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Tips from Our Coaches: How to Create Work/Life Balance

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Q: “How do I create work/life balance?”


We asked our coaches about how they help their clients create work/life balance. Here are their tips and tricks:

#1 Take time off and properly prepare


“Make sure you take proper time off. In order to be better at work, you need to be better at life. Plan ahead and let people know you will be away and ensure someone will cover for you.” – Bego Lozano

“Communicate with your leader(s) and team about your upcoming plans and what you are committed to doing in advance to prepare for that time away.” – Veronica Matthews

“Clarify with your team what is an emergency that you must be contacted about and how you wish to be contacted. This will help you relax as you know they will feel comfortable contacting you” – Olga Saldarriaga

#2 Invest in smaller practices of self-care

“Take time to invest in self care, including exercising, meditation, meeting friends and family, enjoying hobbies, taking time to eat meals, and taking regular breaks from long hours of sitting.” – Rekha Radhakrishnan Upadhyay

“Identify activities that bring you joy and schedule time to do them.” – Olga Saldarriaga

“Whenever possible, make it a point to have lunch outdoors, even eating in your backyard counts.” – Olga Saldarriaga


“Schedule your time so you can be 100% present to where you are. Short shrifting either creates guilt or a feeling of inadequacy.” –  Alison Godfrey

#3 Maintain personal boundaries

“Since the sun sets later, we can get distracted and work longer hours. Instead of guiding yourself by the sunset, set an alarm to remind you to stop.” – Bego Lozano

“Prioritize and protect your boundaries. Lean on your back-up, team and leaders to protect the boundaries and schedule you have established, so that together, you work through shifts in work or responsibilities that may be needed.” – Veronica Matthews

#4 Identify what makes you whole

  • “Put the most important things in your life first. This is a dynamic reckoning and requires attention every day. When you can honestly say you feel right by each item (e.g., health, relationships, finances, greater purpose, etc.), then balance will be there naturally, growing and changing as life unfolds.” – David Dunnington

If you’re interested in learning more about work/life balance, we’d encourage you to check out this article on becoming a more resilient leader through practicing mindfulness.

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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

Ask a Coach: Creating Positive Accountability

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"Ask a Coach with Sue Steinfeld" next to a headshot of Sue.


In this installment of our “Ask a Coach” video series, Torch Coach, Sue Steinfeld, answers this question from one of our Curiouser newsletter readers:

Q: “I want to keep my team on track, but holding them accountable often feels uncomfortable. How can I create positive accountability?”

Watch the video below to find out Sue’s four key takeaways!

 


Curious Consumption, No. 7: Trends in Leadership

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Graphic with icons for "Read" (a book), "Listen" (headphones), and "Watch" (a computer screen)

Some recommendations to feed your curiosity

Read

If you haven’t watched Ted Lasso, you’re sorely missing out. This article shares the leadership lessons taken from the show, including the power of mentorship, the importance of earning trust from  your followers, and the necessity of building community within your team.


Watch

Management consultant Gitte Frederiksen has worked with multiple global companies and shares how leadership can be more effective as a network, distributed across multiple people, instead of a hierarchy where power moves from top down. She shares how to create this in her TedX talk here.


Listen

Research analysts, Stacia Garr and Dani Johnson of RedThread Research, spoke with Paula Matthews, VP and Chief People Officer of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) about the difference between good and “not so effective managers,” including being OK with not having all the answers and explaining the “why” of work to their direct reports.

Check out this episode on Workplace Stories here to learn more about the key leadership skills of good managers.

 


 

This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

Curiouser Science Lessons, No. 7: Coaching Supports LGBTQIA+ Clients

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Coaching supports LGBTQIA+ clients with safe spaces to disclose their identities

As Pride commences (a month dedicated to celebrating LGBTQIA+ folks), we were curious about how coaching could uniquely support LGBTQIA+ employees in their workplaces. Researchers Issome Ghama and Gordon Spence, a director of a coaching organization and a professor at Sydney Business School, respectively, sought to answer these two questions in their study:


a) Are clients more likely to disclose their identities in supportive coaching contexts? 

b) Does disclosing these identities lead to a more positive perception of the “working alliance,” (aka the relationship between coach and participant)?


The researchers leveraged vignettes to see how LGBTQIA+ employees would respond to hypothetical situations with coaches. They found that when clients felt supported and comfortable with their coaches (anticipating their support), they were less likely to conceal their identities. And those who did disclose their identities reported stronger relationships with their coaches. 

