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Fátima Ribeiro and Susana Azevedo, co-authors of articles on leadership and team coaching

Systemic team coaching, why now?

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This article was originally published in Portuguese in Líder Magazine, in the October 2022 issue.

The online version was later published on the magazine’s website. The original article can be consulted here link.

 

Systemic team coaching, why now?

In today’s world we are increasingly aware that change and uncertainty are constant, and that the context can change rapidly, with uncertain consequences and complex challenges.

We know that the leadership of the past will not be the best fit for the solutions we will need in the future. In organisations there is a perception that it is essential to develop shared leadership, reinforce trust, collaborative work and mutual responsibility for performance, well-being and learning in teams and companies, transforming processes and creating connections with a systemic and interdependent vision.

In most organisations, development plans essentially focus on individual competencies, through training, mentoring or executive coaching processes. We observe that development plans for teams, the driving forces of organisations, are mostly non-existent or scarce. They concentrate on training or team building, more oriented towards the development of individual skills or the relationships between team members, but with results that, in general, do not directly influence the performance, well-being and learning of the team as a whole. There is still no perceived sustainable impact on the team’s daily work dynamics nor a significant influence on its interactions with other areas of the organisation.

Systemic team coaching emerges as a response to transform leadership and organisations. Its simultaneous focus on purpose, processes, people, aligning expectations, creating value with and for its stakeholders and collective development promotes a culture of learning and the sustainability of results. It allows the team, as a whole, to respond more effectively and creatively to the main current and future challenges.

The support of the organisation’s leaders is essential to obtain the desired results. It is essential that the team has between 4 and 10 participants, autonomy to implement changes in its scope of action and commitment to the process.

Team coaching is a process that evolves over time, not always linearly. Establishing agreements and continuing alignment of expectations between the sponsor, the team, and the coaching team are important aspects to consider.

The transfer of the coaching process to the team begins from the first meeting, since the objective is for the team and its members to be co-responsible for their future development.

Most organisations work primarily with teams. Therefore, not investing in its development is contradictory, considering current and future trends and challenges. Systemic team coaching is a response to this need. We invite you to explore and integrate this process into your organisations.

Authors: Fátima Ribeiro and Susana Azevedo

Poster of the Systemic Team Coaching workshop: Expanding Borders, with Susana Azevedo, Bianca Aichinger and Fátima Ribeiro

Systemic Team Coaching – Expanding Frontiers

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On August 9, from ICF Brasil Charter Chapter, in a workshop with more than 50 coaches from Brazil we shared our experience on Systemic Team Coaching.

Thank you to the ICF Brazil Charter Chapter for the opportunity to share and to all the participants who joined us!

Poster of the Systemic Team Coaching workshop: Expanding Borders, with Susana Azevedo, Bianca Aichinger and Fátima Ribeiro

Facilitators and participants in an online session on systemic team coaching

Group of participants in a video conference on team coaching

Professionals taking part in a training session with a facilitator

How Do Professional Coaches Develop?

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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.

To protect clients seeking coaching, mentoring and supervision services, supporting them in their process of finding and choosing qualified professionals, the European Union (EU) accepted the “professional charter for coaching, mentoring and supervision of coaches, mentors and supervisors” developed by professional associations, and this document is now listed in the EU co-regulation and self-regulation databases.

This letter is the result of the collaboration of the ICF – International Coaching Federation with other coaching associations, such as the EMCC – European Mentoring and Coaching Council. Although it does not have the force of law, the charter seeks to reflect a common understanding and a concerted effort to self-regulate the profession by major professional associations.

The objective, according to a publication on the EU website, is to “guarantee high standards in the services offered, that is, the results of the coaching, mentoring, supervision processes, the practice and spirit of coaches, mentors and supervisors who:

  1. have the required training and competencies
  2. participate in continuing professional development
  3. are, where possible, accredited or certified by professional associations for coaching, mentoring and supervision.”
Mentoring and supervision are important in the professional development of the professional coach, supporting them to generate greater self-awareness of their skills as a coach, their blind spots, and their opportunities for improvement. The coach simultaneously works on his “self” as a person and as a professional, supporting him to create greater value with and for his clients.

In mentoring, the mentor and the coach essentially work on the development of the coach’s skills within the framework of the coaching competencies defined by the ICF.

In supervision, the coach shares his work experiences with the supervisor, to receive support and establish a reflective dialogue and collaborative learning, which creates value for the coach, the client, the stakeholders and/or the client’s organisation.

As Damian Goldvarg tells us in his book Supervision of Coaches, “supervision has a specific objective: to reflect on the task carried out by the coach and increase his effectiveness by exploring not only what he did, and will do in future sessions, but also who, of the coach, his emotions, his beliefs, his blocks and his blind spots.”

