Executive and Manager Coaching Society for Information Management April 21, 2009 Randy Ruppart, Ph.D. Jess Dods, MBA

“The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage” Arie De Geus Founding Member, MIT Center for Organizational Learning

Why coaching? Coaching helps you improve your business by helping you improve your people Change is inevitable People must learn and adapt quickly People want to grow People are the real competitive advantage

The business case for coaching - delivers improved management performance - helps executives manage complexity - accelerates leadership and team development - coaching can be cheaper than replacing someone - average cost for a 6-month engagement is $7-9K Harvard Business Review, Jan 2009

What is Coaching? It is the process of equipping people with skills and behaviors that they need to stay even and/or become more effective Coaching is tailored to each individual and specific situation Coaching is the intersection of social science and business Executive coaches are professionals who combine skills in behavior modification and a solid understanding of business and organizational realities

When do you engage a coach? Improve an executive’s competencies Change skills, behaviors and attitudes needed to advance Succession planning Who is ready now? Who needs more competencies? Should we start the hiring process?

Candidates for Coaching Someone who needs to: strengthen important competencies add new competencies learn new skills unlearn old behaviors stretch their limits

Types of Coaches External - Individual and group development: improve skills, reduce challenge areas - Shadow coach: ride along with the executive Internal - Manager as coach-helps others within the organization improve

Case Study Please see handout Executive Coaching and Leadership Development for senior financial services information systems and technology executives who were assigned to manage the daily operations for a conversion to a new MIS on a global basis. Their knowledge and experience were strong in data systems. However, they had never managed a conversion of this scale, with the inherent degrees of complexity, and global scope. Amy and Frank were two of twelve people in the Information Systems and Technology Group who worked with a select team of coaches, at the request of the group's senior officer, to assist his staff with the numerous responsibilities to be exercised in a highly effective manner. Please see handout

What coaching is not An extreme makeover A silver bullet or magic pill An overnight miracle Mentoring Therapy

Some realities about coaching Coaches help create the conditions for continuous action learning to occur It is a partnership The chemistry between the coach and the client is important Coaching has been around for a long time; this is a new application of old principles

What clients do with their coaches Identify critical issues and goals using assessments and interviews and create a Coaching Plan Develop daily action to make goals a reality Reflect on what happens: what worked, what did not Seek feedback: Learn from others’ perspectives Transfer to next steps- adapt and plan for continued learning Meetings can be in-person and on the phone

Tools coaches use We have obtained the best results using the Personnel Decisions International (PDI) 360 PROFILOR® Feedback instrument to set the baseline for improvement, along with interviews PDI Time2 Change: a follow up tool to measure progress after the 360 Feedback instrument Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Indicator (TKI) Strong Interest Inventory (SGI) California Personality Inventory (CPI) Meetings and follow up discussions

Summary Coaching can: - be a powerful instrument to assist managers and executives when set up and carried out properly - enhance all of the soft skills needed by effective managers and executives - contribute to the bottom line by increasing efficiency and effectiveness