@Debasis – Boy I wish we had you in the Dojo Session this morning when we practiced FeedForward. What you’re talking about in terms of sustainability is structuring the environment for success. A commonly undervalued part of the environment is stakeholders.

It’s funny because we’re familiar with this concept but with self-input. E.g. You put your running shoes by the door the night before as a reminder to run. You put your keys next to your wallet by the door. We perhaps lay out clothes for the morning, put fresh cut fruit in the fridge so it’s easy to snack on, and put reminders in our calendars for important tasks. Then we obey all these signals we’ve sent ourselves.

FeedForward is the social equivalent of putting your keys by the door – it’s a reminder of what you want to do, why you want to do it, who benefits from the action, and it serves as a audio/visual cue to do the action where it takes place (i.e. at work).

The idea that behavior change rarely is a solo project is….*chef’s kiss*

Messy is an interesting word here. Leadership and social structures are complex systems which means interconnectedness can appear as mess. Rather than using a problem-focus, what if we used a opportunity-focus?

Imagine we drew 2 circles on a page and labeled one as “Things stakeholders want” and the other as “Changes the leader is willing to make,” you’ll see a high degree of overlap in the center. That’s the opportunities the leader is ready to capitalize upon and stakeholders are ready to look out for and support.

In this mode, problem identification is unnecessary since we’re focusing on things both parties are overwhelmingly ready to engage in.

What are your thoughts on this, @Bernhard?

Haha. Add a [TRIGGER WARNING] next time!

It’s hard to see, yet we are uniquely qualified to turn things around. I often teach that the goal a leader picks ALMOST doesn’t matter. The real magic is in saying, “Donna, our relationship is important to me. Help me understand what is important to you so I can serve you better.” This message, when reinforced regularly and consistently, is far more powerful than the specificity of the goal.

That’s why goal selection for my clients is often done as FeedForward rather than feedback.

“I’d like to be a better leader to you. If I were to focus my efforts on 1-2 areas, what would you suggest?”….”Thank you. What’s 1-2 specific behaviors in that area you would recommend I focus on first?”…”Thank you.”

This enables goal selection and action planning concurrently without anyone needing to focus on the past at all. Give it a try and let me know how it works.

I coach leaders to put it this way: “I am responsible for momentum. You are responsible for direction. I’m going to focus my efforts on moving towards [goal]. To the extent you help me understand what that looks like, I’ll hit the target. Otherwise, I’ll be guessing. But make no mistake about it: I will be in motion and getting faster every week.”

@Bernhard – And, everyone can gain accountability in the process. as you well-said, the leader’s accountability to change is to themselves. Their public commitment to change invites others to contribute. Followers (or stakeholders) gain accountability in coaching,….but for what??

In Stakeholder Centered Coaching®, we teach 3 areas of accountability for followers:
– To focus on the future, not on the past
– Be helpful and supportive, not cynical, sarcastic, or judgmental
– Tell the truth and avoid sugarcoating reality

Through the coaching, stakeholders get trained on their accountability for responding to check-ins, to give suggestions on the goal, and to regularly reinforce change. This aligns the leader, the stakeholders, and the organization.

Yes. In fact, perhaps on the most valuable skills to train leaders in is curiosity. This leads to regular experimentation. Their bend towards measurement, or even quantification bias, will encourage measurement. When paired with After Action Reviews, you become an unstoppable force for good as a trusted advisor to the organization.

Bingo! “Psychology is good for understanding the past. Coaching is good for changing the future.” There is no right or wrong, nor good vs. bad. It is utility. Highly motivated, highly successful people are far more interested in what they CAN CHOOSE to do vs. what they already did wrong.

@Bernhard – I’ll push the point even further…changes in behavior can happen concurrently with awareness and insight.

For example, when a child touches a hot stove, there is no gap between awareness and change in behavior. This extends, perhaps, even into staying upright on a bike where rapid interceptive input translates instantly into changes in behavior and motion.

Further, and much more compelling in my opinion, are models where behavior change necessarily precedes awareness and insight. Examples that spring to mind include adopting an early-waking routine or fitness routine. Rarely is it done out of desire or joy…that comes later. It is the push/pull of “I do this because I like it” vs. “I like this because I do it.”

As coaches, we are ideally able to bring the 3 into alignment. Yet there is no problem with a particular set of sequencing. Just remember that in the gap between awareness and achievement is discomfort. Great coaches minimize this gap and are able to bring the two ends together so an awareness of deficiency in a particular behavior is immediately paired with agency to improve.

Spoken like a seasoned SCC coach, @Debasis 😉

Not only does our impact grow when we do the translation…it scales exponentially to the extent we can avoid the need for translation in the first place. In other words, the coach only needs to translate if the message was unclear in the first place.

As you said, feedback often needs translation from uncomfortable and conceptual input into something actionable. Between ‘receiving feedback’ and ‘translating into actionable insights,’ the leader is left with all the yuck of feedback while the givers of feedback are simmering in uncertainty of (a) what’s going to be done with the feedback and, (b) what reputational harm have I done myself by giving it?

You serve all involved by going straight into “What can I do better next time?” and skipping, “What did I do wrong last time?”