Coaching has become an essential component for enhancing communications within any organization as well as for moving performance in the desired direction. According to Peterson and Hicks (1996), "An organization's coaching and development sharpens and sustains the competitive advantage of human capital... which is integral to leveraging an organization's strategies and core competencies."

To explore the role of coaching as a key driver of organizational performance, Plus Delta's Founder and Principal Dr. Jeremy S. Lurey recently interviewed Thomas G. Crane. Tom is an author, consultant, and speaker who specializes in assisting leaders in creating high-performance through the development of coaching cultures.

JSL: Tom, can you explain how you approach the creation of a coaching culture in an organization? TGC: Sure. I share with individuals in the organization a series of powerful coaching processes.

Creating a High Performance Coaching Culture continued here:

I teach them how to coach others within their organization [top-down and bottom-up] and across all levels. I equip them with a toolkit to understand and utilize coaching skills so that these processes become endemic throughout the culture. This way, everyone knows what coaching is and how to coach in any direction. I encourage them to adopt what I have come to refer to as "collegial" coaching.

JSL: What are some of the specific benefits of adopting a coaching culture? TGC: First, you equip people on a team with tools that include more than one way to hold a coaching conversation. It empowers them to enhance their conversations. Communication is more open, conflicts are easier to resolve, and talking through solutions rises. Team members become more engaged. I always see an energy increase in a culture that adopts coaching. Everyone has a chance to weigh in and be involved. Employees feel they are more a part of things rather than just being on the outside looking in.

JSL: Companies often express a great deal of energy up front for coaching by saying, "This is a good thing, it will really help us." But many times it can lose steam. Tell me about the challenges you face in establishing a lasting coaching culture. TGC: I try to provide evidence of the benefits along the way. We use a scorecard that measures the impact of the coaching conversations that are taking place. At the micro level, we gather feedback from those receiving coaching to gauge the quality of that coaching. We also have individuals or team members focus on the direct impacts: Is the coaching changing the business decisions that are being made, and can they tie the changes to enhanced business results? Ultimately, you want people to say that they have been coached, and to further say they have been coached well. Where possible, we have them translate that to dollars.

At a more macro level, I use a Coaching Culture Assessment to establish a baseline by which to measure, and then later evaluate the degree to which certain characteristics are present in the culture once coaching is fully integrated.

JSL: How often do organizations bring you back to assess the impact of the coaching? TGC: It's tough with the cost-consciousness companies of today, but several of my clients have me coming back to help them assess the ongoing impact. It's great information to have on hand - to measure the extent to which we're changing business results.

JSL: What are some of the specific areas of performance your clients look to tie coaching back to? TGC: It's not unlike the kinds of things they are already looking at - business results, revenue growth, goal achievement, and customer feedback and satisfaction measures. Usually it's quantifiable measurements that show how well things get done. They also like to know if they can really use coaching as an intervention to keep and retain talent.

JSL: Do you see a progression from executive coaching (individual) to a group or team that ultimately leads to creating that lasting coaching culture? TGC: Yes. I'm often invited to coach an executive who wants to better coach their own teams. That can lead to sharing the concepts of coaching with their direct reports, their divisions, and ultimately with the entire organization. Someone who has an executive coach can quickly see the benefits and want to give everyone on their team the tools and skills to coach each other and embody and embrace the concepts of coaching. Other times organizations want to teach their managers how to better coach their direct reports and contribute to the creation of a coaching culture. Ultimately, when an individual who receives coaching realizes the benefits, they understand the positive impact it can have on an entire culture. It's a simple extrapolation to understand.

JSL: Plus Delta provides a Custom Learning program called "Improving Performance through Leadership Excellence^sm" as a forum for building critical leadership skills. How do you feel about group training on fundamental leadership skills versus one-on-one coaching? TGC: There are different situations and different audiences where each is effective. Larger groups don't allow for as much intimacy or individual relationship building. There is nothing like the one-on-one session forum for a heart-to-heart conversation. This naturally leads to a more vulnerable relationship and enhanced individual growth through the executive coaching experience.

However, there is a huge advantage in working with a group of leaders. You can build a community using shared language, accountabilities, and expectations. You can't change an entire culture by doing exclusively individual executive coaching. You need a group of leaders internally to align in the same direction and know how to coach others. Then you have a system that can coach each other as any changes come down the pike. System change happens in helping all individuals learn how to coach each other in achieving a common business direction and goals.

JSL: Do you see any changes on the horizon for organizational acceptance of coaching? TGC: More and more organizations see the value of coaching, and they want that expertise to be brought inside. We've begun to see more quantifiable measurement of coaching effectiveness as data is gathered and metrics are created. More leaders see that this is where they need to go to build a high performance culture that can adapt to new business drivers and goals.

JSL: Tom, thank you so much for taking the time to share with us your views on coaching at all levels of an organization. We greatly appreciate your support. TGC: My pleasure Jeremy. Thank you.

Our conversation with Tom Crane raises this question: Is executive coaching by itself enough to have a significant affect across an organization? Our simple answer is NO. Within Plus Delta's Leadership Development methodology, we ALWAYS incorporate the feedback of - and interactions with - others from within the organization. A person cannot succeed alone, any more than a leader can lead if there is no one to guide. Naturally, a culture of sharing and interaction enhances organizational success. Helping others in their development and growth will contribute to your relationships, to your ability to succeed in your work, and to the enhancement of the bottom line of your entire organization. This is true whether you are 'coaching' a direct report, a peer, or possibly even your boss.

Note: This feature was originally published and distributed in Plus Delta Consulting’s e-newsletter in October 2006.