Effectiveness Coaching Model

Overview

 

The Effectiveness Coaching Model operates on the assumption that individuals strive for greater effectiveness to attain desired life outcomes. This cooperative coaching process leverages the desire for change, the potential for transformation, and self-awareness as catalysts. The model comprises three core components: the demand for change, the desired result, and critical behaviors needed to bridge the gap between the current state and the desired future. Additionally, it outlines four cognitive strategies coaches employ: discovering strengths, expanding perspective, deepening insight, and fostering self-acceptance.

 

The FORM coaching process is a structured, goal-oriented methodology that links an individual's need for change to decisive action and desired outcomes. This process relies heavily on the coach using the four cognitive strategies (discovering strengths, expanding perspective, deepening insight, and self-acceptance) as a "thinking partner." The FORM model includes four stages:

1. Feedback: The initial stage focuses on self-perception versus others' perceptions. Recognizing gaps in perception is the starting point for change.
2. Opportunity: Following feedback, individuals identify potential for change and decide to pursue new opportunities. This stage involves an honest self-assessment, with the coach helping to identify and manage internal resistance to change.
3. Reframe: At this stage, the coach uses cognitive strategies to help the coachee transform their existing thinking systems and perspectives to align with their desired results. Expanding perspectives and taking calculated risks are key components of this phase.
4. Move Forward: The final stage involves internalizing the success of the changes and setting new goals. The focus shifts to self-confidence and creating a self-directed roadmap for future results.

The article emphasizes that coaching must occur within a specific context, whether it's the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) global environment or specific workplace dynamics like generational differences. The coach's role is to help individuals navigate these contexts, respect their expertise, and find their own answers to achieve desired results.

 

What is Effectiveness Coaching Model?

 

Effectiveness coaching is based on the assumption that 'people seek effectiveness to increase the possibility of achieving their desired results in life'. Here, effectiveness refers to the degree to which an individual, team, or organization obtains the desired result. Effectiveness coaching is a cooperative activity that increases the possibility of obtaining the desired result by using the motivation to construct the life of the coaching target, the demand and potential for change, and self-awareness about it as an energy source for change. Coaches are experts who play the role of partners who stimulate thoughts and help them achieve the desired results in these cooperative activities(Lee, 2014).

 

The coach diagnoses and analyzes the current situation in which the coaching subject faces according to the effectiveness coaching methodology, clearly determines specific change needs and desired results, and derives critical beahvior to achieve the desired result. Determined behavior is derived through individual coaching, group coaching, or team coaching workshops. the client determines coaching goals that link change needs, critical behaviors, and desired results(called "effective results"), and conduct a series of structured, goal-oriented cooperation activities during the agreed period.

[Figure 1] Effectiveness Coaching Model

 

 

1. Three Components

 

The way to achieve the desired result is to connect people's needs for change(called "need for coaching") with critical behaviors that increase the likelihood of achieving the desired result. The three elements have their own characteristics.

1) Demand for change
From 2002 to 2018, I found seven demands for change as a result of analyzing the action recorded in conversation notes and coaching journals with organizational leaders in individual coaching and group coaching using categorization techniques (Lee, 2019). These demands are psychology that wants to take the initiative in planning and creating one's life to achieve a more desirable appearance than the present appearance, and the need to bridge the gap between the present appearance and the desirable appearance.

Demand for change that requires the help of coaching Coach me is in a person's mind and is not easily revealed. This is because psychology such as a self-defense mechanism interferes with expressing one's inner feelings. Self-defense mechanism is a psychology that works to reject change when there is a demand for change.

2) Desired result
The desired outcome is what you want to achieve at the present time, but it may be more essential. For example, it may be from the purpose of life. The desired outcome itself has a significant impact when it is based on the purpose of life. Depending on the situation, the desired outcome may not be significant if the desired outcome contains the reason for one's existence. However, individuals cannot reject the outcome that the organization wants, and sometimes it conflicts with the outcome that the individual wants. Therefore, individuals must clearly grasp and comprehensively manage the context of the required outcome.

 

3) Critical behavior
What actions will you take to achieve the desired result? Like three days of determination, you pledge to execute to produce the desired result, but it may not last long. The reason why the desired result was not achieved is that the execution failed. Decisive action that is likely to achieve the desired result must be executed, but there are cases where the action is resolved without seriously exploring which action is decisive. These resolutions are usually three days of determination.

When choosing a decisive action, execution power increases and the desired result is obtained. In this way, selecting and executing decisive actions that link people's needs and desired results is a solution to eventually achieving results that satisfy their needs.

 

 

2. Cognitive Strategy

 

The results people want reflect their needs. It is the psychology to take the lead in constructing and making one's life. As we saw earlier, linking demand-action- outcome is not an easy task. The thinking partner, the coach, stimulates thoughts so that people can enter the space of their lives and get the results they want. Change of thought promotes the execution of decisive behavior.

The demand for change belongs to the people they meet in coaching, and the cognitive strategy of changing their frame of thought belongs to the coach. Coaches use four cognitive strategies to change the frame of thought of people they meet in coaching. In the effectiveness coaching model, cognitive strategies are four pillars that support the space where coaching conversations that increase effectiveness take place.

1) Discover Strengths
People demonstrate their potential to solve the problems they face in the context of life and achieve the desired results. When the results obtained by exerting potential meet external evaluation criteria, that potential becomes a strength. Experiences of success with strengths also have a positive effect on self-assessment (Seligman, 2000). People also find strengths in weaknesses. Fencers with shorter legs knew that the center of gravity was lower than those with longer legs, so they turned their weaknesses into strengths with quick footwork. Therefore, we should not be tied to strengths and weaknesses.

