Susie was clearly disturbed as she described one of her peers, Belinda.
Initially, Susie had attributed Belinda’s behaviour to the fact that Belinda was quite new. She’d only been with the organisation for six-months—she’d come from an entirely different culture and her team was twice the size she was used to.
Susie. who works closely with Belinda both in proximity and with overlapping objectives, was alarmed as it was becoming increasingly obvious that Belinda consistently avoided:
- Confronting tricky situations
She side-stepped important conversations with team members when their performance was clearly below par, for example.As a result, others in Belinda’s team spent a lot of time “around the water cooler”, griping about how their low-performing peers were getting away with so much.
- Delegating and having team members accountable and take responsibility for projects
Belinda was hanging on to a lot of operational stuff and closely overseeing each team member’s output.Susie could see that Belinda’s direct reports were getting irritated by the micromanaging that was happening.
To make matter worse, Belinda appeared overwhelmed and exhausted, presumably because her anxiety (about the conversations she was avoiding and about her massive workload) kept her awake at night.
Turning Around These Behaviours Isn’t Always Easy
—but not turning them around has huge costs.
Several of Belinda’s team members were clearly on the job market.
Their irritation about Belinda’s micromanaging style and avoidance of difficult situations and people was having a huge, negative impact on morale and motivation—and therefore productivity.
Fortunately, A Solution Was in Sight
Susie’s and Belinda’s boss, Ron, was alerted to the situation and the negative impacts it was having on Belinda’s team.
He was eager to turn it around—but was perturbed about how he would do that, as well as what it would cost to shift Belinda’s leadership habits.
It was at that point he was referred to me.
The ROI on Coaching—As A Rule, It’s Very Impressive
Ron and I discussed his options.
Doing nothing was clearly not one of them. Things were heating up rapidly and he didn’t want staff turnover to increase higher than it already was.
The convincer for Ron was when I told him about statistics on the ROI on coaching.
He was surprised to hear that a 500% ROI isn’t unusual (as I was when I first heard that stat).
Here’s how 500% was calculated:
- Time savings
Think about the potential time savings of having a leader skilled enough to effectively resolve tricky situations immediately, and in one hit. Then there’s no more stewing about how to deal with difficulties—and no more returning to the conversation a second or third time because the first conversation didn’t have the intended impact.
- Less stress and more self-worth
I’ve got to tell you (I know because in coaching communications I hear the truth about what’s really going on in a leader’s head)—that the worrying, the sleepless nights, and the beating-themselves-up has a horrible impact on many leader’s stress and sense of self-worth.And think about how high stress and low self-worth impacts a leader’s effectiveness. Consider an inability to create and lead a motivated and high-performing team, the leader staying in the safe confines of their office, lowered productivity and so on.
- Improved delegation
I’m amazed at how many leaders I coach report that their team members are taking on bigger things, learning and growing and feeling much happier—plus how the leader has more time on their hands—when the leader adopts state-of-the-art delegation techniques.By the way, these techniques aren’t difficult, they just need to be learned and habituated.
- Heightened motivation and higher productivity
This is a difficult one to put a number on, I know. But think about how much more productive you are when you’re energised, excited and motivated—versus tired, turned-off and demotivated.Motivation and productivity were big issues in Belinda’s team.
- Reduced staff turnover
You’ve probably heard that ”people join an organisation and leave their boss”—which was about to happen in Belinda’s case.When a new team member replaces an already high-performing one, the cost of switching, inducting, training and peer support is huge.
- Time and energy to strategically plan
When a leader spends more time on the strategic, they and their team spend more time on the right things—plus they create a fulfilling future for the leader, the team and the organisation.
It’s also important to remember the VOI—the “value on investment”. How many lives would be positively impacted because Belinda was developed as a leader?
At least Belinda’s, Ron’s, Belinda’s direct reports, Susie’s, and probably many others too.
Ron and Belinda Created a Happy Ending to Belinda’s Story
Belinda jumped at the opportunity to be coached when Ron put it on the table.
Let’s face it, it was a real compliment to her to be offered this not inexpensive form of development—and it indicated that Ron valued her as an important member of the organisation.
Through her coaching, Belinda became a lot more valuable to the organisation as she turned things around in her team.
Because she learned how to effectively deal with difficult situations and delegate, plus some, her confidence rose, team members developed a nice respect for her, stress and sleep issues were resolved, she could invest time helping them feel valued and supported, staff turnover was zero and metamorphosis took place with everyone’s motivation and morale.
Your Call to Action
Belinda’s just one example.
Most leaders and their organisations have a similar experience, even when the situation is not as extreme as Belinda’s.
Consider how you or a member of your team could create an impressive ROI through coaching.
Email me to arrange a time to chat if you think you’d find it valuable to talk through your situation and we’ll look at whether coaching is the answer for you.
About The Author:
Carolyn Stevens has worked with leaders—hundreds of them—for more than 25-years.
She’s helped leader after leader feel total pride in who they are as a leader—confident, courageous, impressively influential (even when they’ve previously struggled to confront the difficult, let alone persuasively deal with it).
Carolyn is authentic and results-oriented. She’ll draw on an eclectic array of approaches, tools and techniques to suit your situation.
She’s never too busy to talk to you—or to leaders you refer who’re in a hurry to boost their success. Email to arrange a time to chat: carolyn@leadingperformance.com.au
“Before working with Carolyn, I inappropriately got fired up.
I wasn’t managing my emotions well at all. These days,
since being coached, my old reputation isn’t holding water.
I’m less stressed now and I’m enjoying both my work as well
as the relationships that I have with people at work.
I’m also much more confident about progressing my
career. And I like me more now!”
Senior Marketing Leader, Global Medical Equipment Company
