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0. Opinion 1. Leadership Coaching 2. Sales Management Coaching 3. Change Management Coaching 4. Career Coaching
FURTHER NEWS * The website of Progress-U has been completely renewed. Please visit: * For upcoming seminars & events please visit: http://www.progressu.com.hk/ * For recent articles on Coaching please visit: http://www.progressu.com.hk/
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Home > Resources > Progress! Newsletter > "Progress!" Issue No4 / May 04 "Progress!" (Progress-U Leadership & Coaching) - Issue No4 / May 2004 Dear "Progress!" Reader, I often wonder why certain companies and organizations are successful while others aren't. Management books will make you believe that if you apply certain techniques or leadership styles, then you are bound to be successful. The authors of these books can even name successful corporations that do exactly that and go on to say that if you thoroughly apply the same principles, you will be successful, too. If you don't succeed, then you must have altered something in the process. But then again, you can also probably name successful organizations that certainly don't follow what is taught in the books-some even do the exact opposite-and yet they are still very successful. I am convinced that in most of the successful companies, a large majority of employees are hardworking. In fact, I have seen successful corporations with very authoritarian leaders and subordinates who work really hard for them despite the fact that they do not like their leadership style. Here's something else to ponder: Have you ever seen people buying things that you feel are not good but these people seem really satisfied with their choices? Have you ever wondered why? When I was working in management and sales, I was often startled when some people were disappointed with something that others were perfectly happy with. At first, I thought it had to do with different standards. However, I realized that it was not standards that made the difference, it was their expectations. From there, it was easy to conclude that once we manage expectations effectively, we can drastically increase the customer (and employee) satisfaction without changing anything else in what we deliver (e.g., our product quality, management style, etc.). Combining these observations, I believe that a key to successful leadership is to be clear in what others can and cannot expect from you as a leader. Your leadership style may not be the way your people want it but as long as they know what they will "get," they are likely to adapt to it and be productive. People get distracted and unproductive when there is no continuity and when they cannot rely on a certain style-for example, when a leader is very liberal today and then all of a sudden very controlling the next day, only to be liberal again a few days later. Managing expectations effectively is extremely helpful in all aspects
of life, even with your life partner! Yours sincerely,
1. Leadership Coaching To start a new position is an extraordinary challenge, especially
if it is one's first time in a leadership role. There is a high risk
of failure not necessarily because the position is unsuitable, but
because of a lack of understanding of the culture, the expectations
of others, and the appropriate behavior during these first critical
weeks. Charlie Lang of Progress-U Ltd. highlights these challenges
and shows how to tackle them effectively. Most managers are "thrown" into their first leadership position without proper preparation. Only few receive some kind of formal training or are professionally guided when assuming a new position. For most of us, it is like being thrown into cold water and watched whether we will sink or swim. What a waste of efficiency and what a risk! Research proves that failure of managers mostly happens during the first three months into their new assignment, while failure related lay-offs at a later time are rather rare. A lay-off within the first 90 days however, is usually a very costly event, which encompasses:
You may want to read a case study of one manager's failed start-up in a new position by visiting http://www.progressu.com.hk/emergency-operation.htm. The higher the position and compensation package, the higher the cost for such failures. If a directorial position is involved, it could translate to several hundred thousands of HKD. A professional executive coach with experience in leadership coaching could be priceless for any executive during these first months on the job. Here's why:
The potentially very favorable cost-benefit-ratio of professional coaching in the early days of any leadership position suggests that a start-up coaching program should be a standard component of any new leadership appointment. Including such a program in the terms of employment also demonstrates an employer's sincere concern and may be a good tool to attract the best candidates for the position. "Can you afford a professional coach?" may be the wrong question to ask, particularly in this kind of situation. Rather, the question should be: "Can you afford not to have a start-up coaching program?" The clear benefits of such a program include:
Based on these potential benefits, Progress-U developed a "Start-up Right! Program" consisting of: a) Assessment of the new environment of the executive (the executive
coach interviews the HR manager and the superior of the executive
to be coached) b) Assessment of the executive to be coached (for this purpose, Progress-U
uses a dedicated assessment tool from Harrison Assessments®, for
further details visit http://www.progressu.com.hk/assessments.htm) c) 3 months executive coaching (1st month: 4 coaching sessions; 2nd
month: 3 sessions; 3rd month: 2 sessions) For more information related to the Progress-U "Start-up Right! Program" please visit http://www.progressu.com.hk/start-up.htm. In case you are interested in the other Leadership Programs of Progress-U Ltd., please visit http://www.progressu.com.hk/products.htm
2. Sales Management
Coaching
When your customer is ready to buy, there is usually more than one product available to solve his problem. In an ideal world, your customer values your unique support in the decision-making process and does not want to consider your competitors anymore. Unfortunately, one cannot count on such loyalty. Therefore, it is crucial to help the buyer make his decision by pointing out unique buying propositions (UBPs) that reflect true customer benefits. Note: I changed the popular term "unique selling proposition" (USP) to UBP to create a better awareness that the buying process, not the selling process, is more important. Key Motivators Why do customers buy? Research on buying motivation reveals that there is a range of motivators underlying buying decisions, i.e., one or more of these motivators are behind every purchase decision.
