On June 10, 2010, we hosted a webinar with Dr. Andrew Thorn on peer coaching. The webinar was titled - Symphony™: The Future of Leadership Development and was based on his formal research study titled: The Impact of Peer Coaching on Leadership Effectiveness. The study took place over a five year period and included very well [...]]]>

On June 10, 2010, we hosted a webinar with Dr. Andrew Thorn on peer coaching. The webinar was titled - Symphony™: The Future of Leadership Development and was based on his formal research study titled: The Impact of Peer Coaching on Leadership Effectiveness. The study took place over a five year period and included very well know participants from the banking, pharmaceutical and power generation industries.

The goal of the study was to determine if the results from peer coaching could measure up to the results of executive coaching.  The findings of the study demonstrated peer coaching to meet and even exceed the results of executive coaching. The process proved to be an innovative, cost effective leadership development strategy that creates greater employee engagement by broadening the reach of coaching and establishing a vibrant culture of accountability.

During the webinar session, the number of questions received greatly exceeded our time and capacity to get through them all, so we asked Andrew to answer some of the most critical of those we had in this Q&A document.  We appreciate his willingness to do so and to let us make this information available to you all.

Your Questions From The Webinar

Nearly 800 people signed up for the webinar and we are now in the process of following up with the participants. Several questions were presented to us during the course of the webinar and we present this FAQ post for your review.

How do you motivate staff to participate in coaching when they are not interested in being coached?

The first step is to find out why they are not motivated. Coaching initiatives are expensive and organizations often use internal resources to spread the benefits throughout the organization. Consequently, the confidential nature of coaching may be compromised. As a result, your staff may be viewing coaching as a “performance management” tool instead of a “development tool”. If this is the case, they are unlikely to participate, because they don’t want to disclose the areas where they need to develop for fear that it will come back to hurt them later. I am describing the most common reason why people do not feel motivated to participate in coaching initiatives. You may discover some other reason. The most important thing you can do is to engage your staff in this conversation and to let them be a part of what you are planning. The more stakeholders you involve in the planning the process, the greater success you will have.

What are some steps or coaching techniques one might use to encourage a highly resistant employee to become involved, take ownership, begin to lead, and take appropriate risks?

Recent studies indicate that an entrepreneurial approach is the most effective method for delivering leadership development initiatives. Most prospective leaders want to be able to control the process and have input on how the training is delivered. They want to be guided, but not controlled in the learning process. When participants think they have little or no control over what, or how they learn, they report lower levels of commitment and less growth and development.

Leaders learn in a variety of different ways. This makes it difficult to offer an “out-of-the-box” solution. The Symphony™ process is designed with this in mind. You will enjoy greater success if you:

• Strictly focus on leadership development behaviors. Do not tie results to performance reviews or evaluative practices.
• Develop action learning opportunities where leadership behaviors can be practiced with low risk to both organization and employee.
• Allow participants to select the leadership behaviors they want to develop.
• Utilize flexible learning methods such as; in-person, on-line, or via telephone.
• Provide opportunities for leaders in your program to collaborate. Diversified experiences help identify pitfalls and accelerate development.
• Include opportunities to work one-on-one with a personal coach, peer-coach or mentor.

Remember, action learning is not accomplished by sitting in a classroom. It is accomplished by reflecting on, and learning from what other successful leaders are already doing, and then modeling the behavior in a controlled environment.

Regarding the “fear” related to instituting a peer coaching model: How do you address that fear? Do you start with the HR folks, a specific group or jump in with the entire organization? How do you suggest implementing peer coaching?

Organizations fear more about implementing a peer coaching model than the people who are involved in the process. This is because the organization must release some of the control it normally wields in developing and delivering leadership development initiatives. This fear is usually gone by the time the discovery and design phases are complete. That is because we develop a lot of trust with each other, giving them the confidence to let go.

We recommend beginning with a small group, no less than 50 and no more than 100. This creates a special sense around the initiative. Group members understand that they were part of select group and they feel responsible for creating success in the organization.

How do you get buy in, involvement, and support from leaders to even start this process?

The Symphony™ process begins with a discovery phase. Before we even ask for buy-in, involvement and support, we build trust. It is critical to remember that leadership development is a process. Too often we see it as an event so we hurry to get to the event without fully discovering what we really need. Once we understand what is going on, then we can determine if the goals and purposes of Symphony™ are aligned with the goals and purposes of the organization. This all happens before we launch anything formally in the organization so by the time we are ready to start, everyone is onboard.

