Georgina Jaffee, Executive and Development Coach

Become a Better Manager and Enrich Your Career

“I feel more confident in my role and have managed to pull my team together and achieve our targets,” remarked a project manager on a HIV/AIDS research trial after receiving six hours of Development Coaching.

Coaching is a personalised form of learning which assists individuals or teams to learn and make the most of the learning to bring about effective action, personal growth and business results.

Coaching is a rapidly expanding business, second only to the IT industry in its growth rate in the United States. In South Africa it is now common to hear of organisations hiring coaches for both senior and middle management. With its success rate in the United States, coaching is no longer regarded just as a fad or a “feel-good” exercise, but a powerful methodology to support management, develop leadership, reduce conflict, retain top staff, provide for succession planning and enhance overall performance.

As the sector develops, niche areas are opening up and coaches are adopting specialist roles in life skills coaching, executive coaching and business coaching.  I have coined the term development coaching to embrace the methodology I use which provides tailored interventions to assist people develop their management, interpersonal skills and career goals, and which is particularly cognisant of the specificities of the South African workplace.

This approach, which looks at the overall structure and culture of an organisation, works best when the organisation provides a capacity building framework within which the coaching can take place and where the coaching is linked to other strategic interventions. Ad hoc coaching of individuals in organisations has limited effectiveness; coaching works best when the coaching service provider can have a long term relationship with the organisation.

In my experience, development coaching provides a holistic and powerful intervention in both the private, parastatal and non-governmental sectors in South Africa where problems such as lack of skills, staff shortages, HIV/AIDS management, and social and community problems place increased pressure on the workplace. In addition to this, coaching can also be a constructive intervention where the effects of historical disadvantages and rapid promotion in the interests of affirmative action and equity targets have placed enormous strain on individuals and institutions. Individuals who are put in these positions sometimes develop inappropriate coping mechanisms such as aggressive, defensive and bullying behavior in order to cover up their difficulties. This behavior only compounds management problems, leading to demoralised and unhappy staff, and creates a conflict-dominated work environment where this type of behavior undermines the overall performance of the organisation.

The relationship between coach and coachee is one of trust and commitment and must also be optional. It is important that the coach not only understands what the overall aim of the coaching is, but the coach also needs to understand the context within which the organisation works and the challenges it faces. Matching corporate coaches with government or non-governmental organisations where there is a completely different organisational culture may provide limited results. My work as a development coach attempts to understand the need to make a clear fit between the culture of the organisation, coach and coachee. It is also important in the local context to develop cross-cultural sensitivities, as well as sensitivities around gender, race and ethnicity.

My work as a coach has recently shown that people have the most incredible ability to change their behavior if they are given the appropriate coaching within a safe environment. As coaching is a self-directed learning process, its brilliance lies in its ability to enable the coachee to overcome self-limiting thoughts and behaviors, identify learning opportunities and gain confidence and self-esteem. This ultimately enables the coachee to become a more integrated and skilled individual who can contribute more creatively to the overall objectives of the organisation.

In my view, if the coachee is willing and open to learning so that gaps in competencies can be identified, development coaching can then fast-track in a very targeted way those areas which need improvement. These areas can include teaching non-authoritarian supervision and disciplinary skills, goal setting and action planning, listening and problem solving skills, team management, accountability and responsibility. Ultimately, the coaching process emphasises empowerment, strengths and achievements and how the coachee can use these to develop and grow. The ultimate success of development coaching lies in combining the knowledge of what further hard skills need to be obtained, and in leveraging soft skills which include the ability to assign the right people to the right roles, gain commitment to a strategy, develop strong relationships, communicate effectively, manage with boldness and delegate appropriately, and overcome racial, gender and ethnic stereotyping.

Georgina Jaffee is an accredited Executive and Development Coach. She provides no obligation trial sessions with individuals as well as company presentations.

Email: georj@mail.ngo.za