Importance of Having a Coach or Mentor

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Write a blog entry on the significance, importance, and/or impact of having a coach and/or a mentor to help you in your professional journey.

Professional advancement and progression is a result of many factors. Factors such as formal education, specialized skills, networking, and development for further responsibility. Two of the most notable methods of skills development and professional development occur in the form of coaching and mentoring. Each are valuable in their own right. For example, say that an individual desire to be considered for a specific job or position and they seek the assistance of a professional coach. This coach will assess the individual’s current strengths and weakness and develop a plan of action to close a specific skill-gap over the course of an agreed upon time frame in order to increase the coached individual’s capabilities and skills. “Professional coaching brings many wonderful benefits: fresh perspectives on personal challenges, enhanced decision-making skills, greater interpersonal effectiveness, and increased confidence” (International Coaching Federation, n.d.). Mentoring on the other hand is a relationship driven, experience centric and self-awareness process that can occur over a longer period of time. Mentoring requires a relationship of mutual trust, respect and openness of thoughts, ideas and constructive criticism. “Mentors, by contrast, are role models who have “been there and done that.” They can offer timely, context-specific counsel drawn from experience; wisdom; and networks that are highly relevant to the problems to be solved” Janasz & Peiperl, 2015).

Having served over ten years in the Army, the military structure and constant leadership involvement fostered an environment of productive coaching and mentoring. Within the profession of arms, training is paramount. Each individual learns to master individual task, but most importantly, they learn how their individual efforts and capabilities contributes to collective success. Thus, at every training and learning event, there is always a leader to assist and coach one on to greater improvement. I have benefited from such a system and on countless occasions. The skills mastered improved my ability to be successful, making necessary adjustments and solve complex problems which ensured my achievements throughout my time in service.

However, I believe that as a result of senior leader’s mentorship, my personal and professional development was enhanced beyond becoming proficient in any one specific task. Although acquiring skills is important, through mentorship I was exposed to grater context, concepts, ideas, and how each plays a role in space and time. Furthermore, not only was I beginning to see others qualities and capabilities through a different lens, I began to see my own qualities and capabilities through the same lens. Knowing more about oneself is a good starting point towards improvement and fulfillment. As such, I invested more time and effort towards identify my own strengths and shortcomings. “Getting to know yourself is a lifelong pursuit, and there are no shortcuts to the journey…Learning about yourself means knowing what you want and setting about getting to that destination. That means you do have to do some introspection, but once you’ve settled on a direction: move out” (Addison, n.d.). Moreover, with a high desire for self-improvement in order to become an effective leader and asset to my organization, a plan of action and self-evaluation became a normal practice. Setting goals and reaching milestones are tools I have incorporated into my frame of mind to ensure my direction and efforts are aligned with my personal and professional objectives. “One of the hallmarks of every great leader is each continued to seek to improve themselves. To do that, we need to understand the ways we see ourselves and can improve ourselves” (Addison, n.d.). 

Reaching ones’ professional goals is solely in their hands. There are many tools and resources to assist with skills development and professional growth. Coaching and mentoring are two great means to achieve a higher level of excellence that can improve performance and fulfillment. One must be clear as to their professional desires and the effort there are willing to invest. In either case, a coach or a mentor will have the knowledge, expertise and wherewithal to ensure that the one in need of skills and development is better suited for their desired results.

References

Addison, M. (n.d.) Dynamic Dozen: Know Yourself and Seek Improvement. General Leadership. Retrieved from http://generalleadership.com/self-improvement/

International Coach Federation. (n.d.) Benefits of Using a Coach Retrieved from http://coachfederation.org/need/landing.cfm?ItemNumber=747

Janasz, S. & Peiperl, M. (2015). CEOs Beed Mentors Too. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/04/ceos-need-mentors-too

Team Roles

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High-performing teams are those that have negotiated the forming, norming, storming and performing stages; thus establishing a team dynamic that produces extraordinary results and solutions. In fact, “The most effective teams in this stage develop the capacity to perform beyond the norm. They achieve outcomes that are extraordinary. They extend the boundaries of what is possible. They become positively deviant” (Whetten & Cameron, 2016). As leaders, it is essential to understand how teams become high-performing through two key roles such as task-facilitating role and relationship-building role.

