The Tao of Coaching: Boost Your Effectiveness at Work by Inspiring and Developing Those Around You (Profile Business Classics) by Max Landsberg

Author:Max Landsberg [Landsberg, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Profile Books
Published: 2015-03-05T07:00:00+00:00

Alex had spent the first 15 minutes of his meeting with Mary reviewing her performance so far. It had not been easy, since she had been ‘low skill, low will’ on many of her recent assignments. Alex now decided to switch tack for the last 15 minutes of the meeting.

‘Mary, it seems to me that you are caught in a negative cycle. You start off lacking confidence in your abilities; this then leads you to make only hesitant attempts at the tasks on which you are engaged; as a result, you deliver below your real potential; and then you receive less praise than you would hope for. This in turn just exacerbates your lack of confidence.’ Alex sketched out the cycle.*

‘You know, Alex,’ she responded, ‘I think you’re right. I’d never thought about it this way before; everything just seemed all tangled up.’

‘Let’s talk about how you can break out of this cycle into a more positive one. Let’s figure out something you’d be really good at… any suggestions?’

They discussed a few options, and discarded some which didn’t seem relevant enough to Mary’s mainstream work activities. In the end, they decided that Mary was going to become the best person in the entire company at making presentations. Alex thought the objective was stretching, but achievable. Although Mary was a bit shy, she was a key figure in the local amateur dramatic group.

‘Now, how are we going to get there?’ asked Alex. Mary had perked up as the result of the conversation so far, but now gulped and paled. Alex bit his lip and resisted the temptation to dive in and rescue her. Eventually, Mary came up with a surprisingly rich stream of her own ideas, ranging from making the prize draw at the departmental Christmas party, through to running the induction session for people who were just joining the company.

‘And what type of help do you think you need?’ probed Alex.

‘I think I can handle most of this myself!’ responded a reenergised Mary, whose ideas ranged from taking a one day course in presenting herself with more impact, through to noting the presentation techniques of famous people as they appeared on television. ‘All I’d ask is that you give me some feedback whenever you see me make a presentation.’

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