These supportive relationships are crucial, as the researchers discuss common challenges for LGBTQIA+ folks in the workplace, including lack of social support and fear of discrimination. Disclosure is an act of personal autonomy, and coaching provides employees spaces to practice being fully authentic and experience belonging within the safety of their coaching relationships. These strengthened relationships are also more likely to drive greater growth and behavior change for these participants.

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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

A People Leader We’re Watching: Tiffany Price on Making an Investment in Coaching

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We spoke with Tiffany Price, Director of Human Resources at Blueprint Test Prep, about why she invested in coaching and how she evaluates coaching’s impact on the organization.


Q: Why did you decide to make an investment in coaching?


is a professional program, so it’s more of a big deal. When people get invited to be a part of it, know that BluePrint is paying for the service for you. I think it’s more of an honor, as corny as that may sound. It’s a neat offering that I haven’t seen at any other companies I’ve worked for, and as long as we continue to see the success and value of it, which so far has been almost a 100% across the board for users, then it’ll continue to be part of our development strategy. 


Q: What is the difference between offering coaching compared to other learning and development opportunities?


I don’t think the one-size-fits-all works. We just launched a training library through our learning platform, and there are professional development courses in there. But I just don’t think people get as much from it to having a real customized plan. I like that Torch is customized to the person, it’s customized to their needs, their growth plan… It’s just that elevation of quality and consistency that’s more than what we’d be able to provide in a one-size-fits-all program. 


Q: How do you know if coaching is having an impact in your organization?


The qualitative feedback I’ve received is just incredible. I mean everyone that’s in the platform raved about it and said how helpful it was. One leader said it was the highlight of her week because of the value that she’s received from it and how it’s helped her grow as a leader. 


We weren’t looking at engagement as a metric initially, but we realized the quarterly engagement survey that were so evident after coaching… In Q4, we had 2 leaders that improved in the double digits. It’s not the only thing that we did, but you can tell that that support . And one of those leaders is a super user that’s had the most coaching meetings than anyone. So now is part of our engagement strategy. We are asking: do we see anybody that may need additional support? 


We added another person to the program based on engagement survey feedback this past quarter, and that’s something we’re going to be monitoring to see if is going to be a continued metric for us. 


This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

A People Leader We’re Watching: Sarah Pottieger

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This month we spoke to Sarah Pottieger, Head of People at Forum Brands. Sarah shared with us the goals of their coaching programs, how coaching fits into their larger people development  strategy, and how it aligns with their business objectives.


Q: How does coaching fit into your people development and learning strategy?


It’s a big part. It comes back to trying to create an inclusive environment because everyone learns differently, takes feedback differently, and feels guidance differently. 


I know that for some people, if there’s a more senior person giving a training on how to manage, it’s not always easy to trust that this training is going to give them good guidance and tools if this is just the way that this person wants me to show up.


Having a third party option has been a good safe space for conversations that don’t need to be between peers, or between oneself and one’s manager, and I think it’s bettered the relationships people have with their managers.  


For someone who might want to talk about a promotion or something that’s been bothering them with another team member, they feel like they get a first pass with their coach and then can bring it up . It’s been good for making things feel more inclusive and for strengthening manager and report relationships.



Q: What are your goals for coaching?


Coaching is a part of our larger learning and development goals. As far as strategy goes, we have a lot of young people leading for the first time, so that they feel enabled and empowered by someone that’s not internal. Our goal is simply enablement and making sure that feel empowered to uplevel their own teams.



Q: What role do your business objectives play into creating the coaching programs?


We have two company objectives for the entire year, and one of them is continuing to develop people, on developing and enabling excellent team members.


Some of the key results are a manager effectiveness score, a team inclusion score, and a collaboration and enablement score. Torch plays a huge role in making sure those things are met. I know I’ve become a more effective manager with so that directly ties it to a business goal.


Building effective managers is one way that coaching will play a role in supporting our business objectives over the next year. We’ve just had such a shift to learning and development–the shift has gone from hiring and building your best team to retention given the macro environment. I think this a lot of companies in 2023. to develop, retain, and keep the good talent you have. To make sure that you’re getting the most out of those people and to make sure that they feel like they’re able to give you the most as well.


Q: Where have you noticed coaching’s impact in your organization?


