Adapting personalities, behaviors and work styles is crucial to effectively coaching and managing employees. HR leaders must include recognition and understanding of work styles in their organizations' coaching training, with the first step having managers become aware of their own work styles.

Dr. Casey Mulqueen, TRACOM's director of research and product development, is the author of "Coaching In Context" an article published by Human Resource Executive.  The article discusses ways to improve the impact of coaching by understanding the SOCIAL STYLE and behavioral preferences of others. 

"In the absence of specific training, managers assume that good coaching equals good communication skills," says Mulqueen. "However, good coaching requires much more than that. Because many people have never operated in another work style, they tend to assume that their way of operating is the best or correct way. People unaware of individual work-style preferences typically coach others with the unconscious intent of creating a "Mini-Me."   

Dr. Mulqueen discusses recent studies on coaching impact and provides practical advice of adapting a person's coaching behaviors.   The article includes specific direction for working with people of each style. Experienced SOCIAL STYLE users will notice some difference in the language in this article and TRACOM's other materials.  This was an editorial decision by the magazine.  The key concepts and their usage are completely consistent with all other SOCIAL STYLE programs and materials.

Read the full Human Resource Executive article now. 

The GROW Coaching Model is based upon a deceptively simple insight -- breakthrough performance comes more often, not from acquiring additional knowledge, but from removing interference that allows a person to better act on what they already know.  GROW is an acronym for a four-step process of Goal, Reality, Options and Way Forward.  It provides a framework for coaches to draw solutions from the "inside out".  By following this structured yet flexible process, coaches become more comfortable having coaching discussions and empowering others in their professional development. TRACOM's newest SOCIAL STYLE Connections Whitepaper looks at how Style and interpersonal skills support the GROW process.  It was jointly developed by TRACOM and Inside Out Development, the creator of the GROW Model.

This new downloadable whitepaper discusses how each step of the GROW process can be tailored to reflect  the behavioral preferences of each SOCIAL STYLE.  It includes a look at the SOCIAL STYLE of both coach and coachee, with specific advice for successful coaching interactions throughout the GROW process. 

SOCIAL STYLE and GROW is the latest in the SOCIAL STYLE Connections Series which looks at how SOCIAL STYLE complements and supports popular workplace programs including Situational Leadership, Crucial Conversations, SPIN Selling, The Extraordinary Leader and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.  All of the Connections Whitepapers are available for immediate free download.

With a 50+ year track record, Situational Leadership is a popular model for improving leadership effectiveness.  Originally developed by Dr. Paul Hersey and expanded by Ken Blanchard, the model describes four leadership styles, or strategies, that can be used when interacting with followers. TRACOM’s SOCIAL STYLE Model is a complementary tool when using Situational Leadership.  Style describes a framework for understanding the behavioral style and preferences not only of the followers, but of leaders themselves.

TRACOM has written a whitepaper that shows how SOCIAL STYLE & Versatility complements and enhances the Situational Leadership II Model.   The whitepaper explains how awareness of Style is fundamental for maximizing the impact during each step of the Situational Leadership process.
 

Download the SOCIAL STYLE & Situational Leadership whitepaper.

The book Crucial Conversations has struck a chord with many people. The authors give advice about how to turn potentially disastrous conversations into successes. A crucial conversation is one where stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. In such conversations it is almost inevitable that at least one person will go into Backup Behavior. The book discusses a very similar concept called “style under stress,” and this is really the basis upon which the book builds by providing advice for engaging in crucial conversations. TRACOM has written a whitepaper that shows how SOCIAL STYLE & Versatility complements and enhances the Crucial Conversations model. In particular we describe how an understanding of Style contributes to managing difficult conversations in a way that is more likely to lead to positive outcomes. We discuss how practicing Versatility can lessen the occurrence of these types of conversations in the first place, and how Style and Versatility can be used during the much more common everyday variety of conversations.

Download our Crucial Conversations Whitepaper.

by Bill Petrarca, Strathman Associates

The economist Adam Smith, in his historic work “The Wealth of Nations” (1776), coined the term “the invisible hand” to describe the self-regulating nature of the marketplace. I can’t think of a better term to describe the role a personal coach can play in the success of an aspiring C-Suite executive.

A recent coaching engagement for a coach at our firm (Strathman Associates, Inc.) involved a client in a large multi-national corporation who was seeking guidance to improve his effectiveness not only in his current position, but to be considered a viable candidate for a corporate C-Suite position. 

Through months of confidential one-on-one coaching, the application of the Social Style Model with Versatility, goal-based development, interactive journaling and “asynchronous” coaching, this client experienced both a personal and professional transformation. Last month, he was offered the C-Suite position.

The coach was indeed “the invisible hand” in this person’s career success, as is often the case. Paraphrasing another of Smith’s works, “the invisible hand” of coaching can be the most effective means for promoting happiness and success.

The coach was able to take advantage of onCoach an internet-based service to reinforce coaching goals established in the one-on-one coaching sessions and to follow-up those sessions with daily journaling capabilities, asynchronous feedback (outside of the corporate email system), online resources and support “wizards.” Adam Smith, were he alive today, might have called it “the mouse for the invisible hand.”

Bill Petrarca is co-founder of Strathman Associates, Inc., a TRACOM Associate. Visit www.strathman.com or email bill@strathman.com for more information about onCoach.

TRACOM offers a whitepaper on the impact of personal coaching.  Download the Coaching Whitepaper now.