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Two people talking during a coaching session

Do we need to change for 2022?

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This article was originally published in the newspaper “La Estrella” and is part of a biweekly column from the ICF Panama Chapter to disseminate what Professional Coaching is. It seeks to inform, create more awareness and differentiate professional coaching, in which the Coach is governed by ethical principles and is continually improving his or her skills.

See the original article in this link.

 

We live in a context in which change is no longer an event but a constant; in which stopping, thinking and consciously dedicating time to learning is increasingly important (as well as difficult due to the pace of life) to face the challenges of the future.

 

We are approaching the end of the 2021 year and I invite you to pause, reflect and integrate the lessons learned and plan for 2022.

 

How are the changes affecting us as individuals, families, teams and organisations?

  • What do we see and credit? What thoughts inhabit us? What beliefs are we focusing on?
  • How do we work and relate? What alliances, relationships and connections are we building?
  • Who are we being at different times, with different people and in different contexts?

 

Bringing awareness to how we feel, think, and are impacting our people of interest is important in a process of learning and change.

 

Complementarily validate our perception, with the perception of others, in periodic feedback and feedforward actions (suggestions for improvement) from our people of interest.

 

Having identified our values, talents, aspirations, patterns, environments in which we flourish, reactions and the impact on others, brings us a higher level of self-knowledge and self-awareness and allows us to clarify our strengths and weaknesses, perceive what differentiates us, what internal barriers we perceive, what resources we need and what we want to learn to enhance our value proposition considering the opportunities and threats of the context.

 

Identifying our triggers and perceiving where the stimuli that impact us come from helps us choose the behaviours that best serve our objectives, and not use emotional volatility as a tool for self-management and in the management of others.

 

Where are we on the curve of change? In denial, in resistance, in acceptance, in developing capabilities, or committed, investing time and resources in the process?

 

And what happens in our teams and organisations? How are they reacting to daily challenges, uncertainty and change? What are we looking at and co-creating? What value are we creating?

 

Environments of trust, psychological safety, high standards and responsibility, in which error is part of the learning process, are conducive to learning, taking risks and consequently more prepared for change as a constant. Conversely, environments of high control, micromanagement and low psychological security are related to anxiety and stress in change situations.

 

Having identified what communications we are having the majority of our time is also crucial in the context of change. Are we in the inform, say and ask? In persuading and negotiating? In co-creating and transforming? What mix of the three do we currently have and which one would we like or need to have?

 

The purpose of an organisation is changing, from creating value for shareholders to creating value for all stakeholders. What value are we creating for our internal and external stakeholders? What would our collaborators, teams, clients, suppliers and other stakeholders tell us about the path we are traveling and that we have to travel? What can we not stop paying attention to today, tomorrow and the future, in this context of change as a constant?

 

Increasingly, the management of polarities is a constant. Some examples of polarities we may be navigating are: results and well-being; today, tomorrow and the future; management and innovation; be strategic and operational; individuality and diversity. The current challenge is to manage both polarities simultaneously. It is shared leadership. It is developing a systemic vision, reinforcing relationships, connections and alliances.

 

An individual, executive, group or team coaching process supports, among others, creating new possibilities from the purpose and vision of the future, identifying patterns, adopting a perspective of curiosity, promoting creativity, trust, experimentation and responsibility. A professional coach, according to their specialty, has tools to support you on this path.

 

Author: Fátima Ribeiro

The author is a Coach in Professional Development, Leadership and Teams processes, ACC (ICF Associated Certified Coach), and member of the Board of Directors of ICF Panama.

A professional leading a team working session beside a whiteboard

Developing Leaders as Coaches

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This article was originally published in the newspaper “La Estrella” and is part of a biweekly column from the ICF Panama Chapter to disseminate what Professional Coaching is. It seeks to inform, create more awareness and differentiate professional coaching, in which the Coach is governed by ethical principles and is continually improving his or her skills.

See the original article in this link.

 

The three main Coaching modalities used in organisations are:

  • External coach, professional with training in coaching who is hired by the organisation for specific processes on a one-time or continuous basis.
  • Internal coach, professional with training in coaching and who practices it within a single organisation, being part of its staff.
  • Leader Coach, manager or supervisor who uses tools and coaching skills in his role as a leader.

 

Some of the challenges of the leader as coach are:

  • How can I effectively coach all my collaborators individually in the limited time I have on a daily basis?
  • How can I do this “virtually”?
  • How can I continually improve my skills?
  • How do I use coaching tools with my team collectively so they can apply them to each other and we can create a culture of team development?

