As we enter the last quarter of this series it should have dawned on regular readers by now that a business partner is not just a different ‘animal’ to a trainer but they work to a completely different paradigm. Probably the best example of this paradigm shift can be seen in the exponential growth in interest in coaching.
I believe this interest is fuelled by the fact that most other conventional approaches to management development, over the last 20 years, have failed to deliver the sort of changes and results that they promised.
Some of the reasons why management developers have failed were explored in Bitesizes 17 and 18.
Generic competence frameworks and management modules fail to tap into individual motivation patterns and personal preferences. Moreover, they do not start with clear business objectives that the individual owns. Coaching seems to offer a solution that addresses all of these flaws.
However, there are also at least two schools of thought on the subject of coaching. Is the focus of the coaching on the individual and their own developmental needs or is it focused on the business and the results required?
A business partner will certainly support coaching as a powerful platform for learning solutions but only because they see it as a solid method for achieving better results through the individual they coach. The coaching is predicated on the individual’s responsibility to the organisation, not on the individual's needs, per se.
Maybe this also provides a simple but clear distinction between the terms coaching and counselling? One is based on clear business objectives; the other is based on the individual’s personal needs.
Martin Sawdon , 20 September 2004 @ 16:23 PM The bridge between coaching for personal development and business results
The experience of many in the coach community is that the obstacle between the individual and achievement of a specific business goal may be one of personal development, skills and aptitudes, motivation or a combination of all four. We also see that major leaps in business growth follow commensurate growth in personal development, including the satisfaction of personal needs.
"Needs' has several different definitions. In my coach community, which incorporates both sides of the Atlantic, we define "needs' as those criteria ( often relating to their environment, health and relationships) which must be satisfied for the individual to be the best person s/he possibly can be - in each area of their lives. Enabling clients firstly to recognise those needs and secondly to get them met therefore helps them to show up and get the best results not only at work, but also in their families and in recreation.
My suggestion therefore is that by helping individuals recognise and satisfy their own needs, not only do we enable them to become the best people they can be, but we also facilitate their best contribution to the organisation in which they work.