Some of it is from data from people that have gotten promoted since we’ve had the program in place, and some of it is anecdotal… shared that they feel like this really has helped them move on and get confidence. 


I know that for me personally, the way that I have shown up in rooms has changed so much since I’ve started working with my coach. I largely credit her to the confidence piece that’s allowed me to keep moving up, and doing well here, and also being a little more vocal. 


I think that’s the general consensus. has really taught people that you can stay your authentic self while staying professional and showing up in a way that feels elevated for everyone else in the room. I know that that’s been a big impact from the people that I’ve talked to, and that was my personal experience too. 


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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

Curiouser Science Lessons, No. 6: Coaching and Appetite for Feedback

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Does coaching increase our appetite for feedback?


James Smither, a researcher at La Salle University, along with another university researcher and a few colleagues at a global organization, conducted a quasi-experimental study to learn more about how coached individuals receive feedback and how others perceived changes in their leadership. (A quasi-experimental study is as close as you can get to an experiment –the gold standard for research–in a non-lab setting).   


They studied 1,000 senior managers at a global company who all received multi-source feedback from their direct reports, supervisors, and peers. 30% of these senior managers went on to receive coaching, and one year later both groups (coached and not coached) received additional feedback from their colleagues. 


Between these two rounds of feedback from their coworkers, the researchers found coached managers (compared to their non-coached counterparts) were significantly more likely to


drum roll please


Ask for ideas for improvement from their supervisors! Coached leaders are more likely to seek out more input and feedback on how they’re working and how they can improve. 


They were also more likely to receive better ratings from their direct reports and supervisors. Not only were they more receptive to improvement, but they also offered clearer direction to their direct reports. This in turn led to greater satisfaction from the people they manage.


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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

Curious Consumption, No. 6 Trends in Feedback

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Some recommendations to feed your curiosity


Read

Curious to know why feedback is often hard to hear? Rachel Pacheco, author of Bringing Up the Boss, explains the psychological reasons why it can be difficult and offers key ways to open oneself up to receive feedback more productively. Read her article here, and see a lively conversation about her book here.

Watch


“Getting feedback meant coming to terms with myself on someone else’s terms, and that wasn’t something I could easily accept.”Joe Hirsh, an education leader, talks about his early reluctance to receive feedback and journey to see it as an opportunity to enhance future performance  (instead of dwelling on the past). Watch his TedX talk here.



Listen

Sometimes differing opinions and perspectives can result in conflict. Skilled leaders know how to invite and navigate these differences and address this conflict productively. 

Author and behavioral scientist Adam Grant, in this episode of his podcast WorkLife, talks about how to handle these situations gracefully and effectively. Spoiler alert: asking for and trying to understand the other person’s perspective, instead of making assumptions, is key.


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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

Ask a Coach: Managing Defensiveness

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Ask a Coach

Q: I realize that whenever I get into a difficult conversation with colleagues, I get defensive and the conversation isn’t as productive. How can I be less defensive?


Michelle Arbid, Torch Executive Coach



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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

Asking Our Coaches: How to Open Up to Feedback

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Q: “How can I open myself up to feedback and consider other perspectives?

At Torch, we define a receptive leader as someone who a) graciously accepts feedback and differing opinions, b) fosters an open environment and signals a willingness to consider new perspectives, and c) values the perspectives of others as they work towards personal improvement.

We asked our coaches about how they help their clients become more receptive leaders. Here are their tips and tricks:

#1 Pay attention and be aware of your reaction

  • Pay attention to your breath and continue to breathe so that your “mind does not get hijacked and hyper focused” on how you’re reacting to the message. (Veronica Matthews)
  • Be aware of how your body is responding and reacting if someone disagrees with you. Reflect or write down what’s happening externally and what’s happening internally in the moment, including “thoughts, feelings, and sensations.” (Olga Saldarriaga)

#2 Intentionally listen to the other person

  • Engage in active listening. “Suspend all judgments and be open and receptive to what’s being said and what’s the goal or intention of the feedback.” (Ranjini Rao
  • Ask questions first. “Practice a simple exercise of asking 3 questions before offering your opinion.” (Olga Saldarriaga)
  • Practice asking for feedback with a family member or friend that you trust. This will help you “notice how you show up and behave, and build resilience so it becomes easier with colleagues.” (Veronica Matthews)
  • Lead with curiosity. Ask yourself “what is the other person seeing or perceiving that I’m not? Then ask for additional information on any assumption that they’re making.” (Olga Saldarriaga) 
  • Find common ground. If you disagree with what someone is sharing, “find one thing you may like or agree with, and use the word ‘and’ to express your opinion.” (Olga Saldarriaga)