“Task-facilitating roles are those that help the team accomplish its outcomes or objective” (Whetten & Cameron, 2016). Centered around effective task completion, below are common task-facilitating roles.

·       Direction giving: Identifying ways to proceed or alternatives to pursue and clarifying goals and objectives.
·       Information seeking: Asking questions, analyzing knowledge gaps, requesting opinions, beliefs, and perspectives.
·       Information giving: Providing data, offering facts and judgments, and highlighting conclusions.
·       Elaborating: Building on the ideas expressed by others; providing examples and illustrations.
·       Urging: Imploring team members to stay on task and to achieve team goals.
·       Monitoring: Checking on progress, developing measures of success and helping to maintain accountability for results.
·       Process analyzing: Analyzing processes and procedures used by the team in order to improve efficiency and timeliness.
·       Reality testing: Exploring whether ideas presented are practical or workable; grounding comments in reality.
·       Enforcing: Helping to reinforce team rules, reinforcing standards, and maintaining agreed-upon procedures.
·       Summarizing: Combining ideas and summing up points made in the team; helping members understand the conclusions that have been reached. (Whetten & Cameron, 2016).

“Relationship-building roles are those that emphasize the interpersonal aspects of the team. They focus on assisting team members feel good about one another, enjoy the team’s work, and maintain a tension-free climate” (Whetten & Cameron, 2016). Indeed, with any team charged with producing results, the chance for increased stress and tension is high. Furthermore, relationship-building enhances team production by means of supporting and motivating each other. Common relationship-building roles are:

·       Supporting: Praising the ideas of others, showing friendliness, and pointing out others’ contributions
·       Harmonizing: Mediating differences between others and finding a common ground in disputes and conflicting points of view
·       Tension relieving: Using jokes and humor to reduce tension and put others at ease
·       Confronting: Challenging unproductive or disruptive behaviors; helping to ensure proper behavior in the team
·       Energizing: Motivating others toward greater effort; exuding enthusiasm
·       Developing: Assisting others to learn, grow, and achieve; orienting and coaching members of the team
·       Consensus building: Helping build solidarity among team members, encouraging agreement, and helping interactions to be smooth
·       Empathizing: Reflecting group feelings and expressing empathy and support for team members (Whetten & Cameron, 2016).

Of the two roles, I consider myself to be on the task-facilitating role side. In fact, entering military service as a young leader, I was highly task oriented and rarely bothered with relationship-building roles. Although I knew that building relationships and supporting one another was just as important, effective task completion was more important during that time. However, the more mature and experience me, now places a premium on relationship-building roles. Having been a leader for many years now, I believe that anyone can coach, train, or teach someone to complete a given task, yet not everyone has the ability to inspire, motivate and support others. Thus, it is important to have the right mix of team members that fall into the task-facilitating and relationship-building roles. In a high-impact and dynamic environment, it is important to have team members that can stay focus on the task at-hand and have those that can bring the team together and provide harmony within a chaotic situation.

References

Whetten, David A.; Cameron, Kim S. (2015-05-20). Developing Management Skills. Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

Forrester’s Empowerment

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This week’s assignment is to review “Empowerment: Rejuvenating a potent idea” by Russ Forrester (2000) and provide a summery that compares and contrasts the concepts in this article and out course textbook. Over the years, empowerment has been used as a buzzword to suggest a more enriching and fulfilling work environment that gives its employees more autonomy and decision making power. Whetten and Cameron (2016), define empowerment as “providing freedom for people to successfully do what they want to do, rather than getting them to do what you want them to do.” Likewise, Forrester (2000) states that empowerment is “a more exacting involvement that implies the freedom and the ability to make decisions and commitments, not just to suggest them or be part of making them.”

