Is Internal Coaching Still A 'Sell' For You?

Some of the questions at the webcast that I did last week for HR.Com & Halogen Software taught me this:

There are managers and HR professionals who still have to fight the good fight to convince their companies that coaching is an investment with a significant return. I was talking about how to help managers themselves get more involved. You can go here and sign in as a guest to hear the webcast and see the accompanying slides. 

We're just about finished with a related eBook that will be available in the next 48 hours and will have access info here and on Twitter. In the meantime, if you find yourself across the table from someone who is a bit negative and perhaps unfamiliar with the real payoffs of effective internal coaching, here's a graphic that I hope will start you off on solid ground.

What are the arguments that you hear and the selling points you make in your organization or practice?

Comments

[Jackie Cameron]

Hi Steve - this is such a useful table. I recently had a conversation with another coach who believes that coaching falls under the heading of therapy and I disagree. I like the clarity of your explanation and will use it for future discussions.

[Steve Roesler]

Jackie,

One comment like that and you've made my day!

Wishing you well. . .

[Wally Bock]

This seems like a place where we need to be sure that we're using words in the same way.

"Counseling" is used in management context to mean "talking with a team member about their behavior or performance." I use it that way in my Working Supervisor's Support Kit when I say that every encounter with a team member is an opportunity to "coach, counsel, encourage, and correct."

But "counseling" also has a meaning that is more therapeutic where "counseling" is the process of unwrapping emotional and other baggage that affects performance. In that sense it doesn't seem so different from coaching because it's about removing the barriers to future effective action.

[Steve Roesler]

Wally,

I would think that if the terms were defined and agreed upon in that way beforehand, then "counseling" works.