COACHING AND MENTORING
noticing, and where we can effectively challenge. As any coach or mentor will understand, there is great skill in being able to do this effectively and with integrity. In just the same way, as external consultant we sometimes need to say no, to disagree with the person who is paying you to be in the room and this takes a willingness to be vulnerable and have courage. As research professor Brené Brown describes, “Vulnerability is our greatest measure of courage.” The tension between the desire to ‘sell’ and
therefore please a client or potential client, and the importance of maintaining integrity, creates a constantly swinging pendulum between the spirit of generosity and giving, and the commercial growth of any business. As coaching professionals, we bring a passion for valuing relationships and innate desire to grow relationships. “We are evolving in this area and we have a way to go,” says Emily. “Right now we are going with the spirit of being generous. Our strength is not just about sharing content, it’s about finding meaning through doing so, with which to grow understanding.” There is integrity in being honest enough to
encourage clients to take on certain aspects of what we provide, when we recognise there is enough internal strength to do so and it will provide a healthy stretch for the client. Even if this means less income for our business. What we have learnt from doing this is that a far deeper level of trust is built, relationship is strengthened and clients actively look to continue and grow the relationship.
In our changing organisations what builds credibility and value?
The term now being used to describe our current moment in history ‘The Social Age’ recognises the tangible shift and change in how we go about our daily lives; from raising finances for our businesses, for example though crowdfunding, to the nature of how we work, with many of us working from home or (more and more frequently) in shared co-working space. With the arrival in the workplace of many
working with people, this is certainly true in the world of coaching and mentoring. Building trust is critical right from the start. For clients to gain value, we need to be able to create a space where we can be honest, reflect back what we are
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more Millennials who embody the social age at work as well as outside, there is a real requirement for organisations to rapidly shift from a control and command culture to one of connection, collaboration and authenticity. In order to keep building credibility and value as consultants, this shift and change needs to extend to our external consultancy and with it comes a requirement to change our perspective of position and power. In his book To Sell is Human Daniel Pink
shares examples which illustrate how the model of asymmetrical information – where one party is
September 2015
www.trainingjournal.com
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