The topic of empowerment and the importance it has in today’s business world is one of the reasons it is examined and studied constantly. So then why is it difficult for some organizations to establish an empowerment program that that benefits both the organization and the employees? Both text highlight key issues that prevent or inhibit empowerment programs such as: subjective evaluation from those with power about subordinate’s competency, those without power reluctance to accept power or operate with autonomy, those with power not willing to share power (Whetten & Cameron, 2016). However, Forrester (2000) adds that many empowerment programs fail as a result of implementation. “the shortfalls in empowerment that many organizations have experienced are more about flawed implementation than flawed conception.

Another important aspect to empowerment that both sources note as essential for empowerment programs to prosper is trust, communication, and accountability must be present and accepted by those with power and those acquiring power. Although both sources present their solutions to establishing empowerment and methods to empower, Forrester (2000), spends the majority of his article listing the what he believes are the “Short Circuits to Organizational Empowerment” using organization’s efforts of implementation as the true issue, whereas Whetten & Cameron (2016) discuss more about the benefits of empowerment and consequences of not empowering properly. Moreover, Whetten and Cameron (2016) provide valuable information on the “Five Core Dimensions of Empowerment” and “The Difference Between Power and Empowerment.”

With a military background, I believe a team or organization works more coherently and productively when the team members feel empowered. Furthermore, empowered team members are more likely to have a sense of ownership and accountability when it comes to their products. However, much time and development must be devoted to each team member to ensure that they share the same organizational values and goals. Moreover, uniformity of vision and success is equally important when autonomy is extended to ensure the organization is moving in the right directions. With constant and constructive coaching, engagement and spot-checking, a team has the potential to achieve significant outcomes as a result of trust, coordination and communication.

References

Forrester, R. (2000). Empowerment: Rejuvenating a potent idea. The Academy of Management. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/4165660?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Whetten, David A.; Cameron, Kim S. (2015-05-20). Developing Management Skills. Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

Motivation Beyond Money

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In pursuing employment opportunities with a particular company, individuals weigh many factors such as: What are my passions? What skills do I have that can make me successful? And what opportunities are there that will set me down a path to achieve my personal and professional goals? Likewise, there may be other factors for consideration, many may consider compensation as a significant guiding force for a particular job with a company. Yet in our course assignment (video), Andy Mulholland discusses three essential motivators that drive people to towards job satisfaction and has nothing to do with money. The three fundamental needs are: 1) Give me interesting work. 2) Expand my skill set. 3) Recognize me. Andy Mulholland states that of the three, “Recognize me” is the most critical. He goes on to state that, “Recognize me doesn’t mean pay me above the odds, it means value me for what I can do and how I can work with you” (2011). Indeed, Whetten & Cameron also point out that, “One fascinating study exhibited how failing to give recognition eroded people’s persistence” (2016).

Reflecting upon the fundamental motivators according to Mr. Mulholland and how they applied to my previous military service and future professional aspirations, I believe that each played a significant role and will continue impact my sense of purpose and job satisfaction.

Give me interesting work: During my time in service and working for the State of TN, I always looked forward to interesting and challenging work. As a leader/supervisor, there was never a shortage of challenges to overcome and issues that need to be creatively solved. In fact, when presented with a difficult challenge or project, I would traditionally feel invigorated with the opportunity to use my skills and experience to find a solution to the challenge. Furthermore, I looked forward towards capitalizing on the event by developing or improving critical thinking and problem solving skills.

Expand my skill set: Coming from the profession of arms and law enforcement, leadership and law enforcement skills were always exercised and evaluated. Thus, professional development and training were critical to success. As a leader, a large portion of my time was devoted to incorporating relevant and realistic training for my organization to ensure readiness. Moreover, I took ownership of my knowledge and training by taking every opportunity to expand my skill set outside of the organizational pipeline to achieve diversity. For example, on many occasions, I would take part in other law enforcement agencies (non-military) leadership and law enforcement training in order to learn new skills, methods and concepts from their best practices and incorporate what applies into my organization.

