A633.8.3.RB_How Do Coaches Help?

Coaching to me is one of the most important aspects of being a leader.  Speaking from experience, I have found that coaching is one of those most influential aspects of learning and growing both personally and professionally.  I learn better when coaching is involved because I find the experience is more personal, it is one-on-one, and is geared to your needs and not the needs of a group of people.  What does coaching provide to their clients?  I suppose the question should be more geared to what they don’t provide because what they do provide is sometimes hard to put on paper (too much good qualities not enough space to write it all) all the wonderful things coaching offers. Coaching provides their clients with the experience to learn and grown at their pace, retain more information/knowledge, have the ability to ask questions without feeling judged, exponential growth potentials and most certainly gain a more positive learning experience.

Given the statement above what is it that coaches do to provide value to their clients?  How a coach provides value to their clients is going to be different for each.  No two coaches will perform the same tasks/activities and no two clients will have the same reactions. Everyone is different but the way coaches can provide value (given the statement) is by doing a little bit of talking, a lot of listening and even more action.  As a leader you need to talk less and listen more so that you can help to coach more effectively.  I have found that some of the best coaches I ever had listened to me more than anyone I knew.  I gained more from them after they knew and understood me.

Why is coaching a vital aspect of both leadership and strategy?  Coaching is a vital aspect because coaching takes new leaders who are rough around the edges and pairs them with experts who can help them to grow and flourish more.  When you are a stronger leader you are more strategic in your thinking and therefore affect strategy within your organization.  Coaching leads to positive change which then leads to strong strategies and or strategic changes.

How can it make a difference in an organization?  Coaching can help make a difference within and organization because it is empowering for employees/clients.  Coaching allows for individuals to hone in on their skills and sharpen them. 

What does this mean to you and your organization?  Coaching for me is a huge part of higher education.  I started off with the most amazing coach when I was 20 years old and I don’t think without her I would be where I am at today.  It only takes one good experience to change the rest of a person’s life.  The more organizations believe in coaching and actively coach their employees the more positive changes they can experience.
 

I love coaching and I truly believe it can change the way an individual feels about themselves, their job and the organization they work for!

A633.7.3.RB_Leader Follower Relationship

I guess it would be rather forward of me to say, “No my thinking hasn’t changed because I know I was a strong leader before” but for all intensive purpose, I truly feel that way.  I am very much a “pistol” in that when I set my mind to do something, or be something, I don’t often deviate from the path I lay for myself or my professional growth.  I understand we are all human and we have areas in which we can grow and change and manifest in a newer person but I don’t think this course has really altered me in a significant way.  I understand I am smarter, I have read another interesting textbook and that I am progressing through my MS in Leadership but I am not a chaotic decision maker and I like a I love my neurotic patterns and strategic ways of doing things.  I would venture to say that to some degree my thinking will constantly but this course missed the mark for me.

I think the reason I am not impressed with this course or the material is because I took a strategy course last summer that was in the MGMT program and it really showed all different types of strategic theories and didn’t hone in on one type.  I was really hoping this course would show strategy differently but it seems like all we have talked about is chaos theory and complexity and to me that is just a small part of strategy and how strategic leaders think.  I don’t think I applied a lot in this course and I think many of the assignments fell flat; I expected more.  I know that my job now makes me one of the harder critics but hard critics are what make good courses along with strong content and faculty.

In regards to the significance of this courses content in the context of my future leadership goals and objectives, unfortunately for me I won’t take much from this course going forward.  I was extremely let down by the course materials, the way the assignments were laid out, and mainly the content.  I am bummed and I am looking forward to wrapping this course and moving on

I would like to note that this assignment was not easy to follow because the website link provided in the textbook didn’t take me directly to the results I needed to find.

A633.9.3.RB_Polyarchy Reflections

The old saying, “Out with the old and in with the new” is slowly starting to take shape and form.  The positive progression to change what was once thought to be the correct way of doing things is a step in the right direction for the future of leadership theory, leaders and individuals and the organizational impact this will have.

Throughout my professional career I have sought out the guidance from others and I have also bounced ideas off of others in order to gain bigger picture perspective. It is important to me to make sure that as an individual and a leader that I am making decisions for the betterment of everyone and not just me.  I have to understand the decisions I am making and the implications my decisions will have on others.  The old way of thinking is not necessarily wrong; it just isn’t working anymore in this new age and era.  I think the best way to make decisions is when you brainstorm with others and see it from different perspectives and viewpoints.  With this all being said I understand that it will be impossible to have all organizations organized this way but for those who can lead and structure their organization this way, the pays offs for the organization in the end will be monumental.

For my future I would love to work in a situation where there are multiple people making leadership decisions and using one another to make those decisions as I have stated before I think it will help to bring a better understanding to the implications those choices are having.  I also think this will change the way strategy is understood.  We have all seen how strategy issues can be blamed on one person but now strategy will be a collaborative effort making the way we see it all so much more different than before.

Strategy and leadership are always changing.  Something new and or better is always coming out which changes the way leaders lead and followers follow.  With each new change things are affected differently but it will always be up to the leader to implement those changes for the betterment of everyone else.  I know that as I get older and more wiser I will be able to understand strategy is more and be able to better apply; this part of my developmental process is constantly in flux.

A633.6.5.RB_Circle of Leadership

I have reviewed this circle over and over again and it just makes me sad to think that this takes place within an organization.  Employees should never lower their confidence levels when they are need of additional assistance or advice.  I can vividly remember in grade school a poster that many of teachers had that said, “The only dumb question is the one not asked,” and I think that is 100% true.  I know that if I have a question about something pertaining to my job I need to ask before I do it incorrectly and do more harm than good.  Asides from many other questions the main question I had while reading about this “vicious cycle” was, does this really take place and where?  How can this be good business ethics or practice and how could a leader think that fear is the best way to train and keep-in-line employees?

I am glad to say that this practice is not used at ERAU Worldwide.  Many of the organizations I  have worked for had “Open-Door Policies” which means you could to go anyone ask them for help and would not be judged or turned away.  The effect of this style of leadership is damaging to not only the relationship between the leader and employee but also for the organization as a whole.  These types of negative business and leadership practices cast dark clouds over the organization which will in time deter people from wanting to work there.  Although work environments are designed to be a place where people do work, they are also a place where for many, they spend a majority of their time, and those places need to have some type of appeal in order to attract a person to come back day after day.

We talk a lot about what the ideal leader is but we never talk about how their characteristics can work for both a good and bad leader.  I suppose it’s easier to relate to the good strong influential and overall “good” leader than the bad but even this model is not something leaders that are doing harmful things use.  There is a certain level of stroking and caressing leaders must do in order to promote positive and steady followers. The figure above is rather repulsive and I suppose that  it would be used by a leader with no heart but below is how I would  like to see  the circle recreated.

Reference

Obolensky, N. (2012). Complex adaptive leadership, embracing paradox and uncertainty. Gower Publishing Company.