– Conversations for Change
Talk is cheap…yet highly effective! Today’s varying business climate requires that leaders keep their companies agile, adaptable, and able to react. The ability to foresee and adjust to constant change has become the measuring stick for leadership effectiveness. So what can leaders do to ensure they make the cut? They can start by simply having a conversation!
Businesses don’t need complex and expensive tools and technology to create positive change in the workplace. Instead, leaders simply need to take the time to have the important conversations with the right people. Talk is cheap… but it’s also the most effective and efficient way to create results and sustainable change!
Sue Bethanis, Founder/CEO of Mariposa Leadership, Inc., states that, “Conversations are highly effective because they are action and they create action. Action drives change, and change drives progress.” She goes on to add that, “Effective leadership is about having meaningful conversations that create, capture, and disperse knowledge. In many ways, you are who you talk with.” Sue shares three reasons why having constant conversations is critical for today’s leaders.
- Conversations capture the collective wisdom, diverse perspectives, and intellectual capital of your workforce. Tapping this knowledge pool can be incredibly powerful.
- By cross-pollinating and combining ideas and knowledge from a variety of sources, new ideas and ways of thinking emerge that were previously unavailable. Also, the more people participate in the process, the more invested they are in the outcomes. Buy-in creates sustainability and sustainability is what business is all about.
- Conversations define organizational culture. The metaphors we use become the very artifacts that both represent and sustain a culture.
Conversations are the cheapest, easiest, and most efficient way to ignite new ways of thinking, harvest available knowledge, and coach to sustain the desired vision. The power of a simple conversation could be one of the best kept leadership secrets. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start chatting!
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At Mariposa Leadership, Inc., each and every one of our coaching conversations, whether in groups or in individual one-and-one sessions, are two-way directives for change. We offer a blended learning of coaching and consulting, the main goal of which is to offer what we call distinctions: a change in a way of thinking about a problem, issue or goal that leads to a new way of doing things. We call these distinctions “re-frames,” insights that often arise spontaneously in the course of a coaching conversation. Sometimes we come up with them, sometimes our clients come up with them, and sometimes the coach and client blurt them out at the same time.
A great example of a distinction that leads to a re-frame comes from Mark Thornton, the author of Meditation in a New York Minute: Super Calm for the Super Busy (2006). As he points out, routine doesn’t have to tie you down—but it can set you free. The distinction here is that routines can tie you down, and they can also set you free to do the work you would really like do. The re-frame is that you have to be disciplined, you have to change your habits, in order to be free to be the leader you really want to be, whether in your division, company or in your personal life.
This is a great reframe; this is what coaching all about. Our jobs as coaches are not only to help you reframe your way of thinking, but to teach you to help your employees to do the same. This is what our In-the-Moment Coaching™ model is all about: listen, assess your client or employee’s situation, and give them another picture. In this way, conversations can and do lead to positive lasting change.
What kinds of ITM™ conversations can you initiate in your own organization?
If every conversation in a corporation can be used to effect change, then what do you need professional coaches for?
Professional coaching is about much more than casual, in-the-moment conversations. The difference between in-the-moment, hallway leadership coaching and professional leadership coaching is like the difference between having a potluck and hiring a highly recommended professional caterer. Both methods work to build community and a great experience, but the professional aspect is what provides that crucial, cutting edge.
The difference between some coaches or coaching firms with less experience and Mariposa Leadership, Inc., is that we have a proven track record of results. We focus on tracking and reporting clients’ results, which is something many newer coaches neglect. The inability to do so is often the downfall of these less experience coaches: as the client, you must be able to define, track and report your goals to someone else in the organization.
For more information about getting the best from a coaching firm, see my article “When Bad Coaches Happen to Good People.”
What are your some of your experiences with coaches?