Address ‘The Pain’ . . . To Optimize the Coaching Partnership

Whether you’re an Executive considering coaching for your organization or an Executive Coach establishing a partnership with a client, you need to address ‘The Pain’

As an Executive Coach I have certain protocols, practices, assessments and strategies that I like to use with my clients. Each of these is designed to bring clarity and success to the client and their business. I work hard at picking and choosing what I bring to the table based on what I believe the client needs. That awareness comes as part of our ‘upfront’ discussion – but that discussion can’t just be centered on a general sense that it would be good for the company to have a coaching partnership. In order to choose the right ‘tools’ and strategies and in order to have a strong and effective partnership, both the client and the coach have to be aware of ‘The Pain’.

Although I’m a believer in the ‘adage’ that ‘If it works, don’t fix it’ I’m also a firm believer in the fact that often we don’t realize that with a little ‘tweaking’ in key areas our systems could be far more productive – for both the coach and the client.

That’s why I believe that one of the first things that must happen ‘up front’ is the discovery of the ‘Pain’ we’re experiencing. Yes – it’s absolutely critical to understand a client’s goals, objectives and values. However, if our goal is to create a successful partnership, see powerful forward movement and strong optimization there must be a significant discussion designed to discover what ‘roadblocks’ or ‘pain points’ are in place and keeping us from fully meeting and exceeding our vision and dreams for the corporation.

As a coach, I know that roadblocks exist – it doesn’t matter how effective we think our organization is, it’s a statistical fact that we’re most likely running at about 35% Human Capital Efficiency – at least at some level in the organization. So the question becomes – ‘What if we were able to turn that figure around and raise that level to 70 or 80% HCE?’ – That’s addressing the Pain! – That’s moving forward! –That’s significant ROI!

That’s the discussion we need to have up front so that when we begin looking at protocols, strategies and assessments we aren’t wasting time and money. It’s a powerful part of the ‘thinking and strategizing’ partnership between the coach and the client.