Recognize me: I also believe that it is vital to be recognized and to recognize others efforts and achievements. By and large, everyone wants to do well in whatever job/task they have. For organizations that value the “team” concept, recognizing its team members and their working relationships is important. Furthermore, leaders should take every opportunity to celebrate small and large achievements to reinforce its culture and values. Whetten and Cameron (2016) highlight the repercussions when leaders fail to acknowledge and recognize their employees work, “even the most energetic and effective employees get worn down when they are rarely acknowledged for their good work and only singled out when they make mistakes.” Whetten and Cameron continue, “Only through positive reinforcement do employees have control over achieving what they want and, therefore, the incentive to reach a level of exceptional performance” (p 276). Needless to say, in order for an organization to get the most out of their employees and to create an environment of growth and job satisfaction, leaders need to go out of their way to ensure that their employees efforts and work is appreciated.

Being motivated is an important ingredient of success in both personal and professional endeavors.  Three motivators that have impacted my personal and professional growth and satisfaction are:

Helping others (Selfless Service): Helping other has long been a passion of mine. In my personal life, this means actively participating with organizations that support the community with resources (food/supplies) and programs. I believe that difficult situations affect us all in some form and it is the duty of others to assist those in need with reasonable time and efforts to provide a support system to get them back on track when they desire to progress. Professionally, I believe that setting the conditions for others to be successful is equally important. This means, establishing a positive working relationship, coaching, mentoring, feedback and respect in order to achieve their respective goals.

Honorable and honest work: Everyone has their own definition of what success is and vision of where they want to be as a result of this success. For me, productively contributing to the “greater good” is important. Perhaps this was a significant driving force for my military service and law enforcement profession. Being a part of a profession where honorable conduct is expected always seemed to be a good fit. At the end of the day, we must live with the actions and decision we make and feel comfortable with our contributions.

Improve: Having the desire to seek improvement has been essential for me. Although it would be easy to stay in the “comfort zone,” I always taken it upon myself to improve personally and professionally. I believe that as a leader, it is important to have the ability to stay outside of the comfort zone and pursue challenges in order to become well rounded and effective. Furthermore, as a leader, one would expect to have a wealth of knowledge and experience to assist others in achieving their goals. At the same time, a leader would do well to identify and acknowledge their shortcomings to again set a path of improvement.

Reference

Mulholland, A. (2011). SkillSoft Ireland Limited © 2011. Leadership Channel / 50 Lessons (SkillSoft via Books24x7). Retrieved from http://library.books24x7.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/welcome.asp

Whetten, David A.; Cameron, Kim S. (2015-05-20). Developing Management Skills. Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

Supportive Communication

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Supportive communication is essential for any organization wishing to create an environment of trust, respect and growth; which set the conditions for productivity and success. In fact, enjoying a workplace with “zero defect” is highly unlikely. Thus, leaders must be prepared to work with their employees to address issues that conflict with the organization’s values or end state. In such cases, leaders are required to provide feedback or a course of action for their employee(s) to get them back on track or further develop their skills in order to meet the needs of the team, department and organization. The leader is able to do so with supportive communication.  “Supportive communication seeks to preserve or enhance a positive relationship between you and another person while still addressing a problem, giving negative feedback, or tackling a difficult issue” (Whetten and Cameron, 2016, p. 193). Establishing a positive and respectful interpersonal relationship allows for further growth and productivity. “Positive relationships foster cooperation among people, so the things that get in the way of highly successful performance—such as conflict, disagreements, confusion and ambiguity, unproductive competition, anger, or personal offense—are minimized” (Whetten and Cameron, 2016, p. 191). By following guidelines that incorporate the eight attributes of supportive communication, which are: congruent, descriptive, problem-oriented, validating, specific, conjunctive, owned, and supportive listening (Whetten and Cameron, 2016, p. 194), a leader is better suited to address issues and solicit compliance.

