Recently, I sat down for a group call with a potential client seeking
a delegation skills program for their managers. Our conversation was going well.
They liked our design principles, which include: context is king, there is wisdom
in and out of the room and highly engaging activities promote retention. As a
group, they appeared to be moving forward with our proposal. But then, one of
the client representatives said, “This all sounds great, but what we really
want is to give our managers the skills necessary to delegate. I think this is
simply a skill issue.”
Most people in charge of training and development [L&D] often see
gaps in performance as skill issues, whether it is delegation, coaching or
giving feedback. In actuality, we need to first consider the mindset or belief
system driving the current behavior. Let’s start with the difference between
bad, good and great behavior.
Bad behavior is obvious, but good behavior is, in some ways, a much more
challenging problem. Most managers are performing at “good” or “good enough.” Their
current behaviors are not technically “bad,” but have the potential to be
“great.” This gap can be subtle and often involves challenging an existing
belief system rather than providing more skills to master. For the situation to
be only a skill-based issue, L&D would have to conclude that people already
have the right mindset/belief system to delegate effectively –
to use the issue our client was looking to solve. In our experience, many
managers fail to get from “good” to “great” because their unconscious belief
system is undermining their efforts. Here’s an example.
For over ten years we have asked this question to participants in
our Coaching Skills program: “What do you
have to believe about people in order to coach them?” Participants quickly
articulate answers that fall into two categories: people either have the skill (knowledge,
capability, etc.) or the will (desire, motivation, etc.) to improve. However,
they fail to reflect on the required belief system needed for them to coach
effectively.
While it’s true that people need the skill and the will, the
coach’s belief system is critical in order for coaching to be effective. Specifically,
coaches need to believe the person they are coaching has insight and knowledge that they, the coach, does not possess. Without
this fundamental belief we have seen these two outcomes:
The coaching is all “tell”
(because the coach believes they have all of the knowledge).
If they embrace questioning skills, they more than
likely will ask leading/ manipulative questions that diminish trust.
Teaching people how to coach without first addressing the
necessary belief system surrounding their coaching method is like building a
house without a foundation. Without this powerful awareness, the coaching
workshop participant will likely attempt to apply the skills learned but will
leverage a less than desirable outcome.
Now, let’s circle back to our potential client. They didn’t initially
appreciate our view that beliefs and mindsets drive behavior and that in order
to build delegation skills, like coaching, they must first address their
managers’ underlying belief system. Potential unproductive beliefs we wanted to
address around delegation included:
If you want something done right, do it yourself
It will just be quicker if I do it
I can’t give my team any more work
Delegating is too challenging for me and may lead to a difficult
conversation
I don’t want to be a micro-manager so it’s easier not to delegate
In almost all our engagements, we start with a highly engaging
self-discovery activity – to address the mindset – before heading into skills
and tools. This approach is how we differentiate ourselves from other learning
companies. While it might be more complicated to design and deliver training
that focuses on mindset before skillset and toolset, our experience has shown
us that this is the most successful approach.
We
won the business with this new client because we were able to show them how critical
starting with beliefs and mindset are. In the interest of your learners,
contact us.