How do we coach on behavioral growth?

Behavioral based growth is the most important issue for a developing leader. It is also the most difficult area to develop, due to the fact that it is a highly sensitive area. The person being coached must realize that the coach is objective, and that their only purpose is to help them grow. Once that happens, they are generally able to open up and see the blind spots that are preventing their growth. They must also have the space to implement what they are learning without the fear of being judged. Finally, they must be willing to enroll their key stakeholders, those who are in position to witness their behavior, because they are the real coaches. They are the ones who can see what is really happening and they can provide the most valuable input.

Please describe the peer coaching model and process.

The process is very similar to traditional coaching, i.e. assessment, selection of developmental behavior, pairing with a coach, measurement, and follow-up. The main difference is that each person in the process is learning to coach and be coached and each person is paired with one of their peers to do this.

If you are interested in discussing specifics, then please feel free to call me directly at 760-559-3548

You have a honeymoon period with these peer coaches, when there is a breakdown, how do you get the individuals back on track?

We never allow the honeymoon to end. By that I mean that we are involved with the participants from start to finish. We regularly connect with them through phone calls, emails, surveys and small group meetings that occur online. They are excited to have access to independent experts. Follow-up is the key to success and our regular interactions help keep them on track.

How do you ensure that the coaching process doesn’t go to a counseling process with unqualified counselors?

We train and retrain the simple steps to peer coaching. Each coach learns how to be a support to their peer coach by being a thinking partner, and an accountability partner. We check in regularly with the peer teams to make sure they are on track.

What characterizes a “peer” coach who is most likely to be successful, and a “peer” mentee who is most likely to benefit?

A “peer” coach who is most likely to succeed is concerned about others. Incidentally, this is a characteristic of a successful leader too, and that is why this process so effectively prepares leaders for the next level of their career.

The number one success characteristic of a “peer” mentee is that they are willing to examine their own personal behavior and then be willing to improve. This is also a desired trait of a successful leader.

Our process fosters these two behaviors.

Ideally, does the Peer Coach act only as coach or do both partners act as coach and coachee at the same time?

Both partners in the process learn how to coach and how to be coached. As a result, they give and receive coaching to, and from each other.

Do people choose their own peer coach?

No. We have found that this is ineffective and limits growth.

I understand the advantage of peer-to-peer coaching vs Executive coaching to be primarily related to cost effectiveness. Do you have any tips about matching peer to peer? What about “matching best practices” or things to look out for?

Cost effectiveness is only one of the advantages. It really is a preferred way of learning and as a result people feel more engaged and retention levels go up. In addition, participants develop “expert power” which means that they know how to lead because they have figured out how to do it their own way in the Symphony™ laboratory.

Pairing peer coaching partners, is the biggest challenge. In the Symphony™ process, we take responsibility for this highly important area. That does not mean that we do not work together with the HR and Learning and Development teams, it just simply means that we want to be accountable for it.

We use the data we receive in the principal feedback sessions to determine how we will pair individuals. We want them to be similar enough to productively work together, and different enough to challenge each other.

In what capacity do you teach folks to “be a coach and be coached?” Do they attend a training session up front?

All participants attend a “Kick-Off” meeting. In the meeting, we teach the fundamentals of peer coaching. During the meeting participants meet their peer coaching partner and begin to work together. This gives us a chance to resolve concerns and answer questions while we are all together.

We also facilitate a monthly webinar that continues to train and teach the principles of the Symphony™ process. We limit the number of attendees to each webinar to ten people. This makes sure everyone is involved and can ask questions.

I am happy to answer any additional questions that you may have. Please feel free to call me at 760-559-3548 or email andrew@andrewthorn.com.

At the time, Sally Helgesen and Julie Johnson were in the final stages of [...]]]> Earlier this year, we had the opportunity to visit Del Mar, California to spend time with some amazing people – and good friends – such as Marshall Goldsmith, Beverly Kaye, Jim & Tae Kouzes, Joel Barker, Sally Helgesen and Julie Johnson, among others.

At the time, Sally Helgesen and Julie Johnson were in the final stages of work on what we knew was sure to be a seminal book, The Female Vision: Women’s Real Power at Work.

