opinion

My article ‘Coaching qualifications and accreditations: what are they built on and what do they mean?’ has been published in the ImaginativeHR e-bulletin of July 2016.

It explores the fact that fundamental questions need to be addressed concerning what qualifications and accreditations are actually measuring and assessing. What, therefore, do they mean and what are they based on? Qualifications and accreditations are recognised as badges of quality – but how do they help us recognise a good or excellent coach?

James Lawley and Susie Linder Pelz (2016) note that competency-based assessments rest on the principle (and indeed the assumption) that the evaluation of observed behaviour predicts future performance.

Tatiana Bachkirova and Carmelina Lawton-Smith (2015), of Oxford Brookes University, bring another perspective: they argue that a coach’s true capability may not show up in observed behaviour, and that the complexity and unpredictability of coaching may therefore need a new model. They propose a capabilities approach rather than a competencies approach. This, they say, implies an approach to coach training and education that allows the development of the coach in congruence with the individual’s characteristics and values, who they are as a person and not only as an opportunity to assimilate a repertoire of competencies.

In my view, this makes a lot of sense. It seems to me that a collaborative approach by purchasers, training organisations and coaching bodies may be the way forward from here.

If you’d like to see the full article, please e-mail lw@lindsaywittenberg.co.uk for a pdf.

Photo by Dennis Callahan via Compfight

Coaching qualifications and accreditations: a new angle

Knowledge and experience alone may have little or nothing to do with what makes for an excellent coach – and yet until now many of the principles underlying coach assessment have been about competencies. Tatiana Bachkirova and Carmelina Lawton-Smith (2015), of Oxford Brookes University, argue that the complexity and unpredictability of coaching may need a new model, and they propose a capabilities approach rather than a competencies approach.

#hellomynameis: Courage, passion and pioneering

Consultant geriatrician Kate Granger, who set up, and became the force behind, the campaign #hellomynameis, has died of terminal cancer aged 34. Passionate about person-centred, compassionate care, she was a leader by virtue of her passion, commitment, courage and determination to reach as many people as she could in service of a message which she believed would create a better quality of medical professional by releasing more of their inherent humanity.

Leadership and the EU referendum

Leaders need not only to fully understand the issue they’re dealing with, especially if it challenges groupthink, but they also need to be able to communicate it in a way that is accessible and compelling to their audiences. The leader who connects with their followers will hold them in the palm of their hands. This is truly where the power is.

Culture and culture change

Organisational culture shows up in literally hundreds of different ways in which people behave and live out attitudes and beliefs. Changing a culture needs to be addressed both at the level of the leader and at the level of the whole system - and by exploring how these two interact. A culture in which the past is honoured is a culture in which change towards a new future can be embedded most effectively and sustainably.

Cross-cultural coaching: complexities and pitfalls

In cross-cultural environments the coach needs be cautious about challenging the assumptions that they might otherwise challenge: if the client's attitude or belief comes from their culture of origin, it may be close to their sense of self. Equally, issues such as self-promotion in the context of career development and the client's relationship to their family need to be handled sensitively.

Identity, transition and transformation

What a caterpillar calls death a wise man calls a butterfly. The coaching client travels from their current identity, via transition, to their new identity, and the coach travels with them from their current meaning, via meaninglessness, to their new meaning, equipping them to move through uncertainty to a new identity. This is a journey of transformation. The client makes the change. The coach does not remove any part of them, but works with them so that they release more of their capabilities. As they add to their current identity, they enrich who they are.

Talent management: the human side

Doctoral research reveals that the experiences and aspirations of 'the talent' are often different from their organisations’ expectations of them and aspirations for them. What's the impact on authenticity, integrity and effectiveness when talent management is commoditised and individual interests go unacknowledged?

What kind of leader do you want to be?

What kind of leader are you? And what kind of leader do you want to be? What’s the style that gets you best results and feels right to you? When you return to work after a break you may have a more balanced perspective than when you’re in the thick of the pressure. What are you doing to act on the messages that are now clear to you, to become the kind of leader you want to be and to shape the career you really want?

From peers to direct reports: the senior promotion

When leaders are promoted - and have focused great effort on actually getting the job - there's a risk of not putting enough effort, or not early enough, into making a success of the role once they’re in it. There may be new leadership skills to master - and one of the biggest challenges is to develop new relationships as leader with people who have previously been their peers.

Women, careers and personal safety

Senior women at work, especially those working part-time, may not be as safe as they would like. They need to develop career resilience: a flexibility in being prepared for – and handling - the unexpected, and learning from tough experiences so as to feel more resourced for the path ahead.

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