The Clever Corporate Navigator™

A Reader Writes:

My boss assigned me an executive coach to help me transition from managing a small domestic team to leading a regional team with greater responsibilities. In the past few months I have received very valuable coaching to help me identify my strengths and weaknesses as I adjust to my new position. I was completely unprepared, however, for the results of a casual Google search that I did on my coach that revealed that he is a lay leader of a fundamentalist religious congregation. On the website of this organization it states many views that I find objectionable, not the least of which advocates a strict assignment of roles within society; a woman’s place is in the home raising a family, marriage is between one woman and one man, and salvation can only be achieved through a specific deity and belief system. My question is this: How can this coach be my advocate if I do not live up to the standards of a religious group that he leads that renders me a sinner?

Dear Reader,

Consider the variations of this question that the Navigator has heard when clients seek the right fit in a coach:

“I am a middle manager who is taking over a team. In my organization we have an internal coach who can provide ongoing support throughout the year. I am concerned whether this person is a good fit for me. I have strong religious convictions and the internal coach is gay. I do not feel that I can respect this person and it may impede the coaching relationship”

Or this ….

“I have been newly promoted in my company to Senior Vice President (SVP). A perk of this title is to receive the benefits of an executive coach. Several other SVPs have all used one particular coach who they have given high marks. However, these other SVPs are men who benefited from this male coach. I am female who would prefer a female coach. Should gender play a role when choosing a good fit for a coach?”

This is a timely topic in which readers want to know if an executive coach should mirror their own gender, political views, race, and other such demographics. It is no surprise that the zeitgeist of identity politics on a national theme has influenced the warm interior of Human Resources in their leadership development offerings.

The Navigator has heard various opinions on this topic which he has distilled to two diverse schools of thought:

Opinion 1: Effective education means learning from experiences and people that are different from that which you were raised. To build expertise, it is important to gain exposure to teachers, mentors, and coaches who have different values, points of view and experience. A difference in demographic is only one data point to take into consideration of the efficacy of an executive coach which should include experience, certification, integrity, personality, method, and style.

Opinion 2: When seeking the right fit in a leadership coach, it’s important for you to feel that the coach is someone you can identify with, and emulate. You should meet with several coaches to try them out as you would when trying out a pair of shoes. It’s your prerogative to feel comfortable with your choice. A coach with a similar demographic as your own can be more empathetic to your challenges and be better suited to help you actualize your goals.

What are your thoughts?

October 20, 2018 No comments Leave a Comment

A Reader Writes:

I’m responsible for implementing a new customer relationship management (CRM) system that impacts all of our business units. Because the new system will be an adjustment for our sales people, and they are likely to resist, senior management told me to work closely with the HR business partner (HRBP) of each business unit to ensure cooperation. At our past planning meetings, all of the HRBPs expressed support for the system and provided their feedback at each stage of the project. However, I overheard one of HRBPs disparage the program to the head of her business unit, obviously not realizing that I was in earshot. She is clearly looking to sabotage the project, despite her positive participation at group meetings. Should I confront her? Why the two-faced behavior?

Dear Reader,

The design of many organizations places the HRBP at the center of representing the organizational needs of the business unit. They have their finger on the pulse of hiring needs, compensation, performance, succession planning, and leadership development. They can also smooth the way for major change management initiatives such as, in your case, a new customer relationship management system. A system of this kind presents challenges to the business because there is an overhead to the kind of tracking that such a system demands. It’s the HRBP that should know the level of resistance you are up against, as well as how much support the business unit leader has shown.

But HRBPs are often in a bind in this situation. Your CRM project may fizzle out and become a distant memory. However, their relationship with their business unit is a constant. They need to align with the business unit and remain in their good graces. The quality of their relationship with the business is the indicator of their long-term success, not how well they forced a solution authored by Finance or IT. It is for this reason that you must do your due-diligence in an early risk assessment phase of change management to ferret out these conflicts of interest. That cannot be accomplished via a team meeting where everyone is agreeable because they want to appear to be a ‘team player’. Private one-on-one meetings are a better way to learn if an HRBP has reservations. You may also learn if the HRBP feels competent in managing the impact of your project on their business unit. If they don’t, they might disparage the project because it challenges their own skill set. Incompetent stakeholders will advocate for status-quo.