Two very important tools a leader has to employ supportive communication is coaching and counseling. “In coaching, managers pass along advice and information, or they set standards to help others improve their skills and behaviors. In counseling, managers help others recognize and address problems involving their level of understanding, emotions, or perspectives. Thus, coaching focuses on abilities, counseling on attitudes” (Whetten and Cameron, 2016, 195). Every leader has the duty to ensure that their employees are operating at an optimal level. Furthermore, when a leader finds themselves in a position where they are required to coach or counsel an employee, adhering to the eight attributes of supportive communication is key. Doing so will minimize employee’s defensiveness and disconfirmation. According to Whetten and Cameron (2016), “Defensiveness arises when a person feels threatened or punished by the communication,” and “disconfirmation, occurs when people feel put down, ineffectual, or insignificant because of the communication” (p. 197).

In my previous profession in the military, trust, respect and team work were vital to our organizations success. Although we trained countless hours on mastering individual tasks, being able to incorporate these individual tasks into to a collective (unit) task was essential to a successful outcome. Furthermore, it was important that everyone involved understood that their individual effort and performance directly contributed to a much larger effort that demonstrated the organization’s proficiency and preparedness. Everyone (all levels) counted on each other to perform to the best of their abilities in order to meet a standard. If deficiencies are identified, leaders would counsel the appropriate personnel and provide the necessary training and opportunity to ensure proficiency. For example, while serving as a leader for a military police company that was responsible for conducting law enforcement duties for an installation, I would periodically inspect the Soldiers uniforms and equipment prior to their shift. During one such inspection, I noticed that a Soldier had a dirty uniform and equipment that was on the verge of being unserviceable. Instead of discussing this issue with the individual Soldier, I instead had the patrol supervisor answer for the significant oversight as it was their duty to ensure that all Soldiers are in the proper uniform with serviceable equipment. To the outsider, this may seem like a minor infraction. However, as I explained to the patrol supervisor that when performing law enforcement duties, anyone in the community would expect a law enforcement office to present themselves in a professional manner. Furthermore, that allowing a Soldiers to use equipment that may fail them when they need it was putting them in greater risk. Instead of becoming irate or confrontational with the patrol supervisor, I decided to speak candidly and specifically enough to ensure that they understood that these oversights have real consequences that affect safety and perception of the organization. Moreover, towards the end of the conversation with the patrol supervisor, I wanted to shift our interaction from a counseling event to a coaching event as they were preparing to begin their shift and they needed to remain focused and clear-minded. For an organization to perform effectively, leaders must ensure that positive interpersonal relationships are established and nurtured. Supportive communication is essential to build and foster trust and respect, especially when addressing challenges in the workplace. A skillful leader must incorporate the eight attributes into their daily interactions with employees as well as when they are coaching or counseling their employees to further their development and performance.

Reference

Whetten, David A.; Cameron, Kim S. (2015-05-20). Developing Management Skills. Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

Decision Making Styles

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1.      What are a few words that describe your decision-making style?

2.      What are the opposites of the words you chose?

3.      Could you see any benefits to making decision using an approach that is based on either the opposites or somewhere in-between and what outcomes would you expect to see?

My decision making style falls into the analytical, logical and linear approach. Whetten and Cameron highlight this way of thinking as “Left-hemisphere thinking,” which is defined as “concerned with logical, analytical, linear, or sequential tasks” (p. 156). When presented with a decision that is outside of my automatic decision making process, I typically gather as much information on the topic as possible (subject matter experts or research), weigh the pros and cons, take into account other internal/external factors that may be affected, and ultimately evaluated the end state I require. Furthermore, I consider the second and third order of effects depending on the complexity of the decision. Once I have come to a decision, I stand resolute with my decision, yet continuously evaluating the outcome to ensure that the conditions I seek are met or in the process of developing. Should I need to reevaluate my course of action, I attempt to be flexible enough to adjust certain aspects of my decision to achieve the desired end state.

