Unwillingly, I became a bit of a specialist in leaders labelled “uncoachable” by their company’s HR.
The easiest cases are executives who would love to be coached: alas, they are too busy with daily emails, meetings and trips. A bit harder are ones convinced that “coaching is BS”: they tried it and found it annoying. The hardest cases are leaders who resist coaching on principle, convinced that coaches try to change the very characteristics that define their identity and got them to the level of success where they are now.
From the perspective of coaches, human resource management, or learning and development professionals, labelling such leaders “uncoachable” is a painless way to shift people development resources to more welcoming participants.
But people working with leadership development should remember a basic fact of human behaviour: those who don’t care never resist.
I do coach leaders who take it lightly. We have great chats at the firm’s expense. Towards the end of the session when I ask about the value they gained today, they comment something positive like “It’s always nice to talk things through with someone like you”.
Strong resistance implies strong commitment: they have a strong opinion because they have a personal leadership vision, and coaching does not seem to support it in its currently presented form.
In my latest video, I look at people under the “uncoachable” label the way I suggest to HR and learning specialists: with empathy, assuming that a more constructive approach is possible. I discuss:
Why organisations label leaders as “uncoachable”,
How to understand and improve coaching programme from a challenging participant’s perspective,
Practical tips for coaches, HR, L&D and participants, whether they consider themselves “coachable” or not.
Books for those who would like to build new, winning habits.
Watch and comment on similar situations you encountered: https://youtu.be/TyrwVXRkeqA?si=Tg2fHZG2H4H7hu08
My experience with “uncoachable” leaders comes from delivering programmes that I eventually developed into my current East-West Leadership coaching. Take a look: https://www.eastwestleadership.com/coaching
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