If you’re thinking of working with a coach, consider them as a guide. You will be taking responsibility to actually do the work that will help you to become the best you can be.
An analogy would be the sports or music coaches you’ve had. You “met” with them on a regular basis, but in order for you to get better at your craft, you also needed to practice between these meetings. It takes work on your part.
In executive and leadership coaching, this means you will co-design fieldwork with your coach that will be practiced in your workplace during your coaching engagement. You’ll need to reflect on what went well and what didn’t with those assignments and be ready to discuss your successes and challenges with your coach. Then you’ll practice again and again over the period that you being coached (usually for 6-12 months).
The reason for this “fieldwork” is that this is how you’ll learn, practice, and embody the new behaviors that are required for you to be the best leader you can be.
Although you may also co-design other types of assignments with your coach (perhaps some reading or an extracurricular work activity that has relevance to your coaching goals), this on-the-job fieldwork is of the utmost importance. This is the stuff that will change you. Although regular meetings with your coach are important for accountability, new insight, and moving you forward, they’re secondary to the experience of doing the fieldwork you’ll design with your coach at each meeting.
It can be hard, but rewarding work. It requires you to:
Be open to trying some things you have not tried before or that you may have preconceived negative opinions about. You’ll need to be creative in co-designing fieldwork that will be contextual to your situation and workplace while still getting results.
Be present as you try new behaviors. You’ll need to self-observe your reaction and the reactions of others around you as you practice your fieldwork in the workplace.
Be reflective and willing to take the time needed to think about your new behaviors, whether they are working for you, and how you might need to alter them for better results. For many leaders, this will require that they block out time on their schedules to reflect.
Be humble because the people around you will know that you are working with a coach. Coaching seldom needs to be a secret, and those around you will likely participate as stakeholders in your coaching engagement, providing feedback and encouragement.
Be engaged in practicing the fieldwork or provide a substantive reason why you didn’t do it to your coach. “Forgetting” to do the fieldwork is only excusable once or twice. Find a way to remember (tie a string around your finger? Put a sign up in your office or a note in Outlook?) and just do it. It’s that important!
The “fieldwork” (or “practice”) that you co-design with your coach is the key to successful personal/professional change. It will require time and effort, but it will help you to develop your new skills and behaviors.