#3 Invite and celebrate feedback

  • Ask for feedback outside of formal opportunities. “Ask the people that you work with – what do I need to stop, start, and continue doing?” (Bego Lozano)
  • Recognize and celebrate others’ opinions when they “provide additional value to the conversation, project, or goal,” especially if they may have not shared in the past. (Olga Saldarriaga)

Take advantage of this free resource and access to brilliant minds. We’d love to feature your question in an upcoming edition of Curiouser.

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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.



Curiouser Science Lessons, No. 5: Behavior Change from Coaching

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How will coaching change you? And will those changes stick?

The research is pretty clear–coaching is a powerful tool for both personal and interpersonal change. Among the myriad outcomes that can change from coaching, you may wonder–what are the most important and salient changes I can expect from coaching, or expect to see in those who are coached? And how do these translate into behavior change?

Researcher Angela Passarelli at the College of Charleston, along with two other colleagues, sought out answers to those questions, conducting interviews of 88 leaders across 5 organizations. In this study, she asked open-ended questions to uncover areas of change (in lieu of spoon feeding leaders the traditional outcomes of coaching). 

Right after coaching, leaders reported changing in the following three ways:

→ increasing in self-awareness (36%)

→ internalizing a personal vision and moving towards an “ideal self” (30%)

→ creating an action plan with next steps to pursue future change (27%)

These three changes lay the groundwork for behavior change down the road. When leaders were asked the same set of questions a second time, one year after coaching, 36% reported behavioral change in the top three areas of change. They shared that they were becoming more strategic in their thinking and more effective in the actions they took. 

It’s clear that learning more about oneself, creating a vision of an ideal self, and creating an action plan to move towards that are key ingredients to bringing behavior change into fruition.

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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

Curious Consumption, No. 5: Transformations through Coaching

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Some recommendations to feed your curiosity


Read


“You can’t transform a company without also transforming yourself. To be a better leader, you must become a bigger human being.”


In this article, Tony Schwartz, a seasoned coach of c-suite execs, talks about his experience with working with leaders and witnessing their personal transformations. Through leaning into the hard work of self-discovery, he’s seen leaders confront deeper parts of themselves and become clearer, balanced, and empowering leaders of others as a result.


Watch


Coaching researcher Dr. Sean O’Connor sought to understand the “coaching ripple effect.” His research demonstrated that individual leaders who receive coaching have better quality relationships and interactions with others. Watch this video to learn more about his research and network-based approach to understanding the effect of coaching on the climate of an organization.


Listen


Our very own Amy Lavoie, VP of People Success at Torch, spoke on the Modern People Leader podcast about how to make DEI efforts work. In this episode, she discusses how one-size-fits-all programs are no longer enough to move the needle in organizations. Humanized and personalized development opportunities like coaching and mentoring, on the other hand, can make a substantial impact for underrepresented groups. Listen here to learn more.


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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

An L&D Leader We’re Watching: Zee Gunjevic

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This month we spoke to Zee Gunjevic, learning & development program manager at TextNow. Zee oversees his organization’s coaching efforts, aligning them within a broader leadership development strategy. He shared with us how he thinks about the role of coaching in his organization and how he’s seen its impact—both organizationally and personally. 


Q: What is the value of coaching?


Something for me that has really come to light since I’ve started coaching is that you start to learn things about yourself and your leadership development that you wouldn’t otherwise know. Your coach is able to tap into things that you discuss during both past and current conversations, and by doing so, is able to help you see the bigger picture. 


Last week, my coach told me that in the 10 months or so that we’ve been working together, she can pinpoint every point where she noticed where I was able to grow and where I stopped talking about something that had hindered me before because I had learned how to get to that next level. I think that’s one of the most important things about coaching. You don’t always see until somebody points it out to you, and says hey, “we’ve been talking about this for a couple of months now, but the way you’re talking about it is completely different, and you’re much more confident about it.


Q: After providing coaching to your organization, have you noticed any changes in how people interact with each other?


