Coaching is the catalyst: Transformation is the result

First published in the Ulster Business, June 2012

 Imagine your organisation full of people who work together to improve the process, service, and economic efficiency at every level. Imagine people consistently looking  for better ways to move the company towards its goals – with focus and enthusiasm.  Imagine them more resilient in times of stress. Anne Dargan, founder of Rapid Change Consultancy, explains how CoachWise™ makes this all possible. 

The challenges we hear about every day – debt crisis in Europe, global economy affecting confidence levels, having to do more with less, pace of change just getting faster and faster – all take their toll on the individuals in your organisation.

Many of the organisations we work with face similar challenges such as:

• We aren’t sure what we should be doing next or what our future should look like. 

• We have lots of changes/ideas we want to drive through but our people just don’t buy into them. 

• It is nearly impossible to get people to come up with their own ideas.

• We keep going around and round in circles and keep doing the same things. 

• Teams still work in their own silos, there is very little collaboration.

• We aren’t very good at performance management. 

• Our managers are promoted for their technical capability; they don’t have great people management skills.

• Everyone is really busy and has no time to do anything. 

It is often hard for organisations to figure their way through these and other challenges.  They either try to do it themselves, invest in training or turn to consultants, and of course none of these seem to hit the mark.  

“We believe that the key is to build capability in-house so organisations can help themselves, to have the skills and know-how to deal with whatever challenges they face.  As simple as it sounds, improving the quality of conversations is a crucial element in their success”, says Anne.  

“I think the penny has dropped in many organisations that coaching is a critical skill leaders and managers need to have, however many remain confused as to the benefits and are unsure about how to apply it. CoachWise™ takes the pain out of all of this”, Anne continues.  

Anne goes on to explain why CoachWise™ is the answer.

“First and foremost it has been designed for coaching in organisations so it is pragmatic, practical and structured and immediately applicable in the workplace. That can be said lightly, but when everyone knows, understands and practices the same model or framework, it can have a tremendous domino effect in driving change in an organisation.” 

The CoachWise™ methodology builds inspiration and motivation through creating a compelling vision for the individual, team or organisation. By focusing on what is possible, whilst retaining a degree of realism, CoachWise™ encourages creative and strategic thinking, innovative solutions and better decision making.

“CoachWise™ takes the mystery out of coaching! On the one hand it provides practical tools, techniques, and skills that individuals can apply immediately in the situations they face every day at work. And on the other it is an incredibly elegant model which simplifies the complexity that people face in organisations today. Professional coaches can expect a richness of depth and breadth,” Anne commented.

CoachWise™ supports the natural process of people development and with most coaching being done by managers (40%) it is easy to do the sums and weigh up the value of training your managers and leaders on how to have coaching conversations. But the potential of CoachWise™ is more far reaching than that.  As a methodology it can be used in almost any conversation. 

“Recently I worked with a leadership team to clarify their future direction using CoachWise™. They found the workshop “refreshing” and were “amazed” that it was possible to get complete agreement on the way forward”, says Anne. “It is no surprise to me that they now want to learn how to do that for themselves!” 

Rapid Change Consultancy are running open events where you can find out more about how you are guaranteed great results in your organisation with CoachWise™.

CoachWise™ creates an emerging culture of personal responsibility, resourcefulness, resilience and realistic optimism that spreads across the organisation. The benefits are clear:

• Growth in leadership and management skills and qualities.  
• Greater employee engagement and retention of talent.
• An empowered, creative, responsible workforce inspired to drive transformation for themselves and the organisation.