196 The Coaching Toolkit for Child Welfare Practice
Do not rely on checklists. Think about the leadership style of the
organization (coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic,
pacesetting, coaching) and how that impacts people and success.
Facilitate reculturing, which involves deepening the moral
purpose of change through a collaborative work culture that
respects differences and continues to build learning while
incorporating measurable results.
Coaching will be far more successful if it is
voluntary as opposed to mandatory
(central coaching tenet).
It can be tempting to overly encourage or mandate coaching.
Perhaps leaders understand and believe the mandated coaching will
be non-punitive and led by highly regarded coaches. However, if the
organization has not laid the right foundation, and staff is hesitant to
accept coaching, trying to sell coaching or forcing it too soon will
lead to more resistance in the long run.
Finally, learners must be helped to manage the time demands
that coaching creates. This includes finding time in the schedule to
regularly participate in discussion, observation, and conferencing;
addressing competing time demands; and conveying the validity of
the coaching activity (Sparks & Bruder, 1987). It also includes
sensitivity to the pace with which a coaching program may be
integrated in an organization. The greater the number of current