Yes. I’ve talked to a few people recently that told me that, because of the group coaching that we offered, they’re able to look at different situations with their peers and direct reports in a different way. They are also using some of the models and methods that were taught during those group coaching sessions to better align both within their own teams and with other teams in the organization as well.


how to deliver feedback, how to communicate top-down, and how to accept bottom up communication. I’ve witnessed a shift in the organization that supports the theory that coaching is definitely good for the organization as a whole, not just for the individual.


Q: Can you tell me a little more about why it’s important for more than just senior leaders to have access to coaching?


They’re the next generation of leaders. If we don’t provide individual contributors with the tools to level up and grow, then we’ll just stagnate at the end of the day. And whether or not that individual contributor decides then to move to another organization is not really the point. Then we’ll have someone else that will participate in the program and maybe they’ll move up the ladder internally. But we still want to give all those people the chance to learn and grow, and learn and grow with the organization as a whole. 


It’s never made sense to me why senior leadership gets all the development perks because everyone else is doing the work. are managing strategy, so I’m not saying they’re not doing work, but everyone else needs that same time to prepare in order to get to that level, and it only makes sense to offer it to everyone. 


Q: How have you thought about coaching’s influence on the culture of TextNow and vice versa?


100% influences the values and vice versa. The first of our values is “people first.” So giving people this development opportunity is first and foremost in line with that. Another one of our values is “give a damn.” We give a damn about your development. That includes we want you to succeed. It’s okay to fail, but we don’t want you to fail, and we want to make sure that we can give you the tools in order to be successful.


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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

Ask a Coach: Giving and Receiving Feedback

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Ask a Coach


Q: Oftentimes, I’m asked to deliver feedback to my direct reports, and don’t know where to start. Receiving feedback proves equally as challenging. How do I deliver and receive feedback better?


Let’s face it—learning how you are being perceived by opening up to authentic feedback is a discipline that stretches us all as humans and leaders. 

The show Ted Lasso recently provided a superb example of approaching feedback powerfully. As a fish-out-of-water coach in a foreign land, Coach Lasso receives plenty of feedback–directly and indirectly. At one point he asks someone “How have I hurt you? What can I learn here?” His openness in this tense situation is breathtaking. It’s a surprising mix of groundedness and humility. 

Whether you agree with the other person’s perspective or not, building feedback-gathering muscles serves you. It strengthens your self-awareness and gives you thicker skin. And—you get to choose the nugget of value that you’ll integrate, for your own good and that of your team and your impact.


Giving valuable feedback requires similar thoughtfulness. The most impactful feedback leaves the other person aware of new possibilities, with a clear path to development. Whether giving or receiving tough feedback, follow Lasso’s lead. Get grounded in who you are. Be clear about what matters most to you. And let that provide the context and courage to get the greatest results. 


Laura Malinowski, Torch Executive Coach


via GIPHY


Take advantage of this free resource and access to brilliant minds. We’d love to feature your question in an upcoming edition of Curiouser.


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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

Asking Our Coaches: Coaching Improves Relationships

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Q: “How have you seen coaching affect how your clients lead their direct reports, teams, and organizations?

We were curious about what the coaching ripple effect looks like on the ground. We asked our coaches this question, here is what they shared:


Coaching strengthens relationships with direct reports


I’ve seen leaders and their teams benefit from the shift from ‘I need to know everything and find solutions’ to instead embracing the stance of ‘I don’t know anything, but I can coach you to help you figure out how you want to proceed.’ That creates a profound change that has a direct impact on the organization, and the people leader’s sense of impact, understanding of leadership, and servant attitude. It also helps individual contributors own their work, get more inquisitive, creative, and tap into their potential. – Rafal Szaniawski


Good management is getting your work done through others. If this concept is instilled in a team then each report can ask their manager “what are you trying to get done through me?” This creates clarity. In turn, each manager can ask their manager the same question. Getting clear about what you are doing for your leader and having your leader be able to ask you what you are doing for them develops a norm of reciprocity between manager and report that lives at the heart of successful leadership. – Tim Thomas


Clients I have worked with have started using questioning and active listening methods from our coaching sessions as a best practice with their employees. These employees in turn have started recognizing and becoming aware of their behaviors and patterns to improve on their performance. – Ranjini Rao


