REFLECTIVE LEADERSHIP - HOW COACHING FITS

I am a prolific reader. Mostly I read business books, with the odd deep dive into a few really good novels when I am relaxing on a white sandy beach, listening to the crash of waves (and the chink of ice against glass) on holiday! One book which continues to grab my attention and which I revert to time and again to enhance my coaching practice is Nancy Klines "Time to Think". A fantastic book advocating the need for today's leaders to create true Thinking Environments in which they themselves and their teams can achieve their very best performance.

The Ten key components of a "Thinking Environment" described by Ms Kline in detail within her book are:-

1. Attention - Listening with respect, interest and fascination
2. Incisive Questioning - Removing assumptions that limit ideas
3. Equality - Treating each other as thinking peers; giving equal turns and attention and keeping agreement and boundaries
4. Appreciation - Practicing a 5-1 ratio of appreciation to criticism
5. Ease - Offering freedom from rush and emergency
6. Encouragement - Moving beyond competition
7. Feelings - Allowing sufficient emotional release to restore thinking
8. Information - Providing a full and accurate picture of reality
9. Place - Creating a physical environment that says back to people "You matter"
10. Diversity - Adding quality because of the differences between us

Within her narrative about creating a Thinking Environment, I find myself agreeing whole heartedly with Nancy with regards to the emphasis today's successful leaders are placing on executive coaching to support their reflection. Her description of the benefits coaching provides is succinct:- "Support for leaders and executives is crucial. The higher people fly in an organisation, the less contact they have with the work on the ground; thus the more insular their thinking can become and the more detached they can become from the heart of the people they serve. An objective "outsider" who can feel an accurate pulse of the whole organisation and give a global business or organisational overview, and who can be at least a good sounding board, helps a leader decisively. Coaching is proliferating because it is so desperately needed.

Through coaching and creating a thinking environment, the client is given the space to find out what they already know and to think of new ideas themselves, ideas that will work."

In conclusion and in summary, many executive coaches believe it is vital for you, our successful leaders, to prioritise the creation of a culture of time, space and environment for reflective practice to support you, your people and your organisation to be truly brilliant.

Put your feet up and spend 10 minutes now, before your busy week commences reflecting on these 2 key questions:-

What do you know now, that it will take you a year to find out, which will be of significant benefit to your organisation?

What would it take for you to make reflective practice a priority in your busy world?

Any comments or questions please do get in touch

My best as always

Alli Spargo

Allison Spargo (Executive Coaching) Ltd