COACHING CULTURES – MIND THE GAP
SELF-COACHING GETS EVERYONE INVOLVED

The idea of a coaching culture isn’t new. It’s been a hot topic for many years now, and all evidence points to its continuing adoption by organizations because it leads to higher levels of employee engagement, among other measurable benefits. But officially, the on-the-ground reality hasn’t yet caught up with the big idea.

That’s where an innovative approach called “self-coaching” comes in. Before diving into that, let’s take a quick look at the state of coaching in organizations.

While more companies are developing coaching cultures, research shows that few can point to a “strong” coaching culture. One reason for this is that most investments are solely focused on leaders and managers. There is little or no coaching-specific training below the manager level — the largest part of the employee population.

The result? A huge gap. Most employees are left behind when it comes to gaining these extraordinarily important workplace….and life…skills.

Admittedly, several forward-thinking companies are experimenting with “scalable” models to make coaching available to employees at all levels. I know firsthand this can work quite well.

Self-coaching is a new impactful approach to further close the gap. By inviting employees at all levels to learn key coaching skills and apply them inwardly, employees can coach themselves anytime, anywhere, and in any situation.

Imagine employees that are more self-sufficient and less dependent on their managers’ ability to coach them. Imagine managers who can more effectively coach employees because they have experienced self-coaching. Imagine the power of having a more self-aware, emotionally intelligent and focused workforce.

Self-coaching also perfectly complements other approaches to scalable coaching — they are able to co-exist within a single organization.

In the coming years, many more companies will embrace the power and cost-effectiveness of self-coaching. A coaching culture needs to include everyone, and learning to become one’s own coach can – and should – be a foundational component.