by Saiyyidah Zaidi-Stone (MC11)

We are all seeing an increasing number of professional articles and academic journals regarding happiness in the workplace, but does it really matter? Well, when the Harvard Business Review is writing about ’The Economics of Well-Being’ and independent research confirms that firms with a higher level of happiness amongst employees experience a higher level of profitability we pay attention.

The problem is that while money is easy to count, happiness is a tricky thing to measure. In many ways the impact is like the change from black and white TV to colour- it can be revolutionary. Embracing workplace happiness may require a leap of faith but from working with corporate and public sector clients it’s a pretty short leap and provides the basis to nurture a stronger bond between employee and organization. Imagine the impact of knowing that what some of your employees really want is fruit bowls in the kitchen rather than a monthly night out? A small intervention which saves money and gives staff what they want rather than what you think they need. Research confirms that companies which provide genuine emphasis on not just making a profit but also on positivity increase loyalty; reduce attrition; enable higher creativity, motivation and confidence whilst increasing productivity. It’s a no brainer to me!

As a business coach how do you take this new knowledge and apply it in the coaching context to enable your coaching clients (and their teams) to maximise performance and productivity?

As a positive psychologist I am familiar with many positive psychology questionnaires used in the workplace and for me one of the best is that created by Jess Pryce-Jones and her team at iOpener. The People and Performance Questionnaire is easy to grasp and provides results framed around the framework of the 5C’s: Contribution, Conviction, Culture, Commitment and Confidence. On 18 April 2012 on behalf of Meyler Campbell I hosted a coaching fishbowl where we were privileged to witness Jess coaching with the tool. Without going into too much detail lets just say that the insights created for the coachee through the use of this tool were incredible. The attendees were mesmerized and many had questions relating to the use of the tool and the impact on the coaching session. The use of questionnaires in coaching sessions increases insight and awareness for the coachee and enables the coach to serve the client better through the rich information available for discussion. Given that many of us are already using personality and strengths tools within the coaching setting I see the iOpener tool as a significant addition.

Following on from the success of the coaching fishbowl Jess has made an extraordinary offer to Meyler Campbell Business Coach graduates. The full accreditation for the use of the iOpener tool for organization development, team and individual coaching usually takes 2 days and costs £1500.

In recognition of the calibre of Meyler Campbell business coaches Jess has offered a one-off online webex to accredit anyone wanting to use the iOpener People and Performance Questionnaire on a 1:1 basis only. This will take place on 14 June 2012, 5pm. You’ll get 3 credits to use the tool and be asked to do a small write up to achieve accreditation as a coaching practitioner. The cost would be a minimum £100 donation to the Art Room, a charity which offers art as therapy to children to raise their self esteem, self confidence and independence www.justgiving.com/theartroom. Once the donation is made business coaches are then asked to email Racheal.butcher@iopenerinstitute.com with the name in which the donation. You will then will receive information on how to join the online event. There is limited availability and donations should be confirmed by 7 June 2012 to secure a place.

Assessing well-being can serve many purposes beyond merely enhancing well-being- it can be used to re-craft jobs, negotiate development challenges and build relationships with colleagues and superiors tools like this often play a central role in business coaching- my advice is for you to take up this offer as soon as you can!

To find our more about the People and Performance tool go to www.iopenerinsitute.com. There’s a free mini report so you can see what you’ll get.

Saiyyidah Zaidi-Stone
Dip Arch, RIBA, FILM, FAPM, MSc (Dist)

www.mcleanstone.com
saiyyidah@mcleanstone.com

Sarah Fenwick

CPsychol, AFBPsS, AC Accred, MSCP

Specialist in High Performance Thinking and Behaviours

«  Executive/Business Coaching

«  Leadership Development

«  Sport Psychology

«  Psychometric Profiling

«  Motivational speaker

sarah@sarah-fenwick.com

www.sarah-fenwick.com

by Stephen Newton (MC04)

I have just read this book by Dr John Reed called ‘Pinpointing Excellence‘.  I raise this only because I feel that it may be the way that the coaching market is going and that buyers of coaching may seek to use what is proposed as a selection process, without necessarily thinking it through, which will therefore impact on MC graduates.

Reed makes the point that the Executive Coaching (his term) market is fragmented and that there is no widely agreed / common standard for admission or certification to a profession that has the power to change lives for good or ill to a tremendous degree.  As you may know, he proposes a toolkit for buyers of coaching that evaluates coaches by allocating points in four dimensions:

• Coaching expertise
• Business expertise
• Psychological expertise
• Ethics (which he seems to equate with certification by e.g. WABC, ICF etc.)

A reasonably high score would be gained by a combination of Business Coach Programme, WABC certification, Master’s degree in psychology plus some clinical practice and 20+ years of “C Suite” experience in a Fortune 500 company plus a Harvard MBA….

