Can coaching help you have a greater strategic impact?

I recently watched a fascinating TED talk by Atul Gawande a surgeon who wanted to push the boundaries of coaching to see if he could improve his complication rates. He had looked at other areas of highly skilled professionals from the world of sport and music and noted the impact a good coach could have on increasing the performance level of an already highly skilled person. Even those leaders who are seemingly at the top of their profession.

The question Atul posed was one we could all benefit from.

How do we improve in the face of complexity?

If he paid someone to come into his operating room and observe him, would it make a difference? Surely expertise means not needing to be coached.

The results of coaching in this case would have a life changing impact.

“It’s not how good you are now, it’s how good you’re going to be that really matters”

It is the role of a good coach to be your external eyes and ears providing a more accurate picture of your reality. They’re recognising the fundamentals. They’re breaking your actions down and then helping you build them back up again, with a fresh lens for how you can maximise your effectiveness and impact.

This fly on the wall approach to coaching is how I approach my executive assessments. I use this behavioural science-based approach to assessment with my executive coaching clients to add that extra layer of insight and evidence. From this place I’m there with them and really understanding what’s going on for them, embodying their world, like the coach who oversaw the surgeon in this video.

Taking that deep dive, evidence-based assessment approach, a key offering at NewlandRock. As the coach seeing every step that the individual takes, observing their body language, watching their response to questions, peeling back their thinking, feelings – this approach gets under the skin of why we do what we do.

For Atul It was recognising the small but important adjustments he could make that would push him into that next level of expertise and reduce his complication rate. My role as an executive coach is to observe and find those weaknesses and strengths and find those development areas for those, I work with.

In Atul’s case his coaching experience had such a profound effect on him it led him to developing a large-scale coaching programme in India, training an army of doctors and nurses to learn how to observe the care of their patients and their teams helping them to develop and build on their strengths and address their weaknesses. The results were outstanding, the reduced death rates were directly related to the coaching which had helped the teams to execute the fundamentals.

Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

Leadership Effectiveness is the rock of every business. NewlandRock increases leadership effectiveness for talent-savvy companies and individuals going through a transition.

Focused on Assessment | Executive Coaching |High Performing Teams  – Internationally