Magnify Diversity And Coaching
Because of our unique life’s experiences everyone has certain prejudices and biases, both good and bad, that we content with. The question is not whether a great leader-coach has prejudices and biases, but how they manage their biases. These biases can pose an enormous obstacle for a leader-coach when they are asked to coach someone who for whatever reason fits into a category that the particular coach has a potential negative bias against. As the workforce has become more diverse, and as companies become more international in nature, leaders may be more challenged in handling diversity related issues effectively. More and more leaders will be needed to coach those who have backgrounds and experiences drastically different from their own. When coaching those of different cultural backgrounds coaches may be totally unaware of the emotional reactions that may occur subconsciously because of the cultural differences and the “different visions of life” that result from those different cultural experiences (Goldsmith & Lyons 2006, p. 133). The potential downside of not being able to recognize and deal with resulting biases can have huge negative consequences to organizations.
I have spent a large portion of my career working overseas several large corporations. During that time I have witnessed many talented managers fail because of their inability to adjust their styles and be more accepting and understanding of those who are different from themselves. I worked particularly closely with one executive who had a commanding style of leadership. His approach conflicted drastically with the multi-national team which he was assigned to lead in Spain. Because of his inability to recognize and accept the diversity of thoughts and approaches that the multi-cultural team contained, he was unable to successfully manage the project and eventually was demoted. Although this manager had been very successful in the organization in the US, he was unable to accept that a different leadership style was needed to be successful in an international and culturally diverse team environment. His bias was to manage the team from a directive leadership style. He complained about how the team wanted to take long lunches; about discussions taking too long; and about “dissent” among team members. Rather than attempt to understand the cultural nuances, he relied on what had proven successful to him in the past and he pushed the team harder move quickly to accept his solutions. Eventually, the project was reassigned to another leader and he was demoted to another position back in the US. Despite having a very talented team assigned to his group, he was unable to manage this diverse group, leading to negative consequences for him, the team and the organization. His inability to adjust kept him from seeing the huge opportunity that existed in leading this diverse team. Because he failed to appreciate the uniqueness of each individual and the value they bring to the team and the potential benefits they brought to him and the organization, he was unsuccessful in achieving any meaningful results.
The leader-coach can improve outcomes when dealing with diverse teams by questioning their own assumptions about the individual and/or the cultural group they represent. Rather than taking actions based on past beliefs and conclusions which the leader-coach has made based on their own prior experiences, which are likely biased toward their own personal cultural background, the coach should question those assumptions, gather input and explore meanings with the “coachee” and not make assumptions nor draw conclusions until an understanding of differences are fully examined (Hargrove 2003, p. 187). This approach should lead to better understanding between coach and “coachee” and improved results when coaching those of diverse backgrounds.
References:
Goldsmith, M., and Lyons, L (2006). Coaching for leadership: The practice of leadership coaching from the world’s greatest coaches. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Hargrove, R.A., (2003). Masterful coaching: Inspire and impossible future while producing extraordinary leaders and extraordinary results. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Magnify Leadership and Development
6232 South Vinecrest Drive • Murray, Utah 84121 • Phone: 801-266-0849
Email: info@magnifyleadership.com
Website: www.magnifyleadership.com
James Gehrke is the President of Magnify Leadership and Development.
After various promotions in Sales, Sales Operations, Training & Development, and Sales Management and Training, he headed Pfizer’s Learning & Development for all of Europe, Canada, Africa, & the Middle East where he was instrumental in the development of a global management curriculum and other training initiatives to enhance organizational effectiveness for over 30,000 employees. He has worked on many high levels, cross functional teams addressing issues such as Field Force Effectiveness, Change Leadership, Leader Behavior Development, Executive Coaching and many others.
Since starting his own training company, James has developed and trained both public and private leadership, coaching, targeting and territory management sessions for hundreds of participants in various industries. James is bilingual and can teach in both English and Spanish
http://www.magnifyleadership.com
