THE BIG IDEA
THE PROBLEM
The landscape of the workplace has changed and requires different thinking. The old-school leaders-as-thinkers and followers-as-doers mode of operating is outdated and ineffective in today’s landscape due to, at minimum, these three key challenges.
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DISPERSION AND SPEED
Managing an organization from a central point is becoming nearly impossible due to a much more widely dispersed workforce in addition to the ever expanding need for immediate answers and solutions spawned from the increased speed of technology.
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COMMAND-AND-CONTROL TACTICS
Applying command-and-control tactics to human beings is becoming ever more futile as more and more, due to greater education and wider ranges of experience, employees choose to apply their freewill and do things their way regardless of the most demanding commands. Thus, in order to influence people to bring their best to the workplace, it is becoming increasingly necessary to create nurturing environments where people can learn, grow, use their talents, and develop their own ideas rather than settings where they are managed into misery.
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TOP-DOWN STRUCTURES
Strict, top-down hierarchies are proving to be highly demoralizing as they place talented employees with so much to offer at the bottom of a ladder which sandwiches them between the organization and the customer. This structure renders them largely voiceless and in a difficult, frustrating position where they get demotivated. In addition, managers, fearing retribution for stepping out of line, move into a mode of self-preservation where self-focused, self-promoting silos develop and the shutdown of anything that might rock the boat, including innovation, runs rampant.
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SOLUTION
To evolve from these problems, things need to change, principally with leaders and managers adopting a new mindset where, instead of thinking of themselves as chief decision makers, they evolve to reconsider their roles and act as facilitators of inventive discussion and talent deployment. If we think of coaching as helping people to unlock their potential and helping them help themselves, then it is a perfect tool for this new-found facilitator role. In coaching, managers can provide needed influence while simultaneously engaging, empowering, and encouraging people.
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A PRACTICAL MODEL
To help leaders and managers in this effort, The Uncomplicated Coach shares an easy-to-employ model for holding coaching interactions. The model is built around two types of conversation framed in a repeatable process where there is 1) reflection on a problem to get more focus, examine causes, and identify core obstacles, 2) ideation to get creative and think of solutions, and 3) commitment to actions to move forward.
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IMPACT
The impact of applying this model cannot be understated. Managers learn more about their operation and where the real problems are. Employees get more involved and take ownership of success, and customers get the benefit of improved processes, systems, and morale.
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The hope is that people will learn new ways to lead, communicate, and serve each other and customers, ultimately, making our world just a little better.