STRATEGYCOACHING 221
ofcoaching is improvement in performance and assurance that the firm will
have successive generations of competent people who live the values of the
organization. In order for coaching to really be part of the strategic agenda
ofthe business, it needs to be aligned to the company’s strategy and made
relevant to both the coach and the coachee. My work focuses on creating that
alignment organization-wide.
It’s important to begin with a systemic analysis of why coaching is or is not
working in an organization; other wise, investments will fall into the same old
cultural sinkholes. Using interviews, company survey data, benchmark data,
and focus groups of successful coaches and those that feel they have been
successfully coached, we construct the systems maps that describe what is
happening in the environment that accelerates or inhibits a coaching culture.
Nex t, we use that analysis to design a coaching strategy for the company,
based on the changes they are trying to implement. When the maps are com-
pleted, we discuss and adjust them with the client and then look at the kinds
ofinterventions, both educational and other wise, that will start the changes
necessary to make coaching more successful. This can include coaching skill
development but can also be focused on such things as communications, lead-
ership symbolism, alignment around strategy, and examination of HR prac-
tices and tools.
The primary focus of DukeCE’s work is the design of innovative educa-
tional interventions that create better coaches and coachees in the work en-
vironment. These interventions may live in company processes, in passage
programs, in leadership development, and in job assignments. They are there
to bring coaching to life in the business.
Effective coaching, in the context of an organizational change strategy,
begins with the ability of the coach to translate that strategy into something
meaningful to the person across the desk. Coaching has to have a starting
point and a goal. By aligning it to the strategy, it becomes something that
coachees can internalize to help them succeed in their careers and con-
tribute to the company.
It’s critical that the organization be willing to examine, from a systemic
perspective, the question of: “ What will it take to build a coaching environ-
ment in this company?” This requires looking at the inhibitors and enablers
from the perspective of culture, mental models, norms, skills, communica-
tions, leadership, infrastructure, metrics, and symbolism. Equally important is
the organization’s willingness to face the complexity of the task rather than
look for a silver bullet in the form of training. Skills may actually be an issue,
but more often than not, the real inhibitors are found elsewhere.
In the training of coaches, it’s important to engage outside resources that
are willing to invest in knowing the company’s business and culture. How