Sally and Julie were kind enough to spend time with us to describe their research, which is the foundation for the book and their upcoming webinar on Tuesday, May 25.  In this short video, Sally talks about The Female Vision, some of the more immediate and consequential findings, and why examining the strengths that can be drawn from women’s real power presents an opportunity for individuals and organizations.

We are looking forward to the book’s release on June 14 and the premiere discussion with the authors on May 25.  We hope you will join us.

Special Bonus: All registrants will receive a copy of The Female Vision: Women’s Real Power at Work once it’s released.

Proposed event date: late January, 2010

As Washington grinds toward an overhaul of the nation’s health care delivery system, employees who participate in health [...]]]> We are seeking nominations for webinar speakers who can articulately and dynamically communicate their expertise or research.  Information about the presentation format and audience follows.

Proposed event date: late January, 2010

Benefits Administration During the Health Care Reform Debate

As Washington grinds toward an overhaul of the nation’s health care delivery system, employees who participate in health plans offered by their workplace are understandably anxious over what changes may be ahead and how they will be affected.  The role that employers play in organizing health coverage has been a central discussion point during the debate.

We are hearing from human resource professionals that they are unsure how to engage their workforce about the topic and whether waiting until something is signed into law is too late.  Among other things, we’ve been asked:

1. How does the HR team talk with the workforce about company provided health benefits when there is so much uncertainty regarding what, if any, changes are coming?
2. Should HR address the issue with the workforce proactively even if all that can be said is that the debate in Washington is being monitored closely?
3. Should any assurance be made to employees that they will be kept whole with respect to coverage?
4. Are there steps that can be taken now to lessen any administrative disruption that may result from any reforms?

Covering your own experience as a case study would be most instructive.  Successful nominations should be able to present the lessons learned, the outcomes that were anticipated and actually achieved, and the solutions that have resulted in a positive experience for management and the workforce regarding possible changes to the organization’s health care plans.

What else you should know:

HR professionals from medium to large companies would be most suitable, but we’ll consider exceptional thought leaders, executive coaches and consultants also.

Our webinars generally run 60 – 90 minutes including presentation and audience interaction.  These sessions are delivered live over the Internet using our streaming systems of visual and audio presentation.

We will provide you the needed equipment and software, work with you to develop compelling presentation documents and market the session to hundreds of thousands potential attendees.

Send us an email with your speaker nomination. Please include their name, organization, contact information and a short basis for your recommendation.  If you are self-nominating, please also describe your organization and direct work on this topic.

The topic of this webinar was engagement and retention, an aspect of leadership and management which, as Bev reinforced in her presentation, is even more critical today because of our tough economic times.

After all, [...]]]> On May 20th, Beverly Kaye joined Howard Morgan to present “Engaging the Kept-On Workforce.”  We believe the session was informative, practical and timely.

The topic of this webinar was engagement and retention, an aspect of leadership and management which, as Bev reinforced in her presentation, is even more critical today because of our tough economic times.

After all, workers who are being neglected by their managers because of the crisis at hand, or who are stressed out by traumatic organizational changes, or who are feeling guilty about surviving the latest cutbacks and layoffs are often passive and even resentful.  This can mean a double blow to organizations in need of strong discretionary efforts right now.

As Bev put it, workers who are engaged look for what they can give.  Workers who are disengaged look for what they can get.

What’s more, talent is always at a premium, and neglected talent can quickly find a new home.  And even workers who appear satisfied with less engagement in a prolonged crisis are actually honing their resumes, their resentments and their network, and are getting ready for the upturn to seek greener pastures.

Bev cited a number of research studies in support of her observations, and she pointed out the parallels with past downturns to make her case.

Largely, Bev put the onus on leaders, line-managers and Human Resources for making the critical effort to engage with employees on an on-going basis.  She described the strategies that leaders and managers can use to better connect with employees and earn those discretionary contributions, and indeed their commitment, enthusiasm and innovations.  But she closed with the responsibility that employees must assume in helping to bridge the gaps they see in their organizations. At times like these, it’s up to all of us to lead in ways that make a difference.

While you await your copy of Bev’s book, we recommend this article.  Next week, we’ll send you a copy of the Values Instrument Bev mentioned in her presentation.

On behalf of Beverly Kaye and Howard Morgan, we thank you again for joining us, and look forward to the next occasion.

Warm Regards,
Unbound Ideas

The topic of this webinar was leadership, and Jim spoke from his 25 years of research and experience in the field.

