Coach: A Change Director

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The most likely rule that prevails on this planet is “the only thing certain is uncertainty,” and organizations put their entire effort towards building predictability. This unpredictability has to be managed for success to happen.

Managers are mostly concerned with the outcome that is in line with the measures of the desired change. The differentiator sets in here as to why Coaches can drive change more effectively than traditional managers because they focus on underlying behaviors that drive the process of change.

Change outcome is a combination of capability as well as chance. The chance factor one never wishes to acknowledge. Chance is luck, which, by definition, is beyond control. So if a manager gets lucky, change is effected. But one can’t rely on luck alone. The whole idea of coaching is doing well in the game of chance.

So coaches play by the following rules:

1. Opportunities can be spotted only when the capability exists. The capability is the “eye” to spot the chances. You have to take those chances with correct behaviors.
2. All best performers over a period will settle to mean performance unless they learn to manage probability. So coaches start emphasizing the persistence of performance rather than on chance during every stage of the change process.
3. Persistence comes by identifying and aligning to key behaviors that can trigger and effect the change. The stages of trigger and effect of changes require different behaviors at each stage of the cycle.

So coaches primarily help individuals identify the correct behaviors for deployment at each stage of the change process. It requires a repertoire to develop the type of fundamental behaviors that can create the desired change.

A coach focuses on these fundamental behaviors that will trigger and effect the change. Then the coach starts working on variables in the environment to sustain these behaviors. If a deviant variable affects the change process, the coach again identifies a new fundamental behavior for neutralizing the effect of the variable.

Coaching is nothing but aligning the correct behaviors for success to happen irrespective of forces of chance. It is no wonder at all that successful professionals walk with a coach alongside.