{"id":12065,"date":"2021-01-01T07:00:02","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T12:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/blog\/culture-coaching-the-missing-link-in-executive-coaching\/"},"modified":"2021-01-01T07:00:02","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T12:00:02","slug":"culture-coaching-the-missing-link-in-executive-coaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/blog\/culture-coaching-the-missing-link-in-executive-coaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Culture Coaching: The Missing Link in Executive Coaching"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an educator and researcher in the field of coaching, I have analyzed the changing dynamics of the 21st<\/sup>\u00a0century leadership and organizational paradigm and have looked at the needs of leaders in corporations and the gaps within\u00a0coach training programs. Here is what I found: Corporate culture coaching is a missing piece in the executive coaching practice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Executive coaching for some is about mastery in coaching competencies; for others, it\u2019s about having the right executive experience. Both are key factors in becoming a good executive coach, yet I found that there are three other distinctive elements. In my definition,\u00a0executive coaching is coaching for strategy, culture and influence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I conducted several focus groups with corporate leaders and found that executives have a relative understanding of the importance of culture (culture is important, culture has an impact on our business) but are not well equipped on how to lead on culture. Although culture is the leaders\u2019 responsibility, HR is usually expected (unrealistically) to come in\u00a0and build the culture. HR leaders have a better understanding of the building blocks of culture but still need a cohesive approach on how to build a great workplace culture.<\/p>\n

Our job as executive coaches\u00a0is\u00a0not to teach our clients about workplace culture, nor is it to advise them on culture. Yet\u00a0our ability to attune to our clients can be limited to our understanding of the culture and context of the client<\/strong>. If a coach\u00a0does not explore\u00a0culture\u2019s effect, the impact of the coaching is limited.<\/p>\n

Culture is a complex topic with many layers. Organizational culture is how we work together as human beings. It is rooted in\u00a0purpose, values, leadership\u00a0behaviors, strategies and culture practices. As executive coaches, we have a critical role in helping our clients understand, acknowledge and work on the culture that acts deeper on collective\u00a0behaviors. Some of the revised coaching competencies (Embodies a Coaching Mindset, Cultivates Trust and Safety, Listens Actively) acknowledge the importance of culture and context.<\/p>\n

Based on my research, I identified the following key topics that need to be understood by coaches on culture coaching:<\/p>\n

Strategy \u2013 Culture Relationship<\/h3>\n

Although many organizations consider these as two different topics, strategy and culture are interwoven. Culture can either become a hindering or supporting force toward the realization of strategies and goals.<\/p>\n

Systems Thinking and Culture<\/h3>\n

The way solutions are being developed needs to consider the different layers\u00a0of a system. The best analogy for this would be\u00a0federal, state\/provincial and local government level planning. Within a company, different problems will have solutions at different levels.<\/p>\n

Group Dynamics and Group Behavior<\/h3>\n

Human beings are complex, multi-layered beings. Adding further to the complexity, groups create their own dynamics. A coach willing to work on culture needs to understand group dynamics for team coaching. The newly launched ICF Team Coaching Competencies<\/a> are\u00a0a\u00a0great starting point.<\/p>\n

High-performing Team Dynamics<\/h3>\n

A high-performing team does not happen automatically when you bring together high-performing individuals. Team cohesion, team alignment\u00a0and\u00a0team dynamics need to be explored during this process.<\/p>\n

Coaching through Culture Surveys<\/h3>\n

There are many useful surveys\u2014some evidence based, some with proven ROI\u2014that create\u00a0some measurable dimensions of culture.\u00a0In the way executive coaching uses leadership assessments as input\u00a0to\u00a0the coaching process,\u00a0group surveys\u00a0also\u00a0provide\u00a0an\u00a0input\u00a0and\u00a0the opportunity\u00a0for reflection and dialogue. Creating a baseline and finding ways of measuring progress\u00a0are\u00a0great ways\u00a0to bring accountability.<\/p>\n

Culture Practices<\/h3>\n

Culture practices is another strategic topic for culture coaching, where the culture coach can help a leader\u00a0analyze\u00a0some engrained\u00a0behaviors, rituals and assumptions present in the organization. Culture practices are sometimes formal and sometimes informal, and they have a key role in culture change.<\/p>\n

Culture Action Planning<\/h3>\n

A Culture Action Plan (CAP) is different than a traditional action plan with SMART goals. You can build a great tactical action plan based on an engagement survey but if you don\u2019t address the mindset change that needs to happen, you will get caught up in the vicious cycle of surveying but not improving your results. A CAP needs to address the mindset change and work on culture practices. One of the tools we use is the “from\/to\u201d reflection on culture. The \u201cfrom\u201d part is about acknowledging the current situation and what the behaviors are that need to change. A proper acknowledgement of the \u201cfrom\u201d state is what starts the change. The acceptance and reconciliation of what needs to change now starts the change process. The \u201cto\u201d part of the reflection is a more fun, envisioning process on the ideal future. \u00a0A CAP has many further nuances.<\/p>\n

Culture coaching has many layers and adds depth to a coach\u2019s impact. I strongly encourage all coaches to explore this topic further and share their thoughts with me via the comments section below.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Copyright Maslow Centre for Executive Leadership<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an educator and researcher in the field of coaching, I have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":12270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"The Missing Link in Executive Coaching? Culture Coaching","_seopress_titles_desc":"Uncover the missing link in executive coaching that can transform leadership effectiveness and drive organizational success. Explore insights in the blog.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"audience-type":[119,122],"display-option":[],"post-type":[128],"topic":[77,59],"_person-tax":[952],"class_list":{"0":"post-12065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"audience-type-hr-organizational-leaders","8":"audience-type-managers-leaders-using-coaching","9":"post-type-blog","10":"topic-becoming-a-sustainable-coaching-culture","11":"topic-coaching-in-organizations","12":"_person-tax-952","13":"not-partnership-post","19":"_person-tax-5981","20":"has-featured-image"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"audience-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience-type?post=12065"},{"taxonomy":"display-option","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display-option?post=12065"},{"taxonomy":"post-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-type?post=12065"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=12065"},{"taxonomy":"_person-tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_person-tax?post=12065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}