COACHINGLEADERS/BEHAVIORALCOACHING 79
or organization. Most coaching finds ways for individuals to lose some of
their unique characteristics in the interest of organizational harmony. True
success comes from the ability of a coach to build on those strengths, while
helping the coachee manage the offsetting “irritations” that can hamper
their effectiveness in a team or company setting.
What are the qualities that coachees must have for my coaching to be suc-
cessful? They need to believe that coaching will help them become more ef-
fective both personally and professionally. Many times when I first meet
coaching candidates, they ask why they should consider a coach when they
have gotten to their level without any assistance. Typically, they also state
that they are highly marketable and wonder why they should change. Both
are valid points! But coaching is about optimizing performance, not about
doing okay. I generally tell coaching candidates that they should not engage a
coach just because the company thinks that they would benefit from having
one. Instead, the engagement should take place because they think that a
coach will help them navigate the “white-water” of today’s business climate
and enable them to use their skills more effectively. In fact, any coaching
that is focused on changing behavior makes a much more persuasive case for
the coachee. Bringing about the desired behavior change helps the coachee
not only inside the organization, but also with their families and any other
work settings they may find themselves in.
The coachee’s ability to focus on the benefits of change in the future
rather than analyzing the past is key. Can they leave the past behind? Equally
important, can others around them leave the past behind? The coachees’ de-
sire to be the best they can be and commit fully to that effort defines the
value for them. They must be able to trust the coach and themselves before
any movement can happen. Furthermore, they have to be able to experiment
and find the right solution. After all, if the solution were easy to find, why
would they need a coach?
For coaching to be successful, a coach also needs to have a number of crit-
ical traits. The first is the ability to leave his or her ego at the door. It is im-
portant to remember that the coaching relationship is not about the
coach—it is about the coachee. To truly add value, the coach also needs to be
able to listen not only to what the coachee is saying, but also to the meaning
oftheir words. There are times when the last thing that a coachee needs is
more feedback. Some days, they just need solutions. The coaching relation-
ship hinges on the coach’s ability to help them grow and evolve. Thirdly, it is
about the ability of the coach to build trust quickly. In today’s business
world, speed is everything. It does not help for the coach and coachee to take
several months to get to know each other. The time span of several months is