Further, it was found out that there are three key motivators, at least one of which can be found in practically every buying decision. These three key motivators are
As a consequence, it is important to address these key motivators and work out UBPs reflecting true customer benefits. Customer Benefits Let's say you want to buy a mobile phone. You enter a shop and the salesperson will start telling you about the features of a new phone model, such as having a SiNi battery instead of a NiCa battery. Does this mean anything to you? Probably not, unless you're a tech-geek and get excited about such things. If the salesperson tells you the benefit of the feature- in this case, for instance, the SiNi battery has a higher capacity-then it makes more sense to you and you find out about the "product benefit." Ideally, the salesperson should tell you upfront what your benefit is ("customer benefit"). So in this example, the salesperson could say something like: "You can be sure that this mobile phone will work continuously for the whole day, no matter how much you use it, thanks to the new SiNi battery technology, which has a higher battery capacity. Think about it: if you're a heavy phone user, you're actually saving money you would have used to buy a spare battery." The salesperson does the following: - States a customer benefit, which the customer easily understands People are motivated by different things when they decide to buy. Ideally, a salesperson should first identify the buyer's motivators, then state benefits that match these motivators. This means that product management should prepare various UBPs for their sales team to address these various motivators.
Business-to-business (B2B) buyers usually canvass the product prices of competing suppliers so they can get the lowest possible price with their potential suppliers. This may be one reason salespeople often believe that price is the key factor in buying decisions. Although understandable, this belief can be very limiting. Changing this way of thinking can lead to more opportunities and better profit margins. Effective salespeople know that their product is unique and worth its price-and they can convince the buyer of this as well. They don't hard sell. Instead, they:
In the beginning, it may be difficult even for the product management to identify true UBPs because sales and marketing people tend to focus on the product itself. Sometimes, the product (e.g., commodities) does not offer very distinctive benefits. However, it is possible to look beyond the product-to the company, customer service, delivery times, the warranty, etc. I have not yet seen a case where it was impossible to identify UBPs. In the Innovative Sales Management Program of Progress-U Ltd., the participants learn and exercise the development of UBPs and to fully assimilate the concept of customer benefits vs. product benefits/features.
3. Change Management
Coaching What triggers any organization to reorganize? Sometimes, it can be growth (or shrinkage) that requires an organization to adapt accordingly. Reorganization can also be triggered by a simple decision to make the processes more efficient (i.e., increase the speed and decrease the cost), thus spurring profitability. Whatever triggers the reorganization, a certain outcome is expected and that is one big, if not the biggest, issue. Is the trigger for reorganization clear to everyone involved? What are the expected results? I've seen it over and over again: the management decides on a reorganization of certain departments and/or processes, gives some vague statements like "We must increase our efficiency" and then expects everybody to follow. What about management of fears? Or coaching of the "reorganization losers"? By ignoring such important concerns, it does not come as a surprise if the reorganization process takes much longer, is being compromised or, the worst scenario, completely fails. As a result, efficiency could plummet and demotivation soars. The Progress-U Win Through Change! Program assists in getting a clear understanding of the anticipated results, helps to set up an effective communication concept for the reorganization process and assures that all key players in the reorganization remain focused on the expected results.
In the next issue of "Progress!" you can read the 2nd of 3 parts of Innovation in Integration: Merger/Fusion NOTE: Progress-U Ltd. offers the Win Through Change! Program
to assist corporations in their change process. For details visit
http://www.progressu.com.hk/ChangeMP.htm
4. Career Coaching When I started my executive coaching practice, my first clients were interested in being coached through a career transition. My clients felt that something was not right at that point in their career, and had a hard time figuring it out and what needed to be changed. I knew that the standard coaching process could help them realize what they needed to achieve, figure out how to get there and finally take action. However, the coaching approach was a very time-consuming process, particularly the process of figuring out their ideal career and evaluating their skills, habits and traits in the existing position, and it sometimes took several months. Both my clients and I were dissatisfied with this setup. I started looking for assessments would be most suitable to cut this process as short as possible. As a result, I discovered that the unique approach and theories of Harrison Assessments (HA) were very powerful in jumpstarting the career-coaching process. The HA Career Guide is a valuable tool for starting, changing, or developing your career. It measures more than 200 factors including your task preferences, motivations, work environment preferences, interests, and interpersonal preferences. The system compares your preferences to the requirements of more than 600 careers and determines which careers are most suited to you. Of course, this is not an assessment for education, experience, or ability to perform specific tasks as these must be considered separately. Further, the HA reports contain a "consistency score" indicating the consistency of the answers given. A score of 50 or above indicates that the person taking the assessment has clearly understood the questions and answered consistently. A score between 0 and 50 indicate that the person had some confusion about his/her answers, but the results are still quite valid. A score below 0 indicates that the person had significant confusion about his/her answers and thus some aspects of the results may not be relevant. The Career Transition Program of Progress-U Ltd. typically includes the following HA reports: - Career Development Report (gives an understanding of how to progress
in any career, to understand passions, behaviors and traits better) For more information on HA, visit www.harrisonassessments.com.
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