180 50 TOPEXECUTIVECOACHES
Wherever I worked, I recognized a yearning among people for more par-
ticipation in decision-making processes. Just as frequently, I saw resistance
on the part of managers who did not understand or sympathize with that de-
sire. I thought of this trend in broader terms as the kind of empowerment
shift typified by the changing status of women, for example, or the move-
ment in Central and Eastern Europe toward democratic capitalism. My de-
sire to research that friction between value sets brought me to obtain a PhD
and eventually into coaching at GE.
I was very curious about what was taking place at GE because of my in-
terest in culture, change, and empowerment. That interest supported a num-
ber of qualities that had the potential to make me a successful coach. For
instance, through my family upbringing and the fact that I had lived in a
number of different countries, I had an ability to recognize patterns across
cultures and a sensitivity to the effects that individuals have on one another.
Unlike most coaches, who have formal backgrounds in consulting or psychol-
og y, I had also been very successful as a senior manager and knew my way
around a business unit. And I had an ability to generate an extremely deep
level of trust in a short time frame.
The manager Steve paired me up with was eminently respected for his
technical skills, but had never valued the social side of managing, nor con-
sidered the negative costs of his communication style. I was very fortunate
to work with him, however, because he truly wanted to change. My first task
was to get him to trust that I was there to help him. He accepted that help
and allowed me to stick around for an extended period and observe and con-
tribute to what would unfold. In the process, I learned a great deal about
what it means to coach, and established a pattern of working with managers
that remains very consistent today although it has been refined over time.
I had no formula at my disposal then, but realized instinctively that if I was
going to help this manager change I needed to understand how he was per-
ceived through the eyes of those around him. In what was a very customized
360-degree feedback process, I interviewed people around the manager exten-
sively, collected that information, and presented it to him. In those early days,
I didn’t realize the importance of prioritizing, so I overloaded him with be-
haviors to change. Nevertheless, what happened was a remarkable shift. As
this manager came to understand the negative costs of his communication
style, he was able to internalize that awareness and change the way he worked
with others. Because I was there to observe those changes I could encourage
the people around him to be supportive. In the end, his efficiency and effec-
tiveness as a manager improved dramatically.