The following parable, or myth, is one in a series of twelve, which we’ve identified at Pathos Leadership Group that accounts for executive coaching to fail!  Our results-focused executive coaching is contrary to these parables, leaving executives and their organizations in a position to succeed when it comes to organization development, operational improvement, and financial success!  For more information on our Executive Coaching or Organization Development initiatives contact us at info@pathosleadershipgroup.com or call 877.455.3133.

Executive Coaching Parable 5 – I’ll Try It for a Little While!

Alison was brought into leadership in her organization because of her pessimism!  Highly talented, her negative views lead her to tell the truth when others would not.  While this “truth-speak” element of her was hurtful for some, it was seen as necessary by the leaders in the organization. Sometimes the truth hurts, right?  When it came time to work with her in the organization’s High-Potential program, she viewed the organizational development path laid out in front of her as a “necessary evil” and one that was a series of “programs of the month” that she needed to take in order to accomplish her goals of leadership.  When asked why she was participating in such a “hostage” program she exclaimed “I’ll try anything for a little while if it will assist me in accomplishing my professional goals!”

We were working with high-potential mid-level managers within Alison’s organization when we first met.  The parable above indicates Alison’s insincere passion for accomplishing the organization’s goals, and overall general bad attitude.  Now we get to work with a lot of talented people, and most recognize the value in executive coaching and organization development programs for their assistance in ease of operations, goal attainment, teamwork cohesion, and result orientation.

Alison viewed the high-potential program as a necessary evil… one in which she needed to participate in against her will.  She also viewed the accompanying executive coaching as a waste of her time, and she wanted to spend as little time/effort in the coaching “space” as possible.

We couldn’t disagree with her more.  Obviously coaching is a passion of ours here at Pathos.  We’ve seen the benefits of it firsthand as we’ve worked with organizations and their leaders around the globe.  Alison’s fate was sealed when during our first interaction she exclaimed “Now just how long is this going to take?  I’ve got a lot of important things I need to attend to this morning!” This short-term focus surprised us, as the screening process for inclusion into the high-potential program was difficult.  Unfortunately, it became abundantly clear to us that not only was Alison NOT the best-fit for the high-potential program, but a poor choice for leadership in the organization considering the goals/objectives at hand and overall mission, vision and values.

We met with organizational senior leadership and informed them of our findings from this initial meeting, or lack thereof.  We then conducted a joint-meeting with leadership and Alison to see if perhaps we were missing something?  This turned out not be the case, as evidenced by Alison saying “Why don’t you stop wasting my time with this stuff and let me do my job?” Leadership determined to let Alison go do her job in another organization!

The Moral of the Story: Executive Coaching takes a series of consistent, challenging, goal oriented sessions structured over a period of time in order to achieve results.  Even in “targeted” or “spot” executive coaching programs where goal attainment is paramount (think increase sales), there needs to be a series of sessions to build upon the accountability and responsibility model.  Alison was not interested in trying things for a little while, instead she didn’t want to participate at all.  Her bad attitude, or limited beliefs in development, were seen as red flags which ultimately caused her departure.

The following parable, or myth, is one in a series of twelve, which we’ve identified at Pathos Leadership Group that accounts for executive coaching to fail!  Our results-focused executive coaching is contrary to these parables, leaving executives and their organizations in a position to succeed when it comes to organization development, operational improvement, and financial success!  For more information on our Executive Coaching or Organization Development initiatives contact us at info@pathosleadershipgroup.com or call 877.455.3133.

Executive Coaching Parable 4 – I Don’t Need Any Help!

Mike was a mid-level manager in an organization whose claim to fame was that he “might not be the sharpest tool in the tool drawer, but he could always get the job done!”  This “no one will outwork me” mentality caused Mike to put in tremendous hours in (He claimed that he worked 24×7!), even working while on vacation with his family.  This caused the people that worked for him to resent him, simply because he didn’t believe that they should have a “life” outside of work either. Mike would say “If you cut me, I’ll bleed the company colors instead of blood-red!”  Working as many hours as he did, and with such a lack of support from his perspective, caused him to do the tasks routinely handled by his staff members.  It wasn’t that his staff was incapable of performing the tasks, it was just that they weren’t working at 2:00am in the morning when Mike was and he wanted the information right then and there.  As a result, Mike took on the work of three, perhaps four individuals on his team.  This micro-management mentality lead Mike to the opinion that he simply didn’t need anyone else’s help, he couldn’t rely on them, and furthermore that if he wanted the job done right and on-time, he should just do it himself!

We were working with high-potential mid-level managers within Mike’s organization when we first met.  The parable above indicates Mike’s sincere passion for accomplishing the organization’s goals, regardless of the cost to him in his personal life or lack of sleep.  We also recognized that out of all the mid-level managers who were selected to the organization’s high potential program, Mike’s team was looked upon as the superstars within the organization.  However, a deeper look would tell us that this wasn’t the case due to pure talent and execution, but instead due to the actions of a maniacal leader!

When we met with Mike he informed us that he believed he was on the fast track to the C-suite.  There was nothing more important for Mike than making money in the organization (“Money never sleeps, neither do I!”)  This drive for success was well received by organizational leadership, however one look at Mike and his team’s interactions and you got a totally different picture.  There was relatively any positive communication amongst them, and the “love in the air” around the office was nowhere to be seen.  Instead, the air was rife with contemptment.  Mike resented his team because he viewed them in the classic Taylorism mentality that “people are stupid and lazy, therefore they’ll need to be told exactly what to do and when.” Mike’s team saw him simply as crazy!  A guy who knew no boundaries when it came to work, and while he might be looked upon as successful he certainly was no role-model or benchmark for behavior.  Talented in their own rights, they saw Mike as “in it to win it for himself” and willing to sacrifice each one of them if the need arose (as it often did!)

We identified much of this “lone wolf” mentality when we debriefed his behavioral assessment.  This “reality mirror” reflected back upon Mike in a manner that he quickly dismissed, rather than taking the feedback and looking for areas of opportunity to improve.  We were able to have Mike complete the follow-up individual development plan, where we focused on three primary traits that we worked on in the coming months during our executive coaching sessions.

The Moral of the Story: You may be the smartest guy in the room, but unless you’re a solopreneur working for yourself/by yourself you’ve got to rely on a team to help attain goals/objectives/results!  It’s not called soloship, it’s called leadership because you are leading others.  No one will follow you if they don’t like (1) where you are going, and/or (2) how you treat them!  The concept of the “lone wolf” is oxymoronic, as wolves hunt in packs and mate for life… perhaps a lesson for you if you’re considering going it alone!