When selecting specific words to communicate, I make every attempt to know my audience, their level of understanding of the topic and keep things simple as possible by using positive and universal words to mitigate any misunderstanding. Moreover, when discussing concepts that can be complex, I will use descriptive words and comparisons to “paint a clear picture.” Words mean things, when using ambiguous words or language, the potential for confusion or misunderstanding is significantly increased. Thus, using any form of the opposites words could be best describe as irrational, short-sighted, and irresponsible. I can say that I have had my fair share of these in my early stages of being a leader. By experiencing the confused and chaotic situation my irrational, short-sighted, or irresponsible actions had on others, the results directly conflicted with the type of effective leader I wanted to be. So I carefully looked at some of the areas I need to improve and grow in. Through education, mentorship and maturity, I have addressed many of these issues and continue to develop better decision making skills.

Based on the situation and results, the opposite method of my own approach may be more applicable. For example, someone who is interested in a creative approach in making decision may wish to entertain more intuition or imagination. Moreover, their situation may require an abstract thought process that fosters ideas that would otherwise be hindered in a linear and structured approach. People utilize these methods on a daily basis, however, depending on the decisions one makes, each approach has it place. Nevertheless, being able to make quality decisions (in any case) requires the decision makers to leverage their skills and abilities to come to a point of action to some degree.

Reference

Whetten, David A.; Cameron, Kim S. (2015-05-20). Developing Management Skills. Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

Time Management

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Assess your time management skills:

As a former military officer, I have had ample opportunity to develop and refine my time management skills. More importantly, I know these skills can always get better and be used as a tool to evaluate tasks and goals to be completed. I firmly believe that planning ahead and preparing in advance is essential to task completion. Thus, in my current situation as a husband, father, and full time student, I must take into account other activities such as: my son’s dropping off/picking up from school, soccer practice, dance practice, de-conflict my wife’s work schedule and appointments, along with my own school workload and assignments. With so much activity, I maintain a calendar of events that I review daily and coordinate with my wife to ensure we don’t let anything surprise us.  “Preparation, preventive maintenance, planning, personal development, and organizing are all “non-have-to” activities that are crucial for long-term success” (Whetten & Cameron, 2016, p. 97).

Evaluate how these skills have increased your locus of control:

I relay heavy on my ability to manage time. Thus, I value the ability it gives me and my family to properly plan and enjoy a firm, yet flexible, schedule especially when it involves our kids. Furthermore, the manner in which I manage my schedule, I am able to identify events or other commitments that would jeopardize my planned tasks and allow me to avoid distraction or time conflicts.

Identify three new areas in which improved time management skills would reduce stress:

I believe the areas that could reduce stress with time management would be: 1) Personal projects: I enjoy working on my classic car, I enjoy working on the family rv, and other things around the house. Yet, I always seem to be pressed from time when trying to complete a project. Perhaps breaking up the projects into smaller projects and allocating a set time for each would help me achieve my project goals. 2) Blocking off time/communication: When attempting reflection time or creative thinking time, I rarely shut off the phone or have some type of communication device around that allows others to reach me. I believe that do so would prevent unnecessary interruptions and allow better use of time. 3) Personal reading: I enjoy reading books on various subjects. However, I find myself reading only when the opportunity presents itself. In fact, I always have a book around in the event I have some time to do reading. By scheduling some time in my day, I could better control interruptions to have a better reading experience.

Add an action plan to integrate these to your daily routine:

I would continue to write out my daily/weekly goals and categorize everything else that would be “nice to get done” in my task priority list. One new aspect I will incorporate is journaling. From my research, journaling will assist with reflection and thought creativity. I have considered this course before, but have not incorporated it into my routine. Finally, tracking how I use my time, as indicated in my schedule, throughout the day will also provide a better picture for me to see if I am “on-point” as I believe I am or am I allowing other distractions.

Reference

Whetten, David A.; Cameron, Kim S. (2015-05-20). Developing Management Skills. Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.