But first he started with a motto from Franklin Delano [...]]]> On March 16, Jim Kouzes held a webinar entitled “Enduring Truths of Leadership”.  We were fortunate to again have Howard Morgan serve as facilitator and event moderator.

The topic of this webinar was leadership, and Jim spoke from his 25 years of research and experience in the field.

But first he started with a motto from Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a leader who knew some tough times: “Let unconquerable gladness dwell.”

Jim then discussed the importance of leadership in difficult times. Indeed, in a quick scan of historical crises and the leaders who emerged from those periods, the point was made that great challenges provide the opportunity for great leadership. What’s more, by overcoming difficulties we emerge stronger and better than before. Thus, we should be optimistic about the economic crisis we are in now. Leaders arise in times of adversity, challenge, change and difficulty.

From there, Jim went on to build our ideas about what constitutes leadership and where we can find it. The surveys he and colleague Barry Posner have conducted in their research closely tracked with the spot polls Jim did throughout the webinar.

We seem to have an innate understanding of the attributes of leadership:
Honesty, Forward Looking, Inspiring, Competent. But underlying those attributes are the core components of Credibility and Trust. As Jim put it, “If you don’t believe the messenger, you won’t believe the message.”

Jim built on that understanding by describing leadership as existing on the level of the personal. A leader’s personal values support or bolster their credibility and connection with others. Showing the personal side of a leader increases that sense of trust and commitment. Modeling leadership behaviors is the best means of spreading those qualities in others. That’s why relationships are so important.

Finally, Jim talked about the importance of developing leadership practices and having the discipline to put in the time every day to improve. Leaders are in the business of bringing others to higher levels of performance, and one of the key ways to do so is to improve their own performance, too. Jim suggested a minimum of 3 hours per day is required to get better, let alone maintain, performance levels in any endeavor, including leadership. And yet, one of the areas that most leaders fall down in is actively seeking feedback from those around them to identify the areas they need to personally work on.

It’s a role and a calling that requires much work and dedication. But from Jim’s perspective and experience, there’s one reason why leaders are willing to devote themselves to getting better and improving the work and lives of those around them. It comes down to love.

He left us with the message: Love and Lead Em.

Attendees will be receiving copies of Jim’s book, The Leadership Challenge, as a bonus for joining us.  Jim has kindly also provided us this article titled coaching-for-credibility, which is excerpted from The Art & Practice of Leadership Coaching.

There is plenty of doom and gloom surrounding rising unemployment, free-falling equity values, locked-in credit markets and a housing situation that, well, you know. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine panic, dread and misery being a frequent co-pilot among the [...]]]> In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don’t worry, be happy……

There is plenty of doom and gloom surrounding rising unemployment, free-falling equity values, locked-in credit markets and a housing situation that, well, you know. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine panic, dread and misery being a frequent co-pilot among the millions of mass-transiting, ride-share laneing commuters across the world. But beyond the anxiety over our economic security, are we generally more unhappy now?

Paul Ingram, the faculty director of the Columbia Senior Executive Program at Columbia Business School, recently released the results of a longitudinal survey of 500 young executives who are mostly based in New York or London and on the front lines of the financial crisis. Of the survey’s findings, he says “the overall happiness in this group has not changed as the financial crisis has unfolded.”

What the survey uncovers is the notion that how we motivate ourselves, what we value and whether we are forward or backward looking has much more to say about our happiness than the economic conditions of the moment.

We have found that people who are disposed to comparisons are less happy. Of course, relative status matters for happiness, but people who think more about their position compared to others are less satisfied with their lives. In times of loss, it is also happiness-destroying to make comparisons to yourself in the past. It is likely that this has created despondency in a few of the formerly super-rich who are now merely rich. The prescription that results from this evidence is to think less about what others have and to not dwell on what you have lost.

We have also found that people who are vigilant about protecting what they have and value — whatever it is — are happier. We recommend that you make salient what you have now that you want to keep, and be conscious of how you might lose it.

Finally, people who are eager in pursuit of some potential gain are also happier. Be explicit about what it is you want for the future, lay out concrete plans to get it and think about how you’ll feel when you do so.

Our experiments suggest that a useful exercise for putting yourself into the mindset associated with happiness would be to buy a small notebook and regularly write about what you have now that is valuable to you, what threats you must protect against, what you hope for the future and what it will feel like when those hopes are realized. Happily, the same exercise will have positive spillovers on your creativity, risk-management and decision-making abilities. And remember that the relationship between the economy and life satisfaction is muted and that our capacity to adjust to negative events is great. The biggest influence on the ultimate outcome — happiness — is not what happens to us but how we motivate ourselves.

