Tom Watkins Coaching

Leadership Coaching | Self-Management | Capacity Development

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The purpose and wisdom of teams

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When I accompany my coaching clients to team meetings I often observe not teamwork but business-as-usual conducted in a group setting.  Any actual teamwork achieved is a matter of luck. Although participants may leave with good feelings because we had a good discussion, got through the agenda on time or made decisions, those outcomes do not, in themselves, indicate teamwork. Team functioning differs from group functioning, is capable of different outcomes and has different applications.  Teams … [Read more...]

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Leadership – what’s new?

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Given the extent of research into and writing about the practice of workplace leadership, it's remarkable that so many organisations, groups and teams perform with no better than average efficiency and effectiveness. Theorists disagree about causes and remedies but unite on the need to continue their research and publishing, adding to the plethora of conflicting approaches, mismatching "key principles" and "essential steps". Alluring promises of breakthroughs abound but there's much more … [Read more...]

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Start with why

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When asked about meetings they attend,  people often roll their eyes or sigh heavily and say, "Don’t ask!" Clearly, something’s wrong. While "ineptly-facilitated" is one of the usual suspects and an obvious contributor to the problem, something fundamental and frequently overlooked usually lies at its heart.  It’s a major flaw which seriously reinforces the tendency of meetings to waste time, squander potential and irritate the participants.  One researcher points bluntly to it when he describes … [Read more...]

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Assumptions for coaches and coaching

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Our coaching practices reflect whatever assumptions we hold about the process, the relationship, our role, the client's,  and the wider workplace context.  Which are useful assumptions are for you to determine.  Use this extract from my Coaching Practices guidebook to shed light on and clarify yours. It's important  that you remain aware of them and moderate those that need change. These are the basic beliefs and assumptions I've distilled and refined from my 25 years as professional … [Read more...]

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The coaching relationship

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A constructive workplace coaching relationship (one that serves to improve, is practical and productive) depends on skill for which the coach is responsible and the presence of order, impartiality, trust, safety, and mutual respect for which the parties have equal responsibility. Rather than focus solely on the content of coaching sessions, coach and client should have a shared understanding of their approach to  these matters. Responsibilities of the coach: While coaching may be arranged … [Read more...]

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Why delegate? Why not?

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On the face of it, delegating work is a simple and straightforward matter:  identify tasks you want someone else to carry out and ask them to get on with it.  So why do many leaders and managers find it difficult and delegate insufficiently or not at all?  What are their practical and attitudinal obstacles? We delegate by assigning authority or duties to someone who acts for us. As a leadership practice it involves allocating, entrusting and supporting others to carry out work towards … [Read more...]

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Leadership lessons in a merger

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A merger-in-progress of two large service organisations is struggling to achieve its intentions. What’s happening has important lessons for everyday leadership and self-management practices.  The distinctly different organisational cultures are not a natural mix; each has a long history of operating idiosyncratically in separate areas, serving distinctly different demographics with strong local loyalties and attachments, and of growing their own unique responses to local problems over many … [Read more...]

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Stop talking about values!

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Values are measured by what we do, not by what is said. Whatever we may want an organisation’s culture to resemble, its nature and character are determined by the approach its members consistently apply to their roles and duties. That's the difference between proclaimed or espoused organisational culture (professed or declared as existing or intended) and applied (functional, actually experienced) organisational culture. An organisation's or team's leadership should identify and clarify the … [Read more...]