Individual Coaching

Coaching Leaders

There is likely no better time to engage in personal or professional coaching than during this pandemic. Today many “are sheltered in place” while working at home. People are finding greater flexibility in their schedules. Barnett Consulting arranges virtual meetings for one-on-one coaching sessions that leverage the best use of people’s time and resources.

As a social psychologist with business experience, Dr. Barnett has in-depth knowledge and practical experience to coach managers and employees. Whether it is your first experience to hire a coach, or if you are resuming work previously begun, Dr. Barnett will prepare a roadmap for you of what to expect, adapting the tools likely to be used.

Trouble Spots in Your Work Environment -Little or no appreciation for working in a team -Erosion of trust and a sense of betrayal -Lack of courage and decisiveness among employees -Fails to assert their own viewpoints -Risk aversive and waits for further instructions -Appears supportive but ultimately resists change -Tests limits and jeopardizes company resources -Takes credit for other people’s contributions

Benefits of Coaching -Prepare managers for new leadership roles -Overcome compulsive, damaging behaviors -Interrupt negative dynamics between individuals in a reporting relationship -Improve effectiveness of project leaders -Prepare for higher job grade -Understand how potential behaviors can be viewed as harassment -Create a work environment of equality and respect -Moderate eccentric or egotistic attitudes

Consider Hiring a Coach to Help Plan Your Company’s Future -Have you identified your next round of leaders? -What responsibilities will they assume? -How are your employees being prepared for new roles? -What are your primary expectations for leaders (e.g. build trust, inspire others with vision)? -Does your company have a succession plan to manage the company?

Why Coaching is So Vital to Today’s Business World

New leaders often attempt to exert their unique style only to be pulled back by company cultures.
Leaders can then feel coerced by constraints, rules and policies that put them into a double-bind situation. Some constraints may be due to OSHA or other external regulations, but many are due to common practices and beliefs of owners and corporate norms. One clear example: “My boss expects me to work collaboratively in my team while simultaneously the company has established a system that rewards individuals at the expense of teamwork.” Coaching helps to sort out many of these complexities.

Another complexity in organizations is the human tendency to individuals to put themselves in the center of their social environments. This often leads to over valuing one’s own relative importance and under valuing the importance of others. “I rarely make mistakes and yet others on the team frequently do so. This dynamic proves detrimental to leadership roles and causes employees to feel unrecognized for their knowledge and skills. Barnett Consulting offers tools to help your organization sort out these issues.

Leadership Assessments

Confidential assessments establish a solid base for leadership profiles. Participants become aware of strengths and internal conflicts as they begin to address questions about the way they interact with one another.

Some issues are organizational and some personal. One trouble spot in the workplace is the relationship between boss and employee. Whether as supervisor or as employee, mutual perceptions can be vastly skewed. Power differentials frequently figure into this equation and can cause low performance and demotivated employees. Below are 3 assessments widely used in coaching.

• Character, Drivers and Risk Factors – a 3-dimension leadership assessment to judge motivation and potential career risk factors. A 90 min. inquiry into elements of leadership character such as energy, adjustment, sociability, and prudence. Risk factors to effectiveness are also examined such as passive resistance, over eagerness to please, mood swings, micromanaging, and eccentric behaviors.

• Myers-Briggs Inventory identifies communication and cognitive styles while also appreciating differences colleagues may exhibit. Individuals can vary from extreme extroversion and extreme introversion. Some prefer to focus on facts, policies and procedures while others attend to ideals and possibilities. Teams will learn the value of diversity and view it not as a liability to their success.

• Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Assessment identifies 5 differing styles to manage conflict. Teams often include competitors, collaborators, compromisers, avoiders and accommodators. Teams will learn the benefits of the more effective conflict management strategies.

Coaching Protocol that Barnett Consulting follows:

Establish and maintain privacy, confidentiality and respect
Identify needed job knowledge and skills
Focus first on strengths and abilities
Review specific job responsibilities and accountabilities
Explore desired job behaviors and values
Create a mutually acceptable plan between coach and individual
Track success and feedback results