Mentoring and supervision can be individual or group, both contribute to the coach’s development and add value.

There are several supervision models, one of the best known being the one developed by Professor Peter Hawkins, which applies to supervision of coaches with individual clients, client teams or organisational clients, and has a systemic foundation.

The model known as “the seven eyes model”, developed by the author in books such as Leadership Team Coaching, considers the following modes or areas of potential focus in supervision:

  1. the Client’s situation,
  2. the Coach’s interventions,
  3. the coaching relationship,
  4. the coach,
  5. the supervisory relationship and parallel processes,
  6. the Supervisor,
  7. and the broader context.

The model considers the coaching system and the supervision system.

The model applied to coaching work with teams evolved by integrating three “eyes”, or modes, more in relation to the team ecosystem:

  1. team stakeholders
  2. the interventions and interaction processes that the team uses with its stakeholders
  3. the relational dynamics between the team and its multiple stakeholders, considering “ten eyes” of supervision.

As professional coaches we seek to develop personally and professionally and co-create greater value in alliance with our clients.

Some of us evolve to also be mentors, coaches or supervisors, helping to develop the profession.

A professional coach has at his disposal continuing education programmes, mentoring and supervision as development tools. Supervision grows in importance as the coaching activity expands.

Author: Fátima 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.

ICF Panama invitation to the conversation Why Team Coaching?

Why Team Coaching?

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On May 18, from ICF Panama Chapter, in an event integrated into the international coaching week, we shared with coaches and executives from Latin America about Systemic Team Coaching.

Develop knowledge about team coaching, its importance today and how it differs from other interventions. Learn what to expect from a team coaching process and its benefits, through a real example.

 

Professionals meeting in an informal workspace

The leadership revolution

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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 way we think about leadership must change. We think there is a “leadership crisis”, but in reality we do not know what the leadership of the future should be like.  The global study “Tomorrow’s Leadership and the necessary revolution in the development of today’s Leadership” sought to explore this question and summarize some findings.

This study published by Henley Business School, United Kingdom, led by Professor Peter Hawkins, researcher, author and developer of a systemic team coaching methodology, reflects on four key questions:

  1. How will the leadership needed in the organisations of tomorrow be different versus the leadership of today?
  2. What needs to be developed for the leadership of tomorrow?
  3. How appropriate is today’s best practice for developing tomorrow’s leadership?
  4. What else needs to be done?

Some of the main challenges that leaders consider will impact them in the next 20 years are:

  1. A relentless and accelerated transformation of organisations
  2. A technological and digital evolution
  3. Change in business models, disintermediation and “uberization”
  4. Fewer collaborators in organisations and increasing stakeholder complexity
  5. Globalization
  6. Climate change and
  7. The need to learn and adapt faster.

These challenges are interconnected, each driving and being driven by the others.

In a context of incessant transformation, change is no longer just an event, but a constant worldwide, impacting organisations at an accelerated pace, affecting not only the individual but also the organisation itself. The global trends identified are: changing demographics, change in the workforce and ways of working, political instability, economic unpredictability, market volatility, globalization, climate change and migration.

The impact of digitalization, robotics and outsourcing contribute to “hollowing out” the organisation. Tomorrow’s leaders will have fewer people to manage and a growing, diverse and complex number of groups and organisations with which they will need to partner to succeed. Leadership changes from vertical to horizontal, leading not only the organisation, but also creating partnerships and synergies with different interest groups to be successful. Developing alliances and working through networks is an essential leadership competency.

Thinking and being alert globally, understanding global trends and adapting agilely to the unexpected is another leadership competency. The learning capacity of leaders and organisations must consider the speed at which the environment is changing to prevent extinction.

The study identifies the following changes in leadership as necessary:

  1. From ‘leading my people’ to ‘orchestrating business ecosystems’
  2. From “heroic individual leaders” to “collective and collaborative leadership”
  3. Leadership driven by purpose and value creation for all stakeholders.
  4. From serial and fragmented innovation to working simultaneously in three time frames (today, tomorrow and the future).
  5. Embracing multiple individual diversity and also systemic diversity
  6. The leader must be a developer of others.
  7. Leadership must be able to maintain a high level of motivation in diverse generations of collaborators.
  8. The ethical maturity necessary to live in a transparent world.
  9. The importance of creating successful alliances and networks

The study highlights the need to evolve towards greater leadership maturity and ethical maturity, the importance of creating value for all stakeholders, developing greater awareness of the organisation’s diversity, and the importance of collective and collaborative leadership.

This change can be facilitated through systemic coaching, which brings the perspectives of different stakeholders to teams, supporting them to work connected with purpose and a vision of success, promoting the development of trust to increase the quality of engagement, the development of relationships, alliances and connections, and the co-creation of solutions that promote organisational learning.
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.