On being a GUIDE
One of the most rewarding parts of my job is in-role mentoring and coaching (GUIDE-ing). I'm working with senior UK leaders in an international IT company to improve project efficiencies (revenue growth) and accelerate cross-project learning. As part of the development programme, I get to spend a day in the life of Directors, experiencing their meetings, watching them attempt micro-change experiments, and acting as their GUIDE.
These home-based Directors offer me the unique opportunity to punctuate their equilibrium by inviting them to Amroth in Pembrokeshire. I'm a big believer in managing energy, and these away days allow us to focus on development opportunities and new ways of working, for example, performance coaching walks (I'll talk about those another time).Â
The Leader's Story: John's morning from hell
Last week, I got to spend a day in the life of John*, a newly minted Director who has worked through the ranks at the company. A high performer, he's moved from graduate Project Coordinator to Project manager (PM), senior PM, and now Director in just eight years. John is with me for two days; he arrived last night and is staying at the Amroth Arms for two nights before heading home tomorrow.
It's 08:30, and we're walking the seafront in Amroth. I meet him with a cup of coffee, which he takes, pronouncing, "This is the morning from hell!"Â
This is my fourth session with John, our first in person, and he's clearly frustrated and animated. He's managing a multi-million-pound project and logged on at 07:00 to an escalation where a Canadian client asked for John's PM to be replaced. John's PM has already been informed that they are being replaced, and he now has a 09:30 meeting with his PM to discuss the situation.Â
John talks through the difficulties with the client, describing them as unreasonable, rigid and "a pain in the arse!" His assessment is that his PM is one of the best, and this is all about a personality clash between his PM and their counterpart on the Canadian side. I want to observe how John typically comes to work, so I listen and ask clarifying questions, but I don't coach or mentor a solution. This is what happens.
John: "What are you feeling?" John was using a new approach to questioning based on a micro-experiment from a previous week's session where he focused on gaining insights through powerful questions (what are you feeling vs. how are you feeling).
John: " I know; it's not your fault."
John: "Look, I agree. We both know they're a pain in the backside."
John: "Exactly. They're being unreasonable, and we will end up back here again in six months. I need you to know I don't see anything you've done wrong."
John: "I know; it's rubbish. I've been here myself as a PM, and it never feels good. My priority is you and getting you onto a project you'll enjoy."
The meeting continued for 40 minutes, ten minutes longer than expected. John immediately goes into his next meeting with a Senior Director, reinforcing his view on the client and firefighting resourcing challenges based on his recommendation for a new PM.
After three hours of calls, I get time to GUIDE John on a walk through Colby Gardens. John feels the morning has gone as well as it could have; he's presented a solution for a new PM, overcoming the resourcing challenges required to make this happen, made the client happy, and managed the bruised ego of the current PM.Â
What do you think?
Would you agree that it has gone as well as it could have; from what you know, what would you have done differently?
Acting as John's GUIDE
For me, it starts with planning and that first meeting with John's PM. John reacts with emotion, and he needs to take the time to think logically. Going into that first meeting, he needed to set clear objectives by - for example - using PPO (Purpose, Process, Outcomes). By doing so, he would have clarified the need to develop insights to mitigate the risk of this happening again in six months.
Without PPO, the meeting lasted 10 minutes longer than intended, draining John's emotional and cognitive energy. When firefighting, setting boundaries and creating fire breaks are vital. I recommend setting time limits that allow for reflection and preparation between meetings. You can try a micro-experiment, where you have back-to-back half-hour meetings; try setting 20-minute boundaries using the 10-minute firebreak as time for reflection and preparation.
Leaders fear the unknown, requiring powerful questions to penetrate the smoke from project fires. Instead of reinforcing the perception of a rigid and unreasonable client, better questions could have accelerated learning, improving insights, efficiency and client satisfaction:
I recommended that John use powerful follow-up questions to "What are you feeling?":
"It seems both you and the client are frustrated; what do you think caused them to request a PM change?"
"Knowing what you do today, if you were to replay this project again, what would you do differently?"
Moving to coaching mode, we discovered that John's PM has received feedback from other clients that he is excellent but quick to become defensive; he had also heard from the client that his PM is 'tetchy. This feeds into John's informal feedback during his weekly one-on-one with his PM: variations on, "What triggered that type of response during the meeting?"
One of our most interesting chats happened over dinner and a pint at the Amroth Arms. We discussed growth and double-loop learning, where, to grow our mindset, we need to question founding assumptions instead of constantly firefighting with new strategies/tactics (e.g., the assumption that the client is rigid and unreasonable). John committed to trying to plan out powerful questions using PPO and firebreaks during our second day together; this was his feedback.
What did John take away from the session?
"What a good two days. Nobody has ever taught me these things; I've just done the job. I like the way I can use questions with my direct reports to get valuable information, and how I can use the methods to assess triggers and help my reports recognise how their behaviours impact our projects. I also liked the change PPO and firebreaks made to my focus and energy on day two."
Get in touch to learn more about GUIDE-ing or the Intelligent Coaching GUIDE sessions
Get in touch if you want more information on how to use the GUIDE framework with your teams. You will also find the GUIDE approach in all the Intelligent Coaching workshops.
#LeadershipDevelopment #HighPerformingTeams #CoachingForPerformance #GUIDEFramework #Coaching #Leadership #Storytelling #Sensemaking
*Disclaimer
All details are anonymised. This story is from an ongoing programme, and it is up to the leader to disclose their work with me; for this reason, I am not sharing the company's name, location or the person I am working with.
'John' has kindly permitted sharing the lessons learned with others experiencing similar situations.