 

To develop as a leader as coach, the leader needs to have specific training for this purpose, which allows the development and application of coaching competencies in the organisation in an ethical and professional manner.

 

The basis for coaching training are the 8 competencies defined by the ICF – International Coaching Federation, divided into 4 large groups:

 

  1. Foundational Competencies or Foundations
    1. Demonstrate ethical practice
    2. Embody a coaching mindset
    3. Co-Create the relationship
    4. Establish and maintain agreements
    5. Cultivate trust and security
    6. Maintain presence
    7. Communicate effectively
    8. Actively listen
    9. Evoke awareness
    10. Cultivate learning and growth
    11. Facilitate the growth of each client

 

This is a very brief description of the competencies by the author for the purposes of this article, and for a broader and more precise definition we recommend consulting them on the ICF website:

 

  • Demonstrate ethical practice, understanding and consistently applying coaching ethics and standards.
  • Embody a Coaching mentality that is open, curious, flexible and focused on the coachee.
  • Establish clear agreements with the coachee, and with the different stakeholders, where applicable, about the relationship and coaching conversations, process, plans and goals, among others.
  • Cultivate trust and security, creating in partnership with the coachee a safe and supportive environment that allows them to share freely, in a relationship of mutual respect and trust.
  • Maintain presence, giving your full attention to the coachee, using an open, flexible, grounded and confident style.
  • Active listening, focused on what the Coachee is or is not saying, for complete understanding in the context of the Coachee’s systems, supporting the client’s self-expression.
  • Evoke awareness, facilitating the coachee’s understanding and learning through the use of tools and techniques such as powerful questions, silence, metaphors or analogies.
  • Facilitate growth, to transform learning, knowledge and vision into action, promoting coachee autonomy.

For a more effective development of coaching skills, support in the training process with professional coaches, mentors and/or supervisors, and internally with peers and sponsors that promote the development of a coaching culture in organisations contributes.

 

Leaders, through the use of coaching tools, contribute to change in culture, promoting a focus on solutions, not problems. They also promote the development of communication and relationships, and an improvement in the trust and commitment of their collaborators. Lastly, the use of coaching tools helps employees become empowered, focus on solutions, and seek support to solve problems themselves.

 

International studies show that coaching is key in developing high-performance teams.

 

Author: Fatima Ribeiro

The author is ACC (ICF Associated Certified Coach), Coach in professional development, leadership and teams processes and member of the Board of Directors of ICF Panama.

Tigo Business invitation to Fátima Ribeiro's conference on team management

Coaching Tools in Team Management

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On September 9, 2021, I collaborated with TIGO Business with the conference “Coaching Tools in Team Management” for the SME segment with transmission for 9 markets (Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and El Salvador).

Coaching is a creative process and the focus is on the future, on developing solutions.

Key coaching competencies such as establishing trust, being present, developing effective communication and facilitating learning and results are very important in the current hyperconnected context, with greater volatility, complexity and uncertainty.

In this conference we explore how leaders can use coaching tools in managing their teams, exploring tools that contribute to enhancing results and taking care of the well-being of teams, supporting leaders and entrepreneurs to face the challenges of today and the future.

Thanks to TIGO Business for the opportunity and to all the participants who joined us!

A professional gesturing during a tense conversation in an office

Ineffective leadership behaviours

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This article was originally published in the newspaper “La Estrella” and is part of a biweekly column from the ICF Panama Chapter to disseminate what Professional Coaching is. It seeks to inform, create more awareness and differentiate professional coaching, in which the Coach is governed by ethical principles and is continually improving his or her skills.

See the original article in this link.

 

In the leadership development process, through executive coaching, different approaches can be used, depending on the context of the leader and the organisation, the needs identified and the objectives set.

One of them is working from the outside, from what is visible and perceived, such as behaviours (doing) towards the inside (being and thinking), in an iterative cycle to promote sustainable changes over time.

This approach is particularly suitable for leaders who perceive that leadership behaviours associated with their success in the past may not be those necessary to achieve success in the future, in more complex, ambiguous and changing contexts.

This is a work that begins with the identification of the leader’s behaviours, how this is perceived by his or her people of interest or stakeholders, and the impact of their behaviours on their organisation and the broader system. The work continues to promote the interaction of the leader with his stakeholders for integration of their suggestions for improvement into a plan of action, which is evaluated and adapted in a regular cycle, simultaneously facilitating the change of behaviours and perceptions.

Most of us look at behavioural changes that others should make, and are available to provide suggestions for improvement, but in general we are not as perceptive of the behavioural changes that we should implement and have a difficult time doing so on a day-to-day basis.

