Envisioned Results Coaching

Q: Some key employees on my management team just don’t have certain key skills needed to become more effective. I try to bring it to their attention, but it seems to go in one ear and out the other. They are competent managers , but just not what I would call leadership material. Is there some type of training program that you can recommend to bring them around?
G.A.

The Coach: What would an effective leadership team look like? Specifically, what changes would you like for these employees to make, and how would that impact the company? What is your process for giving them feedback regarding what you perceive as their shortcomings? What are your skill deficiencies and how do you insure that this doesn’t negatively impact the performance of your leadership team?

A very successful approach that we use quite frequently with corporations is based on coaching from the results seen upon taking a 360 Genos EI assessment designed specifically for workplace applications. Emotional Intelligence (EI) in the workplace involves the capacity to effectively perceive, express, understand, and manage emotions in a professional and effective manner at work. Unlike IQ and personality which are essentially fixed, Emotional Intelligence (EI) competencies can be developed. Based on sound research, EI has been found to attribute for 36% of the variance in leadership success. Improvements in competencies can be demonstrated by taking a post-developmental EI assessment and comparing the results. The entire leadership development package including pre and post EI assessments, debrief of results, and several months of one-on-one coaching is surprisingly affordable and offers a very strong return on investment (for more details, please see our “” page on this website).

Q: It seems as though my workload is endless. I’m working long hours and it still doesn’t seem that I’m ever caught up. I stopped working out and it seems that I just never have any time to do the stuff I really like to do. My “to do “ list just keeps on growing and my kids barely recognize me. I’m always tired – I feel like I’m running on fumes. What should I do?
T.H.

The Coach: It sounds like you’re working on the “urgent many” tasks than the “important few”. The urgent many are in your face and must be addressed immediately to avoid some type of negative repercussion. Not doing the “important few” has essentially no negative immediate effect, but are the foundation of future changes. In other words, you will pay in the future for not doing them today.

To avoid this pattern continuing indefinitely (or at least until your body fails in protest, whatever comes first), you must start unraveling what you’re doing and why. Which activities are draining you and which, if any, do you enjoy? Of all the draining activities, you should determine your alternatives. Can the activity be delegated, combined, done less frequently, or maybe not even done at all? Maybe, with certain modifications, a currently undesirable task can become enjoyable. With you in the thick of things, it is often difficult to step back and really see why you do what you do. The good news is that there are always options, they just need to be uncovered by you. Life is meant to be joyous. Figuring out how to reprioritize your life to recapture this joy that we have all experienced (perhaps even briefly) is truly an invaluable, empowering experience.

Q: I think that this coaching stuff is all hype. Maybe a coach can get me to do something for awhile, but how can a coach keep me from reverting back to my old ways. Are you guys some type of miracle workers?
R.I.

The Coach: A coach cannot get you (or anyone else) to do anything that you don’t want to do. So the first step is that the desire to change must be there. In the “Coaching Readiness Assessment” offered at this website, when someone answers the question about wanting to change affirmatively, this counts for many points in determining your readiness for change. The coach helps you to make the changes that you say you actually want.

The second part of your question is in regards to sustaining the changes made. This is tough and this is where you will really rely on the skills of your coach to achieve lasting breakthroughs. There are reasons why you have not achieved certain goals and these reasons usually go much deeper than not having an adequate plan of tasks. The ability, willingness, and, you could say, the courage of a coach to help you become aware of these reasons and overcome them will lead to lasting change. There may be some resistance from a client when facing the real reasons why he is unable to maintain a relationship. The skilled coach will continue to probe for the sake of making his client’s desired changes permanent.

While the transformation may seem miraculous, I wouldn’t call myself a miracle worker. As the client, you are doing the work, and it is the coaching process that performs the magic.

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If you are not a current client of ERC and have a question that you would like to be considered for this section, please e-mail it to Asbury Lockett at alockett@envisionedresults.com. If your question is selected for inclusion, you will be notified via return e-mail. (To preserve your privacy, your initials only will be listed after your question.)