notes below

Original class announcement

The speakers

Introduction
Creating a coaching culture is important because

• You need to be able to respond as an organisation
• Organisations are struggling. Coaching is the 'glue' that holds all the initiatives within an organisation together
• Learner-orientated coaching is a predominant style of leadership

Question: Please say a bit more about connectedness and Peter Senge's new work
Answer:
1. Look at the systematic level
2. Work at developing shared understanding, create a meta-process for managing the other processes, to be developed through coaching

Question: In organisations I see many initiatives, which are often mechanistic, whilst coaching lets people make the changes themselves
Answer: Yes, and paradoxicaly: If we are only looking at our own behaviour, are we becoming integrated members of our work community, or will we remain individuals. We need to move into interdependence, after taking ownership of our own life first

David expressed a concern that NLP may be used to mystify people rather than to increasing their self-awareness. He was wondering whether this is inherent in the NLP model

There are six dimensions to David's model (see also the attached notes)

1. Coaching being linked to business drivers. Coaching is important not just in it self, but also in supporting the business mission
2. Being a coachee is encouraged and supported. The organisation aims to get the coachee to own the process. David gave an example of an organisation where coaches get 2 days' training, whilst coachees gets 5 days' training
3. Providing coach training. David gave an example of a seven day coach training programme where after the first 3 day workshop participants were told to go and observe the people they work with
4. Reward and recognise coaching, systematically. Note: project driven companies can be quite good at this
5. Systemic perspective. Note: HR systems and process aren't important, instead go where the energy is and learn from what does and does not work
6. The move to coaching is managed. It is treated like a change project, integrating coaching into other culture change projects that go on in the organisation

Question: How do you deal with an organisation where confidentiality is so deeply embedded in the culture that it becomes a barrier to coaching
Answer: Feel free to use the questionnaire, see the attached notes

Question: Have you noticed a difference based on where the change starts, for instance, from HR, bottom up or top down
Answer. It doesn't matter where it starts, but it needs to end at or near the top. If HR doesn't have the ear of the board then it will probably be very frustrating, both for HR and for the coaching organisation brought in

Question: Your model is based on internal capacity, how do you see the role of external coaches
Answer: We should be working ourselves out of a job. Part of our role is to get our clients to become such good coaches that they no longer need us. This is part of our obligation to the wider community. Note: That is what David has always done, and he has never been out of work.

Question: You spoke of performance and renewal. What do you mean by renewal
Answer: Deep renewal. This is not about simply replicating behaviour we see in the organisation, but instead bring some contrast to it. For instance, most organisations seem to David as deeply unhealthy places, coaching needs to stand in contrast to this

Question: Can you give an example of recognise and reward coaching, that doesn't link in with direct financial regards
Answer: For example Pret a Manger. When a sandwich maker gets promoted to a supervisor job they get given £250, not for themselves, but for them to choose how to disperse to others who got them to the point where they got promoted. This creates a different culture

Case studies

• ABN Amro - People have a licence to remind their bosses to coach. Immediately after coaches have been trained they go away with their team for two days, to develop their team in a coaching-way
• IBM - They have one very clear burning issue: "communication in a virtual team"
• HBoS - Has a wonderful embedding group. Co-coaching is practiced in management meetings. For instance, during a meeting participants may spend 30 minutes coaching each other in pairs
• Kellogs - Waves of internal master coaches support the skill development of senior people and increasingly of middle managers
• KPMG - Is terrific at starting from the assumption that people are competent
• Siemens business services - Has the seven day coach training mentioned earlier, focussed on observation skills
• Vodaphone - Saw the change process very clearly, from "command and control" to "coaching and collaboration"

Books
During the call David mentioned the following books:

• David Megginson & David Clutterbuck (January 2005) Techniques for Coaching and Mentoring. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK.
• David Clutterbuck & David Megginson (Forthcoming July 2005) Making Coaching Work: Creating a Coaching Culture. CIPD, London, UK.

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