This was a question I posted on LinkedIn to elicit a variety of responses, which it did http://tinyurl.com/ygl4u5p.
Which led me to the next level of thinking. What is or should be the nature of coaching for an external consultant within an engagement?
For my engagements I like to have one or two individuals that I work with as a coach. Either they pick me, I reach out to them or the buyer and I choose them for development and/or succession planning. This is a less formal version of what I think of as a coach. My formal version (there appear to be about as many versions as there are people who call themselves coaches) is someone who helps an individual build skills. The most formal of the helping is a specific plan with exercises and tasks to practice and perfect the skills.
For newly minted managers this can be the first introduction to the differences between coaching and consulting (I think they are distinct and calling that out is helpful). Developing the skill to deal with, leverage and profit from external influence is a core competency for managers. Building multiple skills to form competency in an area is using coaching to facilitate consulting.
That is a version of the coaching that a consultant can provide.
From the other direction, yes of course the consultant can be coached. I typically develop trusted relationships with the internal resources I partner with. Those people are part of a feedback loop that I am either not in or would not access to protect my position/influence as an external. The perspectives of the people in those loops and their reactions to my influence are crucial for initiative success and my own development.
Addressing the level of coaching involved in change engagements is a chance to multitask operational development next to change. It addresses the WIFM (what’s in it for me) and creates a way for stakeholders to participate at both the individual and the corporate strategic level (contribution and development) and, in all honesty, gives the consultant a chance to have clear tangible effect under the umbrella of large initiatives.
Is coaching happening in your initiatives?