Whilst what he proposes is arguably better than nothing and is a way to push qualification rigour into the coaching market, it seems to miss the point that qualifications alone do not necessarily mean that an individual can coach successfully.  It seems similar to the investment management industry which has been heavily and increasingly regulated for a generation.  Has investment performance improved as a result?  No; there are still only a handful of managers that can consistently beat the relevant market index.  The difference now is that the rest can explain in agonising detail and with mathematical precision why they failed and how.

Just a view.

By Anne Scoular – Managing Director, Meyler Campbell

Hi everyone, as some of you know I am passionately keen to help our Graduates succeed post-Programme, whether internally or as freelance/portfolio-ers. People have been consistently asking for more and deeper help in building your business. So we are making some pretty big investment in this to support you even more. First biggie for 2012:  Build your Business Bootcamp on 3 July.

Bootcamp ran for the first time last year, people said it was a real boost, but the piece that scored overwhelmingly was the 2 hours with Stephen Newton – it was so hugely real-world and practical, and so clearly based on stuff that works, that he was surrounded in every possible break, poor man didn’t get coffee or lunch people were so determined to keep picking his brains. So we can take a hint, this year we’ve dropped everything else, and it’s ALL Stephen, to give him space to get through not just the practicalities (in first session in a.m.) but also get stuck right into the tough stuff of sales, marketing, how do you persuade people, how do you demonstrate value, what do you charge, what do other people charge, etc. Gold dust!!!

So I’d urge you to come and make the most of Bootcamp if you possibly can, I’ll be there too so if you want to pick my brains this is a great chance – we didn’t go into coaching to make money, it’s hugely fulfilling work, but once a year let’s do a really deep dive into the business aspects of it and come up turbo-charged for the rest of the year!

I really hope you can make it.

For details how to book click this link  http://www.meylercampbell.com/programmes/business-bootcamp.html

By Anne Scoular, Managing Director, Meyler Campbell

An absolute gem of an Economist special issue this week (more below) takes me back to an ongoing question that has vexed us in Meyler Campbell Faculty Meetings for years. On the one hand, if we believe in “pure” non-directive coaching, then there should be, strictly, no requirement for the coach to know anything about the client’s context, or background, or industry etc. This is one of the earliest battles for many people joining the Business Coach Programme – (temporarily) giving up the expertise base that has done them proud for decades. Whether they are a senior lawyer, HRD, business school Professor, international strategy consultant, private equity whizz, etc etc, their whole business success to date often seems to them to have been based on downloading information.

Indeed, for some people it has gone further than that and become a part of their very ego identity – so even harder to let go. So for the first half of the Programme, we push them hard on non-directive – NOT because we think it’s the best or only way to coach, but usually because the great people who make it onto our Programme, have usually most, ah, shall we say, upside potential, in that area! They can already tell, have been doing so for decades, but we want them to explore the furthest reaches of ask, and listen. And often they are astonished how powerfully it works – often they try it very dubiously, but then come to the next Tutorial practically blinking in amazement at how powerful it was when the client tapped into their own deep wells of insight/practical ideas/ingenuity etc.

But on the other hand it wouldn’t be the Business Coach Programme if we left them there – it would be a criminal waste of talent and a lifetime of experience if we turned people out at the end of the Programme who just sat with eyes wide open and their head cocked on one side, murmuring sympathetically, “and how do you feel about that?…!” To be a credible business coach business you need to be business-savvy. So about halfway through the Programme – once they’ve got non-directive in their bones, and can flick it on and off at will – we take the chains back off, and let the “tell” piece back in – but used judiciously, when that’s what seems to be best for the client right now, rather than as the default. It’s fun seeing all the differences emerge as each person blends what they brought into the Programme, with what they’ve learned on it. It’s the basis of their USP, whether they’re wanting the deepened coaching capability as part of their leadership toolkit, or to have coaching as part of a portfolio career. And it’s what the people they’re working with, are often initially attracted by – we go and see the boss because we think he/she has answers we respect and can use. Or the freelance coach is hired for their industry sector experience. In both cases, the real value might have nothing to do with that content, but their ability to dig the real answers out of us.

But then again it might. A coach who is familiar with the client’s sector, can challenge better – they know the jargon and the territory. So lawyers like to be coached by lawyers, and CEOs by people who’ve been there and felt what it’s like. (Or not – sometimes people seek difference! ) But this week’s Economist (April 21st) made me think about how we all need to keep up too with changes in the meta-context. Its cover story is on what they have termed “the third industrial revolution”. The big story in the 14-page Special Report (highly recommended) is that as manufacturing goes digital, it will change out of all recognition, and the business of making things will return to rich countries. So this affects not just our direct manufacturing clients but everyone around them – their financiers, their lawyers, their business coaches. It’s happening already: tools to human body parts are being built by 3D printers where the cost of individual customisation is just the cost of some computer keystrokes, not retooling an entire factory. The new means of manufacture enables unimaginable new products – as Rolls Royce’s Director of Engineering and Technology, Colin Smith, says, “you can’t make some of this modern stuff using old manual tools… the days of huge factories full of lots of people are not there any more”. That doesn’t mean mass unemployment: “factory floors today often seem deserted, whereas the office blocks nearby are full of designers, IT specialists, accountants, logistics experts, marketing staff, customer-relations managers, cooks and cleaners, all of whom contribute in some way to the factory.” This of course has knock-on implications for people we are coaching in the education sector as well. ((And charities. And for those in the property sector, private equity…) The Economist Special Report is stuffed with reference to game-changers – mass-individualisation of drugs; third-generation nanotechnology; new materials, new nickel-salt batteries, batteries made of viruses, (yup), hydrophilic glass. New – old – locations: Derby for instance – near where the first industrial revolution started, then nowhere while China was sexy, and now unheralded but at the heart of the third.

