Leadership Interview: Michael Han ‘My Coaching Journey’

“I want more leaders in this Company join this great journey; once and forever this will change our way of leading people and managing business. As a coaching ambassador and trainer, I aim to help more people become professional leaders, to use these great tools in their daily life and become great coaches”.

I first started working with the Top Team at the Far East Asia Liner Operations Cluster (FEALOC) in Shanghai when I visited them in January 2013 to kick off the Coaching Master Class program. Michael Han was a member of the senior management team and had already made a start on his coaching journey.

Michael turned out to be one of the bright stars of the coaching work I did in 2013 in eight different worldwide locations. He is a great coaching ambassador and trainer. His humbleness meant he often used to hide this brightness. Here is an example. In one of our coach-the-coach sessions I gave Michael positive feedback on the great results he was achieving with his coaching. Then came the humble bit from him: “OK Trevor – that’s all bright side. But what can I do better?” In another example I observed this characteristic again in group sessions where he instinctively held back from offering his views on a topic to allow others to contribute. He was making sure others were able to shine.

Michael became a facilitator for Coaching Master Class program and rolled it out to the next leadership level in China and in Japan. He is a bright shining star for coaching in the Far East.

Here Michael reflects on his journey three years on. I took Michael through four stages of his coaching development journey to find out what he has discovered along the way, and what can we learn from his experiences.

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Trust: The Underrated Enabler

My mother was a tough lady and in order to be trusted and supported, I needed to earn it. Every time I look for a new position I do research about how trust is managed within that specific team and if I will be in a key position to influence trust.

my-brothers

I was traveling from Cape Town to Panama to attend my mother’s funeral and my brothers agreed that I would speak at the ceremony. I was sitting on the plane trying to think what to write since she has been a huge influencer in my personal and professional life. It was an impossible task to fit it all in one speech. Then I decided to just focus in one word that will define her greatest legacy in my life. After hours of thinking that the perfect word was ‘trust’. She trusted me to do well, always. It didn’t matter how much I failed in something, she will always be there to cheer for me.

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Great plans don’t materialize by themselves. You have to execute them!

Once the team/people have helped crafting the plan, they feel accountable for executing it. The more people are involved in the plan, the more they are aware of the expectations from them and the more is achieved. If you as the leader own the ‘WHAT’ of execution then your team must be the owners of the ‘HOW’. Using your leadership coaching approach ask how, specifically are they going to achieve their goals. Speak simply and directly about this.

We have now reached the fourth and last post of coaching elements (“Belief-Dream-Plan-Execute”) using lived experiences.

In my last post, I wrote about the importance of devising a strong plan so you can revisit your goal/dreams on a daily basis, ensure you (your team) are on track and heading in the right direction. Also made the analogy to a ship –  the crew prepares a voyage plan before departure and, during EXECUTION, external factors and (involuntary) conditions may force them to constantly alter its route but the destination is kept as a goal.

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Leadership Interview: Keith Svendsen ‘Linking Coaching to Leadership Success’

“I believe that a successful manager in the 21st century needs to have coaching for performance as a tool in their leadership toolbox”.

I have known and worked with Keith Svendsen since 2010. I’ve had the opportunity to observe him in a series of progressive leadership roles over a number of years. He is an enthusiastic advocate for his business and for his company. He has a strong business vision and has always been focussed on developing people, giving people space to work and delivering results. I caught up with Keith recently for one of our rare face-to-face meetings. I took the opportunity to ask him about how he sees coaching linking to leadership success.

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Having a plan puts your destination on sight!

After having listed your dreams or goals, it is time to create a plan so you can revisit them on a daily basis, your energy is channelized in achieving that and also to ensure you are on track and heading in the right direction towards your ultimate goal! It is like ships and a voyage plan, external factors, and conditions may force the ship’s command to constantly alter its route for the sake of safety, security or even fuel saving but the ultimate goal is to, safely, reach its destination. “In life, to reach ultimate destination/goal/dream!”

‘Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan’. Tom Landry (American football player)

This post is the third of four articles related to coaching elements (“Belief-Dream-Plan-Execute”). After having listed your dreams or goals, it is time to create a plan so you can revisit them on a daily basis, your energy is channelized in achieving that and also to ensure you are on track and heading in the right direction towards your ultimate goal! It is like ships and a voyage plan, external factors, and conditions may force the ship’s command to constantly alter its route for the sake of safety, security or even fuel saving but the ultimate goal is to, safely, reach its destination. “In life, to reach ultimate destination/goal/dream!”

Coaching is both a technique and a mind-set. For the ‘Coachee’ to keep its radar on opportunities, listen and respond positively to coaching and feedback. For the coach, it means adopting an inquisitive, non-directive approach. Asking purposeful questions, listening and giving feedback. Although the ‘Coachee’ is in the driver’s seat, it is two ways cooperation and the plan will serve as a contract between the ‘coach’ and ‘Coachee’ to work together and measure progress.

Measuring progress means for the ‘Coachee’ to see progress and build confidence by feeling/seeing him/herself closer to its objective. For the coach, this gives the opportunity to decide where to invest its discretionary leadership time to carry out the coaching along with return on coaching investment (ROCI) in line with both, business results and ‘Coachee’ development/career progression.

In my posts, I usually share lived experiences and, in this one I want to share one that ‘planning’ gave me very positive results and which played both the ‘coachee’ and ‘coach’ role. This post will not go into details of ‘planning coaching sessions’ as it is being thoroughly covered by Trevor Sherman in different articles. Continue reading “Having a plan puts your destination on sight!”

Is the British Prime Minister Coaching Her Cabinet Colleagues?

Coaching is being practiced at the very top of government

Parliamentary copyright images are reproduced with the permission of Parliament.

I have been a subscriber to the Spectator magazine for some time. In fact, it is the only ‘newspaper’ we take in my household. All of our other news arrives online. Once a week this noble publication, full of contemporary political and social commentary, slides through my letter box. Imagine my delight when a recent article by two top Spectator journalists seemed to imply that our British Prime Minister, Theresa May, is using the Coaching GROW model!

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