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DO YOU LOVE IT?
Coaching To Close the Satisfaction Gap
By: Sharon Jordan-Evans & Beverly Kaye
From: ASTD's Detroit chapter newsletter – November 2003
Executives are people too. Really. They question themselves, their
work and their workplaces --- just as their employees do. They just
aren't as noisy about it. They think about jumping ship, throwing
in the towel, opening a yogurt stand. They know there must be greener
grass --- out there --- somewhere.
When I ask, "How thrilled are you with your work? What's great
about it? What's missing?" The answers include, "I love my work
except for -----
- the pressure to produce, conform, innovate."
- the jerk I work with (or report to)."
- the lack of time for family, health, fun."
- the boredom, repetition, lack of challenge."
The answers are as diverse as the people. But there's a commonality
too. In every case there is either something wrong or something
missing. And that something could be contributing to the "presenting
problem", the reason the boss or HR or both called for an executive
coach. In fact some of these execs are so dissatisfied that they
are co-creating their own firing.
Why? Because their issues may seem to them to be undiagnosable
or unsolvable. Most issues are neither. But if we, as executive
coaches, simply search for and close competency gaps, we miss the
opportunity to help our coachees become truly satisfied and successful
(yes, there's a correlation) at work. We need to dive in with our
coachees and close the satisfaction gaps as well.
Define Satisfaction
I want autonomy and you want recognition. She wants a promotion
and he wants balance. What thrills us at work is as unique to each
of us as our fingerprints. Spend time with your executive coachees
to define what really rings their chimes. Ask them to rate those
desired work parameters on a 1-5 importance scale. Drill down to
the detail and push for a lengthy list.
Rate the Work
Once you have those satisfiers delineated, you can rate the current
work and workplace against each of those parameters. To what degree
is this work meeting the desired parameter? Later, you can use the
same list to evaluate other work options.
Analyze the Gap
If she wants autonomy and she has a micromanaging boss the gap is
apparent. In fact, that gap may be what landed her an executive
coach. That single disconnect could cause miscommunications and
tags like, "insubordinate, won't follow direction, poor listener."
Why work on listening skills if that's not really the problem?
Close the Gap
Once you've identified the real gap (not the one that surfaced in
the 360 degree feedback process), you're armed and dangerous. Team
with your coachee to create dozens of possible solutions (sometimes
work-arounds) to this dilemma. Test drive a few. See what works
and what doesn't. Then try another.
It sounds so simple and of course it's not. We humans are complex
and coaching is, as we know, part art and part science. While you're
gap closing, you may also want to help your executive client conduct
an equity review of his current workplace and begin to explore "plan
B" options at the same time. Sometimes they have to move on to be
satisfied and successful. Often, though, they don't. They can get
exactly what they want, right where they are. As coaches, we can
help them do that.
This is an excerpt from Love It, Don't Leave It: 26 Ways to Get
What You Want at Work, Berrett-Koehler, 2003, by Sharon Jordan-Evans
& Beverly Kaye. Sharon and Bev are also co-authors of the best-selling
Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay, Berrett-Koehler,
1999 & 2002. Sharon is president of the Jordan-Evans Group, an executive
coaching, leadership consulting firm. Bev is president of Career
Systems International, a career development and talent management
company.
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