I think this is one of those rare “must-read” articles. I’m still quoting to people that amazing special issue of Legal Business in November 2006, about the psychological contract between associates and law firms being broken and the leverage model based on their extreme hard work hence endangered with it. They were right, and years ahead of anyone else. This week’s Economist I think is another wake-up call to adjust all our mental maps.

 by Frank Neale (MC08)

I suspect we all find summer holidays to be a good time for a spot of quiet reflection away from the office. Whilst I was away a friend asked me, “What are the common themes of your coaching?” This set me thinking and I thought I would share the results, just in case they strike a chord with you.

1. Inner confidence: Whilst most people in our industry show outer confidence they do not always feel it inside and this can hold them back. Whatever the specific coaching goals most of our clients feed back to us that they feel more confident in themselves after the coaching mainly, we suspect, because of their greater self awareness and understanding of others and as a result of reframing situations. They also feel more energised.
2. Presence/gravitas: This comes up a lot, particularly with mid level professionals as well as newly appointed portfolio company directors. Using a simple model of leadership presence most of our clients get feedback from their sponsors that their presence has significantly improved.
3. Listening skills: The most common shortfall almost all of our clients, and probably the world in general, is relatively underdeveloped listening skills. Using Nancy Kline’s “Time to Think” we find that improved listening is often a significant factor in our clients achieving their goals.
4. Interpersonal relationships: During the coaching conversations it often emerges that our clients have a difficult relationship with someone on their team; often their boss, of course! Through the use of instruments such as Myers Briggs, reframing situations and uncovering self limiting beliefs the client is usually able to see the relationship in a new more workable light.
5. Moving on up: Clients often come to realise that what got them to where they are today may not serve them well in their future path. Within the private equity profession this is often about becoming more of a team player rather than a dedicated pursuit of their own brand. Similarly newly appointed chief executives learn that humility and vulnerability can be very useful in their new role whereas up until now they have generally masked such traits thinking them to be potential weaknesses.
6. Importance of good feedback: People who are willing to engage in coaching are keen to receive feedback as this is how they learn. Throughout the coaching process we encourage sponsors to give positive feedback when they notice changes in behaviour that the client is seeking to attain. Even more valuable is the feedback clients give themselves by keeping a self reflective learning journal.

Paul Babiak, author of Snakes in Suits and expert on psychopaths in the Boardroom, is in a BBC Horizon documentary this Wednesday evening (7^th September) on BBC2.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014kj65. It promises to be fascinating.

For further information there are also articles on this subject if you go to: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8735926/One-in-25-business-leaders-could-be-a-psychopath.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/01/psychopath-workplace-jobs-study/print

By Christopher Heimann, MC Community Member

This is a list Christopher saw and thought it might be useful (we will credit it properly if anyone can remember where it was!). He’s contributing it to the community partly because we love great coffee, partly as some of them might be interesting places for informal meetings, that perennial search coaches have:

• Espresso Room, 31-35 Great Ormond St, WC1N 3HZ
• Pitch 42, Whitecross St Market, EC1
• Dose Espresso, 69 Long Lane, EC1A 9EJ
• Kaffeine, 66 Great Titchfield St, W1W 7QJ
• Milk Bar, 3 Bateman St, W1D 4AG (open Sun)
• Merito coffee stall, Wed & Fri
• Swiss Cottage Market, Eton Ave, NW3 3EU
• Sat: Broadway Market
• Tina, We Salute You, 47 King Henry’s Walk, N1 4NH (open Sun)
• Ginger & White, 4 Perrins Court, NW3 1QS (open Sun)
• Ottolenghi, 287 Upper Street, N1 2TZ (open Sun)
• Prufrock Coffee, 40 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JE (open Sun)
• Counter Cafe, 4a Roach Rd, Hackney Wick, E3 2PA (open Sun)
• Taste of Bitter Love, 276 Hackney Rd, E2 7SJ (open Sun, not Sat)
• Wilton’s, 63 Wilton Way, E8 1BG (open Sun)
• Climpson & Sons, 67 Broadway Market, E8 4PH
• Monmouth Coffee Co, 2 Park St, Borough Market, SE1 9AB
• Scootercaffe, 132 Lower Marsh, SE1 7AE (open til 11pm, Mon-Sat)
• Kensington Square Kitchen, 9 Kensington Square, W8 5EP (open Sun)
• Coffee Plant, 180 Portobello Rd, W11 2EB (open Sun)