Problems of resistance to coaching

Well-conducted coaching can give excellent results in business. But in order for these fruits to spring up, first of all, the conditions must be conducive to this. In other words, managers have a lot of prejudices about coaching, and the sooner they get rid of them, the sooner they will be able to achieve the desired result for their company together with the coach. That’s what you need to get rid of when working with a coach.

High expectations

It is impossible to transform an authoritarian management model in an organization into a partner model in a month of coaching. Moreover, it is quite a difficult task at any time. It’s like changing the habits of older people. Only here it is necessary to change the behavioral patterns of employees — the work is quite painstaking. As a practical advice, we can offer the following. When you think carefully and form your expectations for your first coaching program, divide them into two – you will get a very stressful, but still realistic program. Also, do not confuse the roles of the participants. Don’t expect a coach to change everything. He’s not the main character, it’s you. The coach’s task is that he serves as a tool, an assistant, and organizes the process. You will have to act.

Lack of engagement

Not taking coaching seriously, not being willing to invest your time, energy, emotions in it, lack of desire to change and overcome yourself for the sake of a goal is a direct path to failure.

Fear of opening up

If you are not ready to take risks and want to avoid failure in any way — coaching is not for you. The coach’s task is to prompt and direct, the client’s task is to implement. The process of implementation is associated with a certain level of discomfort, which includes, in particular, the use of new techniques and behavior changes. In other words, the process requires a person to try something new, and this is always not easy. But coaching is precisely aimed at experimenting with new styles of behavior in a safe environment. This allows new communication models to gain a better foothold and smoothly enter “real life” outside of coaching sessions.

Passivity

Coach is not a prince on a white horse. He won’t save the princess for you. But the coach knows where this princess is, how to get past the dragon guarding the castle, and how to get back alive and with the rescued princess. But you are the knight, and you will also have to save the princess. Therefore, when a client, lounging in a chair, waits for instructions from the coach to act, it is at least stupid. This is often due to a lack of understanding of coaching. And even more often because of passivity, which, in turn, reflects the internal uncertainty of the manager. Whether he is afraid to seem ridiculous, to fail or to show weakness — this needs to be dealt with. Understanding the reason helps to overcome this weakness. If not, such coaching is unlikely to be successful.

Unwillingness to involve third parties

The manager is the center of a complex network of social relations. To solve coaching tasks, changing his behavior alone will not be enough. It will also require the involvement of other persons, for example, his closest employees, and also work with them. Therefore, when planning coaching, the manager should consider the moment of attracting other people and tune in to work with them.