported in Harvard Business Review asked 106 executives from 17 countries about problem management in their organizations. Overwhelmingly, respondents expressed high confidence in their companies’ ability to solve problems, but low confidence in their ability to understand or even identify the right problem. It seems that managers have a propensity to frame a...
What level of development as a coach do you need? The following questions may help your thinking about the right coaching course level to attend. These questions are focused around your coaching mindset but other considerations also apply around length of experience, hours of coaching practice and previous coach education. If you answer yes to...
The experiences of both sponsors and the people they sponsor suggest that the best matches occur when: © David Clutterbuck...
Long term work stress is associated with a wide range of health issues, including digestive disorders, cardiovascular disease, mental health problems and chronic headaches. It also has negative effects on productivity, creativity, and employee engagement. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has been shown to help employees develop stress resilience – an enhanced ability to coper...
It’s a natural assumption that, the more coaching a line manager gives his or her direct reports, the greater the positive impact on performance and engagement. In reality, however, according to a study by Gartner, there is very little correlation. The study suggests instead that quantity of coaching is much less important than quality. It...
As the name suggests, feedforward is different from feedback because it focuses on the future rather than the past. While feedforward may begin with a question such as: “What have you learned about yourself and how you approach your work, which could be of benefit in how you manage future tasks?” …the emphasis is not...