The impact of our behaviours is significant on the people around us, on our organisation. This impact grows with the level of responsibility of the leaders and with the size of the stakeholders internal and external that we impact.

As a leader becomes successful, this behaviour change is even more difficult to make, because he associates it with past success, he does not understand that he needs new behaviours to be successful in the future.

Benefits can be identified from implementing changes, but we are not always willing to accept the costs, to let go of behaviour that no longer serves us, we can even think and verbalize, but “I am like this, I have always been like this and it has always worked for me…”. This indicates that we do not want to commit to the process, we may not have the humility or courage to do so.

One of the challenges for coaches is to perceive their clients’ willingness to work on their objectives and implement the changes they propose. The success of the process is the responsibility of the coachee with their reflections, learning and actions. The coach facilitates the process and provides the appropriate encouragement, reinforcement and support to achieve the objectives.

One of the authors who most developed and implemented this approach to behaviours is Marshall Goldsmith, internationally recognised as a thought leader in leadership, as an executive coach and as the author of various best-sellers.

In his book “What got you here won’t get you there” Marshall Goldsmith identifies 20 ineffective habits or behaviours in leadership. Among them we can mention:

earn too much, or the need to win in all situations, when it is important, when it is not, and even when it is totally irrelevant. This is the behaviour identified by Marshall Goldsmith as the number one challenge for most leaders.

Other related ineffective behaviours are: add too much value, that is, adding our grain of sand in each conversation or discussion even when it does not add value; he retain information, to gain advantage over others; and the play favourites, to gain allies.

It is also ineffective to devalue the opinions expressed by others by making destructive or sarcastic comments; express negativity, or “I’m going to tell you why this doesn’t work”; or a more unconscious way responder, to comments or suggestions, with “no, but, however…” withdrawing value from what the other is expressing.

They are still ineffective behaviours. speak with anger, using emotional volatility as a management tool and the not listening, not being consciously present for our people of interest, advocating lack of time, overwork, or listening with partial attention due to distractions such as the cell phone.

To develop more effective leadership behaviours, the client must recognise that they need to change and commit to the process. The coach, based on his knowledge and experience, and in alliance with the client, promotes, among others, self-awareness, self-management and management of relationships with people of interest.

 

Author: Fatima Ribeiro

The author is ACC (ICF Associated Certified Coach), Coach in professional development, leadership and teams processes, and member of the Board of Directors of ICF Panama.

Poster for the Leadership and Team Development seminar at QLU

Leadership and Team Development Seminar and Workshop

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From August 19 to 22 I will be facilitating a Seminar Workshop “Leadership and Team Development” at QLU – Quality Leadership University in a dynamic and co-creation process.

The challenges of a global, complex, changing, diverse and hyperconnected world demand that today’s leadership be different. The basic principles remain, but the way of leading changes. We no longer see the leader as a superior being, focused on the task and providing structure and direction, we see him as a facilitator who is involved in dialogue and the participation of everyone. 

Create value for all stakeholders, working with systemic conflicts, being members of multiple teams and working virtually are some of the challenges organisations currently face.

I will share, among others, knowledge and practices from my learning with Dr. Marshall Goldsmith and Dr. Peter Hawkins, professors, authors and coaches recognised worldwide for their work on leadership, team development and value creation in organisations.

Accede here to more information about the programme.

a hug,

Fatima Ribeiro

Poster for the Communication: A Key Leadership Skill workshop

Communication: A Key Leadership Skill — Panama, 13 June 2019

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The global corporate world increases the value it attributes to the management of the human factor in both its self-reflective (knowledge and self-management) and social (relationships and well-being) dimensions.  Every form of communication (relational, attitudinal, spoken or written) becomes a key element for the integration of business management with talent management.

Communication is a fundamental human skill for the development and sustainability of interpersonal and organisational relationships that are based on a shared culture and individual codes of behaviour.

Effective communication (multidirectional, intentional and authentic) streamlines planning, enhances results, promotes motivation, consolidates culture and also supports the development of processes.

The leader’s ability to manage himself and generate collaborative and stable environments between talent and teams, enhancing everyone’s performance, thus has an important impact on the creation of value and the sustainable development of organisations.

In this context, together with Veronica Z. Herrera, expert in Self-knowledge, Interpersonal Communication and Assertiveness, we developed the workshop “Communication: Key Competence in Leadership to be held on June 13 in Panama City.

