Executive Coaches to facilitate change
Why should use an experienced consultant to help with change?
Mario Andretti said,
So it feels right to many Business Drivers to create change, to shake things up or at the very least to enable change that facilitates results. Can't really argue with that.
20 years ago 'stability' was the by-word of the shareholder and the markets, as without stability you are playing games with someone else's pension fund, back then markets were closed or undeveloped, which meant you either refined you organization or grew it......simple, safe and satisfying.
But hey times they are a changing. Not at the rate the doom mongers would have us believe but subtlety, slowly. Consider petrol used to be under a pound and then it switched from gallons to litres, it's now nearly £5 and you are used to it. They changed the pound note to a pound coin and you spend it that much easier, because you are not breaking into a note and you are used to it. They leak the fact that a tax will be £100, then when it comes out its £50, but that's so much less than you'd got used to it being, it feels like a sale even though originally you'd have been annoyed at £20 and you are used to it.
A study by the Hays Group found the following to be startlingly true:
- 70% of Executive Interventions fail.
- 70% of Mergers fail.
- 70% of Outsourcing Projects fail.
- 70% of Business Process Re-engineering Projects fail.
- 70% is the contribution of business leaders to organisational climate, with organizational climate contributing up to 25% in terms of overall business return.
The last bullet point presents most senior executives with an unfamiliar challenge as the focus of attention on devising the best strategic and tactical plans is the normal activity. But to succeed, they also must have an intimate understanding of the human side of change management - the alignment of the company's Culture, Values, People and Behaviors - to encourage the desired results.
Plans themselves do not capture value; value is realized only through the sustained, collective actions of the individual, the team, the unit, the department, the business, the staff, the employees, the workers........who are responsible for designing, executing, and living with the changed environment......FACT
Experience has shown me that long term structural transformation has four chararcteristics:
- SIZE - The change that affects all or most of the organization
- SCOPE - Involving the significant alterations of normal activities
- SCALE - How long it lasts
- STRATEGIC VALUE - The long term value to the business and its employees
Most executives are aware of the impact the workforce will have on a given intervention and at some point or other suffer some form of associated stress in regards to this point. The reality of what they are actually worrying about is sometimes uncertain...... the person, the team, the business, their emotions, their activity, their feelings, their outputs....it's complicated.
In my experience of Change and Integration Projects there are varying types of executive, managers and leaders in respect of the Human Element.
- Those that care.
- Those that don't care.
- Those that care and show it.
- Those that care and don't show it.
- Those that care, try to show it, but fail to.
- Those that care, try to show it and succeed.
Whilst coaching managers through acquisitions, integrations and at one time the largest IT Integration Project in the Insurance Industry, I have seen people in tears, having tantrums, walking out, aggressive and at the other end motivational and inspiring.
There are many senior executives that worry about the people element of their business, they understand at the very least at an intellectual level that it is the person that will endeavor and endure. When asked what keeps them up at night, managers and leaders involved in change, integration and transformation often say they are concerned about how their people will react, how they can get their team to work together, and how they will be able to lead their people.
They also worry about retaining their company's unique values and sense of identity and about creating a culture of commitment and performance.
Having worked in Start Up and Blue Chip businesses, I have been truly amazed at the variance in emotional awareness between managers, leaders and executives.
To quote John Welwood: "The most powerful agent of growth and transformation is something much more basic than any technique: a change of heart"
Change projects live or die on one principle resource the Human Element. FACT!
But there is a way (a Tao) like driving a car, one can only offer a set of rules that through adaptability serve as guiding principles for getting you to your destination safely.
The reason you use an executive coach is for their experience of driving in many different conditions and the pain this can remove from the pain someone else has either witnessed or experienced previously.
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People are often hesitant to work with a business coach because they are not sure what to expect. Well, at the most basic level, the coach is there for support. A coach never tells you what to do. They just prompt and encourage.
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jackspar.
How to Retain Your Super Star Managers
Hi Jaspar, actually I'm not completely in agreement there. Very often there are times when people just need the answer. The concept of coach has especially in the last 5 years started to blend with mentor and we see business executives demanding a more holistic experience with there coach. Well food for thought!