When I tell my friends that I am now a CPCC (Certified Professional Co-active Coach) and that I like to coach professionals, leaders and teams in the workplace, I often get bemused looks, as if I am in the grips of a midlife crisis gone terribly wrong. In many ways, however, what coaches and lawyers do in the work place is very similar, just from a different point of view.
Both coaches and lawyers ask many questions. In the courtroom, a lawyer will only ask questions for which they know the answer. A lawyer wins (that is, represents their client) by controlling the narrative. A coach, on the other hand, asks questions to help clients think through their problems and to come up with new answers. Coaches ask questions to spark curiosity, evoke new insights and bring trust in the room.
As a labour and employment lawyer, dealing with broken teams and failing leaders often means enforcing workplace rules and assigning blame. As a workplace coach, I deal with the same sorts of workplace issues, but from a different perspective. Coaches change the conversation from the ‘winners and losers’ paradigm to creating win-win outcomes for their clients. Coaches train resilience, so that teams are better able to deal with adversity.
Lawyers focus on the past, looking through the rear view mirror. That is the nature of the adversarial process, trying to figure out what happened and who was at fault. Coaches focus on the road ahead exploring what could be done differently to meet workplace challenges more productively and efficiently.
The workplace coaching I do with professionals, leaders and teams is no ‘mid-life’ crisis. My coaching processes are an addition to the skills and tools I have honed over the past 30 years to solve workplace problems. Coaching adds greater dimension and scope to my practice at Pink Larkin, a dispute resolution law firm.
Negative personal mannerisms can undermine our interactions with others, even when statements made, positions taken, and offers proposed are sound and reasonable. When negotiating, have you noticed that you or...
By Gregg RelyeaConflict Remedy Blog by Lorraine SegalRead Part 1 here.Letting go of resentments is a fourth powerful tool to help you survive and heal from workplace bullying. In my last blog post...
By Lorraine SegalHistory may record the current presidential campaign as a turning point in how we think about leadership, choose a leader, and approach complex issues and difficult conflicts in the Twenty-First...
By Robert Benjamin
