Coaching a Partner in a National law firm

Geoff Coughlin

Background

Geoff Coughlin is a Director of Emphasis on Skills Ltd. His company offers tailor-made training and development in business skills. Before starting Emphasis on Skills, Geoff worked as a management and trainer development officer within public service and for an international charity. He has many years experience as a trainer, in areas including course-based learning,

coaching and creation of flexible learning packages.

The situation

On this occasion, he was approached by the HR manager of a large national law firm, to coach one of the partners . This partner had development needs around planning, personal organization and influencing others. The following objectives were agreed for the coaching programme:

Programme aim

To help you build greater confidence in what you do and work in a more organized and effective way.

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Define the role.

  • “ Clearly see the extent and nature of your role as you experience it in the real world and link this to exactly what you require, what your team needs and to the needs of the firm.

  • “ Make adjustments to any aspect of your role as you consider necessary.

• Plan systematically.

  • “ Plan systematically any task or project you undertake establishing clear criteria for success.

  • “ Improve personal organization.

  • “ Prioritize and delegate work effectively within your team.

  • “ Become more organized in the way you tackle your everyday work.

• Measure performance.

  • “ Use the review technique [see details below and in Part 3] to systematically review anything you do.

  • “ Establish exactly what has and has not gone well, and why.

  • “ Create an ongoing action plan for future activity.

• Influence others.

  • “ Use the ˜Push-Pull influencing strategy in a variety of areas of your work (link to ˜Communicating achievements below).

• Motivate the team.

  • “ Know what motivates your team and the practical part you play in this.

  • “ Give constructive feedback to team members using a four-stage method that works.

  • “ Come across as open -minded and an active leader of your department.

• Handle people assertively.

  • “ Use the Assertive Principles in your dealings with others.

  • “ Get you point across firmly and fairly , but not at the expense of others.

• Communicate achievements.

  • “ ˜Celebrate your success and that of your team with those who need to hear about it.

  • “ Ensure that the right people know of your achievements and be able to influence them positively.

  • “ Consider reward and use of praise within the team.

The process

Initially, the coachee met with the HR manager to discuss her development needs. Together they decided that coaching was the best solution based on the seniority of the coachee. Once the HR manager had identified the needs in broad terms, Geoff was asked to meet with the coachee for an exploratory meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss specific needs and establish if there was a 'good personality fit . During this meeting, they agreed key areas to be covered and what the objectives for each would be.

Also at this meeting, they agreed the coaching plan: two half-day sessions, to be run in a private meeting room on the client premises. Pre-session reading and work was included, to ensure that the coachee had underpinning knowledge, and that the coaching sessions would focus on application of skills and knowledge. A key part of the Emphasis on Skills approach is the offer of 24- hour telephone and e-mail support; this was accepted by the coachee.

This initial meeting was followed by lunch at a local restaurant, which gave both the coach and the coachee the opportunity to get to know each other better, resulting in a better rapport and stronger trust.

The first discussion session was four weeks after the initial meeting; there was a further four weeks between the first and second meetings. The meetings consisted of reflecting on how the coachee had performed certain tasks , and Geoff used the review technique to structure the meetings:

What went well? Why and how? What would you do next time? What didn t go well? Why and how? What would you do next time?

During the coaching relationship, the 24-hour support link was used only once; the coachee said that she felt very secure and supported by having access to this.

Challenges faced

Geoff noted two challenges for himself as the coach in this situation.

The first challenge was finding the right medium in terms of confidentiality between the coachee and HR manager. Geoff and the coachee agreed ground rules and, specifically , included one that stated he would ˜not discuss or give feedback on any specific information/politics/disclosure from coaching sessions to the HR manager . It was helpful that Geoff had worked for the HR manager previously, and that they had established their own working relationship. The role of the HR manager was to:

• Give the initial brief.

• Agree fees.

• Check that the initial meeting had been successful.

• Confirm that the objectives had been met at the end.

• Ask if further sessions were required (they weren t).

The second challenge, as a consultant, was trying to understand the culture and politics that existed within the law firm. Geoff reduced the impact of his lack of knowledge about the company by asking a lot of questions and exploring why options would or would not work given the culture of the company. Emphasis on Skills do much work within the legal profession, and this general awareness of how law firms worked assisted with understanding the culture and environment that the coachee worked in.

The outcome of the coaching was that all the objectives were met in full over the two sessions, and the partner felt both more confident and in control after the coaching.

Learning

From this experience, Geoff felt that he had learnt that:

• There is a need for total trust between the coachee and the coach.

• The coachee needs to hear that the coach has integrity, a good track record and a high level of knowledge in the subject areas being worked on.

• As a coach, you must be confident that you are not going to be undermined by the HR manager or others within the organization; the coaching contract is essential so that your efforts are supported.

Top tips

• Know your subject matter.

• Draw heavily on your own experience/expertise.

• Get to know the culture of the organization your coachee is from “ talk to people from all levels if you can.

• Get a thorough briefing from your contact at the organization before meeting with the coachee.

• Be honest about how long you need to provide the support your coachee requires.

• Work on building trust and a positive relationship with the coachee.

• Agree the coaching contract with the coachee and any third party stakeholders.

Final words

Coaching for individual learners is crucial to individuals being able to apply new learning back in their workplace. Ideally this coaching should be provided by the line managers in the main, and by external coaches for senior and middle managers where appropriate, where preferred by an individual or when direct support for senior managers is not forthcoming. Good training can be greatly enhanced by good coaching back in the workplace.

Authors comments

This is a good example of third-party initiated coaching. We have left in the objectives for this coaching programme as an example of the type of objectives that you might write.

Initially, when we read this case study, we felt that there were a lot of objectives to achieve in two sessions. We note, however, that the programme was successful and that the coachee felt that she had achieved her desired outcome. This illustrates the importance of working to the coachee s agenda. Coaching is about moving the coachee forward by the amount that he or she wants to move and it would be a mistake to look at the topics and apportion time required in this way. This also shows how much more can be achieved through coaching, as opposed to attendance on training courses.