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Please Select an Edition of Coach Pierce's Playbook
Coach Pierce's Playbook
Edition #7
Here Are This Edition's Plays
You're a busy executive, so here's our executive summary of Edition #7. Coach Pierce's Playbook always has three articles – one on Developing Boards, one on Building Teams, and one on Coaching Executives.
In this edition, our trio of tales share a common theme: Clarity.
- How can you penetrate the fog of governance to bring clarity to your organization?
- How can you create a clear and memorable development plan for your team?
- How can you clear your mind before and after an executive-coaching session?
In the mood for more? Check out our Pierce Management Development website at www.CoachPierce.com.
Developing Boards
One quick question about good governance. What the heck is it?
“In reality, the process of governance is the least developed element in enterprise. It is, as you have no doubt noticed, a job that is ill-defined, undisciplined, dependent on staff rather than exercising leadership over them, and often actually irrelevant.”
John and Miriam Carver stated this raw truth in their 2009 monograph The Policy Governance Model and the Role of the Board Member. If the Carvers are correct that governance is widely mis-understood and mis-used, how can we take the mis-tery out of governance for boards that truly want to become better?
All group and team development, including corporate and nonprofit board development, depends on having shared experiences, shared communication, and shared learning. Rather than beginning a board training session by talking about good governance, be sure you start by defining good governance.
And now the winning definition. The envelope please…
Sorry. There is no envelope. But there are three guidelines a board can follow to develop a unique and effective Governance Statement:
- Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the board, board members, CEO, and staff.
- Clearly define the boundaries of what would be unacceptable behavior by each of them and all of them.
- Use the clearest and most concise language possible.
There’s clearly one responsibility every board must embrace:
Navigate using that critical compass…good governance.
Building Teams
“The thing is remembered that makes an impression.”
Thomas Edison speculated in his diary about how the eye’s optic nerve processes millions of rapidly moving pictures. He reasoned that this explains why our memories are highly selective, that “everything is not worth remembering” and therefore we “all seem to be impressed by the startling and the unusual…The thing is remembered that makes an impression.”
How Edison’s theory makes sense! Think beautiful colors or exotic animals. Think traumatic incidents or sensational news headlines.
Who made an impression on you?
Who in your working life made an impression on you? Why? How? What did you learn?
Whatever comes to mind is telling, precisely because it’s memorable. Remember those Velcroed thoughts when you’re creating a roadmap for developing your team. What do you want to teach?
What impression do you want to make on your team?
Here’s a clue: Build your team using a clear, consistent, and memorable plan. Base your plan on the specific needs of each team member, including skills development and performance-improvement goals. Communicate your plan’s priority and its place within your organization’s strategic execution plan.
Stick to it. Go to bat for it. Make an impression.
Coaching Executives
Two secrets to great coaching sessions: Before and After
Executive coaches are fountains of wisdom from whom liquid advice cascades freely to clients thirsting for our guidance. Yah, right.
A wise coach will be twice as adept at listening as he or she is at pontificating. (Try this useful mirror-check: two ears and one mouth, right?) In a successful mentoring relationship, learning flows freely in both directions. Here’s a lesson that the Coach learned from the Client…
Recently, one of our coaching clients was asked, “How do you make sure that the sessions with your coach are as productive as possible?”
Out of the mouths of clients
“If your coaching session is scheduled, let’s say, from 3 to 4:30 pm, then block out time on your calendar from 2:45 to 5 pm.”
“I carve out fifteen minutes before my session to shift gears from the daily grind to quieting my mind. I think about the question I know my coach will ask: What’s the most important thing that you and I should talk about today?”
“Then I carve out thirty minutes after the session to review my notes and give myself time to reflect on the concepts the coach and I discussed.”
We learned so much from this fountain of wisdom that we decided to cascade our client’s recommendations to you. In case you were thirsting for our guidance.
You will gain the most value from an executive coaching session by clearing your calendar before to focus on your goals, then clearing your mind after to focus on your action plan.