Although we understand the pain the current climate is causing, at Unbound Ideas, we too are focusing on positive motivations and a better tomorrow. With apologies to Bobby McFerrin, we’ll do our best to sing that idea note for note.

First, women may have a vision but they may be using a [...]]]> A recent study done by two INSEAD researchers indicates female leaders are not viewed as being as visionary as their male counterparts at the executive level.  Looking for answers as to why this might be the perception, the study’s authors offered three possible causes.

First, women may have a vision but they may be using a different process to develop their long-term strategy. Women may work with teams and collaborate to find direction. In business, peers and managers may not value that collaborative process as much as they value someone who appears to come up with a vision independently.

Second, women may have a vision but may be hesitant to make audacious statements because they don’t have the analysis to back them up or because they are more frequently challenged in business settings.

Finally, women may not value visionary pronouncements. Some women are sceptical of visionary claims and may view them as little more than a sales job. Many women interviewed for the study said they believed that getting things done is what should matter in business.

On March 24, Rayona Sharpnack, founder of the Institute for Women’s Leadership will present a webinar on The Unique Challenges of Executive Women Leaders and is hosting the Unbound Ideas Women in Leadership Series.  We hope that vision and other qualities of successful top executives will be discussed.

During this 90 [...]]]> Earlier today, Unbound Ideas hosted two top voices in the leadership and coaching industry. Dr. Marshall Goldsmith presented a webinar entitled Preparing Your Successor and Yourself for a Great Future. We were fortunate to have Howard Morgan act as the facilitator to coax additional insights from Marshall and add his own wisdom.

During this 90 minute event, which included some really interesting and thoughtful questions from our participants, we learned that there are concrete steps that any leader can undertake in order to have the transition of responsibilities go smoothly for the organization and the well-being of all parties involved. Marshall described the key findings revealed through his extensive research and engagement in succession planning with top executives from some of the world’s largest organizations. He illustrated some of the traps that these leaders often fall into as the reins are turned over. Importantly, he also described the hazards that successors face as they prepare for or anticipate an eventual transition.

Unbound Ideas is pleased to make this version of the webinar available to our community and hope it will be of use and interest. Please note that the video’s functionality and resolution has been reduced. If you are interested in obtaining a full version of the webinar, including slides, curriculum articles and increased after-event dialog, please contact us.

Amazon's Kindle 2

Slate’s technology expert, Farhad Manjoo, is one of our favorite popular writers about all trends digital. His recent commentary about how primitive the Internet of the 1990s seems now, and what that implies about the Internet of today was fun and thoughtful. (”In 2020, we’ll get the Internet over electronic ink [...]]]>

Amazon's Kindle 2

Slate’s technology expert, Farhad Manjoo, is one of our favorite popular writers about all trends digital. His recent commentary about how primitive the Internet of the 1990s seems now, and what that implies about the Internet of today was fun and thoughtful. (”In 2020, we’ll get the Internet over electronic ink scrolls powered by algae….”) In another piece today, he raves about the experience of using a Kindle, which he describes as the future of publishing. Among the claims: skeptics will become true believers the moment they use them; the Kindle will allow you to organize and gain control over your reading life like the iPod allowed you to manage your music life. (A favorite aspect for me.)

But Manjoo also fears that this will make the Kindle as dominant and omnipresent as the iPod, circumventing all other book avenues. This seems dubious, and just another form of change fearing. While e-readers seem to have reached a popular tipping point, they have a long way to go before they achieve the kind of ubiquity of the television set or even the iPod.

But Manjoo does mention something we’ve suspected and mentioned before. Digital readers increase book sales. In the same way, digital music players increases music sales. When you can click-buy, you buy more. Maybe the future of publishing isn’t as bleak as people fear. In fact, we think it’s soongoing to hit its information age stride – whether it wants to or not.

Sure, it’s an old video.  But in challenging economic [...]]]> David Neeleman, Chairman and CEO of JetBlue presented the following lecture at Stanford University on April 30, 2002. His dedication to being a frequent customer of his company’s service and being so close to employees gives him unvarnished feedback that other leaders are sometimes too inaccessible to hear.

Sure, it’s an old video.  But in challenging economic conditions it may matter more than ever.