In this workshop we will be addressing topics focused on:

  • Discussion of global models of self-management and interaction aimed at building effective multidirectional relationships.
  • Within the framework of Emotional Intelligence and Collaborative Leadership for talent and team management.
  • Understanding of 2 key concepts: Empathy and Assertiveness.
  • Practice of 3 key interaction skills: Listening, Asking, and How to say NO.

Join us and benefit from promotional conditions until May 31.

Contact me here.

Fátima Ribeiro

Communication workshop programme: Key Competence in Leadership

Professionals discussing and reviewing documents together

Team coaching

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Organisations seek to develop leaders who recognise the impact of globalization on business, who demonstrate the adaptability necessary to succeed in new environments, who develop technological skills in their teams, who appreciate and promote diversity, who focus on collaboration and building trust to develop a vision, a common strategy, and who forge alliances.

In this sense, companies also aspire to develop high-performance teams that communicate effectively, generating motivation and influence in the members of the organisation, that promote the development of the collaborators around them, jointly producing performances higher than those that would be obtained as a product of an individual contribution.

The main advantages of the methodology coaching de equipos de Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Center Coaching son:

  • The simultaneous transformation of leaders and teams.

The team as a whole articulates an area of leadership growth and each team member defines their own area of leadership growth that relates, in turn, to the overall focus of the team. In this way, the team and each of the leaders develop simultaneously.

  • Internal experience

Team members are positioned to provide expert advice and insight to each other as it relates to their business, their people, and the challenges of their team culture.

  • Openness to continuous change

When team members collaborate as stakeholders in team coaching programmes, they create an open culture for leadership and team culture change.

  • Coaching is a leadership skill

Coaching is a leadership skill and leaders in organisations must be experts in promoting the development of their teams and the growth of their collaborators. Team coaching is a great programme to instill coaching as a leadership skill in the organisation.

  • Efficient resource

The Coach works with all team members who support each other in this team coaching process, providing the coaching programme with more efficiency in time and costs for the organisation.

In addition to the above, the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Center Coaching methodology:

  • It emphasises doing, action and behaviours: show how.
  • It is directly linked to business objectives or strategic challenges.
  • It favours a systematic approach with monitoring of commitments made over time.
  • It values measurement as an integral part of the process, this being a measurable and quantified process.

I am at your disposal so you can learn more about the process of team coaching de Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching.

Write to my email fatima.ribeiro.coach@gmail.com or contact me through my website https://fatimaribeiro.coach/en/

Fatima Ribeiro

 

More information about Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching, visit the website: http://sccoaching.com/coaching-for-executives/

Team members joining their hands as a symbol of collaboration

Coaching as a Tool for Social Development

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According to the ICF Global Coaching Study 2016, carried out by ICF (International Coaching Federation) in collaboration with PWC, in 137 countries worldwide, the findings suggest that coaching can influence social change.

Worldwide, 51% of professional coaches surveyed and 49% of managers/directors, with coaching skills, consider that coaching is capable of greatly influencing social change. 33% of professional coaches and 27% of managers/directors, with coaching skills, consider that coaching is capable of moderately influencing social change.

The extent to which professional coaches consider coaching to be able to influence social change varies considerably from region to region.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, two out of every three coaches surveyed (68%) consider that coaching is capable of greatly influencing social change.

According to the ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study 2017, a study carried out by ICG and PWC in 30 countries, the main two benefits recognised in ICF studies on satisfaction with Coaching are improved communication skills (42%), followed by greater self-esteem / self-confidence (40%).

These are skills that create bridges in families, in organisations, in communities, that support a more balanced social and professional integration and that contribute to sustainable social and economic development.

Coaching as a development tool can be applied at different stages of life.
In young people, in professional adults, and in older adults, it contributes to creating greater awareness of one’s own value, to broaden perspectives for personal and professional development, to give a purpose to life and to build a legacy.

It is a tool that supports facing the challenges of each stage of life and conceiving opportunities in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous and hyper-connected world (VUCAH).
The improvement of communication skills, the improvement of self-esteem and self-confidence help to reduce isolation in current societies, contributing to a higher level of social integration.

At the organisational level, using coaching as a development tool also brings positive contributions and coaching can contribute to issues such as gender equality, diversity and inclusion.
In the 2017 ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study, the most commonly cited reason for seeking coaching was optimizing individual team work performance (43%), and the third most commonly cited benefit was increased productivity (39%).

Coaching as a tool for social development is thus transversal in society, applying to individuals, communities and nonprofit or profit organisations, collaborating on issues connected to corporate social responsibility and sustainable development objectives.

Fatima Ribeiro