Coaching improves relationships within teams


My clients have found their voice, learned how to have difficult conversations but also to inspire their colleagues into action. Through increased time management and prioritization skills, they have reduced the risk of their own burnout as well as that of their team. In learning how to delegate and cultivate the growth of their direct reports, they have supported them in learning new skills and getting promotions (all leading to higher satisfaction at work). – Stephanie Staidle


  • Through coaching leaders to understand the value of coaching their teams, they start to not only help solve their team’s issues, but to help the team develop their problem-solving abilities and grow. The leaders are there to support their team. As they remove themselves from micromanaging and firefighting, they get more time to create dialogue and alignment. – Serena Martino

Coaching shifts relationships across the organization


I’ve had clients who will use their personal coaching and translate that into organization-wide action around core values, organizational norms, effective feedback (i.e., supervisor, peer and upward feedback), and crucial conversations. – Tom Fox

Take advantage of this free resource and access to brilliant minds. We’d love to feature your question in an upcoming edition of Curiouser.


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This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

Ask a Coach: Phyllis Reagin

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Ask a Coach


Q: How do I inspire my team to want to follow me?


Many of the senior leaders that I coach wrestle with wanting to inspire their teams. Their transformation to becoming more inspirational often happens when they explore these 3 important questions: 

  • Does their communication to their teams focus only on the “what” and “how” of the work? When leaders also focus on the “why,” it’s easier for the work to connect to team members’ hearts and makes them want to follow the leader. 

  • Do they tend to discuss only work outcomes with their team members? This can make people feel invisible and not valued. By discussing more than just work, leaders begin to value their team members’ unique contributions, making them feel seen and appreciated.

  • Is there any misalignment with what they say is important to their teams and how they may behave? For example, leaders may say well-being is important while being on the edge of burnout themselves. Through my work with them, leaders start to understand the idea that great leaders demonstrate their values in how they act.


  • Phyllis Reagin, Torch Executive Coach


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    This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

    Curious Consumption, No. 4: Skills to adopt as a manager

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    Some recommendations to feed your curiosity


    Read


    “Managers who invest the time to learn about the science of leadership coaching and then practice it consistently will reap the benefits—and not just in terms of productive employees and bottom-line impact. Leaders who excel in coaching also report that it’s the most rewarding and meaningful part of their role.”


    In this article, Sara Canaday, a leadership expert, articulates why coaching is so effective at helping people become better managers.


    Watch


    The answer to “what makes a good coach?” is also the answer to “what makes a great leader and manager?”.  In this video, University of East London Professor Christian van Nieuwerbergh, answers both questions, sharing the importance of practicing authenticity, not rushing to judgment, intentionally listening, and acknowledging self doubt. Watch for other skills that translate to great leadership.


    Listen


    What part of your S-curve are you on? And what are your shadow values? If you have no idea what we’re talking about, give this episode of the Psychology Podcast a listen, where host Scott Barry Kaufman interviews talent development expert and executive coach Whitney Johnson.  They talk about how personal growth and business growth are inextricably linked, a new way to think about where you and your people are at on their growth trajectories, and how you may be holding yourself, and others, back.


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    This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.

    Curiouser Science Lessons, No. 4: Giving Feedback

    Want more great resources on people development?


    Time to Toss the “Feedback Sandwich”


    Our coaches told us giving feedback is a key skill to leading effective teams–and one that leaders can develop through coaching. What else should you know about cultivating this skill? We turned to the scientific literature to find out. 


    Perhaps you’ve heard of the “feedback sandwich.” It’s the often-cited idea that squishing your constructive feedback in between softer cushions of positive remarks can make criticism more palatable. 


    According to recent research, this approach is not always the best move. In one study, researchers Amy Henley and Florence Reed at the University of Kansas evaluated different feedback sequences in an experimental setting, examining participants completing office tasks such as filling out timesheets and folding brochures. These participants then received positive and constructive feedback in different ordered sequences, and the researchers evaluated their subsequent performance.


    They found that when offering feedback after performance, participants who were offered a constructive comment first, followed by two positive comments, were more effective than those who received a “feedback sandwich.”


    While this is one study, the research seems clear that ending on a constructive comment, by and large, will decrease performance. So if you have feedback for your teams or direct reports, remember to end on a high note.


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    This article was featured in Torch’s newsletter, Curiouser. Each month, we deliver the latest research, stories, questions, and insights about the art and science of coaching to your inbox. Sign-up and join a community of people who are passionate about growth, learning, and leadership.