In a different context, strengths can turn into weaknesses and weaknesses into strengths. It is necessary to awaken self-awareness about positive changes that are achieving the desired results in the context of life and growing into a better me. The potential to make me a better me is strength. Coaches help people increase the likelihood of solving problems at hand by fully demonstrating their potential without being bound by a dichotomous evaluation framework of strengths and weaknesses. Coaching chooses a growth perspective rather than an evaluation.

2) Expand perspective
People have their own perspective on the world. The perspective is a framework of perception that grasps the world and copes with environmental changes. This perspective is highly efficient in perceiving and coping with the environment, but it is likely to become fixed as experience accumulates. When bound to a point of view, a self-confirming strategy of finding information that supports that point of view is used, and eventually, one's point of view is biased (Snyder & Swann, 1978).

If you look at a different perspective or understand the other person's point of view, you can effectively manage social relationships or cope with the environment. Perspective is a cognitive concept that is in close contact with self-identity, so self-centeredness works. The coach, who is the thinking partner, helps people not be bound to their point of view. Flexible perspectives allow people to see a given context differently and discover various possibilities and opportunities. Just as I am a rational being, it is important to think that the other person is also a being, and to question what I believe and explore what I do not see.

3) Deepen insight
People find better solutions from insights that arise in the process of experiencing strength discovery and perspective expansion. Insight comes from brain rest and flexible mental state rather than controlled consciousness (Kounios & Beeman, 2014). Insight is the result of instantaneous integration of a floating stage rather than the result of deep logic, and at this time, the expansion of perception and enlightenment occur as existing perceptions are reconstructed. In the moment of these insights, creativity is intervened to discover hidden values. In this respect, insight is the basis of innovation.

4) Self-acceptance
The last cognitive strategy to change people's thinking frame is self-acceptance. Self-acceptance is to accept me as I am without conditions (Ellis, 1994). In other words, a person is imperfect, but to respect and love the whole thing. Therefore, self-acceptance is to admit imperfections. Coaches stimulate people to think so that they can accept the reality they are experiencing as it is without any conditions. The subjects of self-acceptance are the people the coach meets, and they choose and make decisions. Since self-acceptance is not about stopping, but about accepting change, the role of a coach helps them stimulate and experience thoughts so that they can increase the likelihood of self-acceptance.

 

 

3. Coaching Process, FORM

A series of implementations that link people's needs for change to decisive behavior and desired outcome is the FORM coaching process (Lee, 2014). In this process, the coaching target reveals his or her needs for change, and the coach uses cognitive strategy. This process is a goal-oriented cooperative activity that helps the coaching target achieve the desired result.

[Figure 2] The 3S-FORM Coaching Model for Creating Behavioral Change

 

1) Feedback
In the first step, feedback, the coaching target receives self-feedback and others' feedback. As the rank increases in the organization, they receive various feedbacks, but they rarely ask for feedback themselves. They say they receive feedback, but it is rare that actual feedback is made through face-to-face communication. Coaches help coaching subjects find the entire pattern and message contained in the feedback and ask them to say what they feel and think.

A typical reason for people to think that they should change their thoughts and actions is when there is a difference in self-perception and the perception of others. When there is a difference in perception between the person I see and the person I see others, I try to close the gap. In particular, people who have a positive perception of themselves in the future are active in narrowing the gap. In this way, the beginning of change is to fully recognize feedback and is the secret to becoming a better person.

2) Opportunity
Through feedback, coaching subjects discover their strengths and weaknesses, understand themselves more, and have time for insight. In this process of recognition, there is also a mind to seize and challenge new opportunities for change. The second step, opportunity discovery opportunity, is an important moment for the coaching target to become a better me because they recognize the possibility of change and decide whether to choose. Therefore, the coach clearly recognizes the difference between the leader who wants to be the coaching target and the current one. Subsequently, the coach finds the need for change at the job site, reflects it in the change goal, and tries to put it into action.

In this process, the coach assists the coaching staff in having an honest conversation with themselves. When attempting new changes, the inner sound, such as the Kremlin or the Sabotour, acts as a mechanism to interfere with the change, so the change was resolved, but it is highly likely that it will be three days of determination.

3) Reframe
The changes and challenges lead to a third step, the reformulation. At this stage, the coaching target clearly recognizes that the existing thinking system, perspective, concept definition, etc. have changed from the previous perspective and experiences the transformation of the existing thinking system, perspective, and conceptual definition into a new edition. In this process, the coach asks himself the following questions. "What does the coaching target's behavior now to achieve the desired result in the current situation come from his thoughts? What is he thinking now?"

As a thinking partner, the coach conducts coaching that changes the thinking frame of the coaching target through the four cognitive strategies (strength discovery, perspective expansion, insight deepening, and self-acceptance) introduced above. Through this, the coaching target thinks and acts differently than before, helping to move in the direction of obtaining the desired result.

If the perspective expands, it is likely to embrace diversity, and in a newly reconstructed thinking system, coaching subjects take on the challenge of taking risks. Successful experiences through perspective change and risk-taking are energy sources that can advance further.

4) Move Forward
The coaching target arrives at the final stage, forward movement forward. At this stage, the coaching target internalizes the success experience of change and draws new goals and dreams. Change is not stagnation, but another beginning. Coaches, who are thought partners, stimulate coaching targets to explore new possibilities. The environment of life remains the same, but perspectives on that environment are diverse. Coaching targets can see the world differently and experience diversity in life according to the perspective they choose.

The coach asks the coaching target to objectively explore the facilitating and interfering factors when he or she tries to move forward. At this stage, the reflection activity of the coaching target is important in thinking about a roadmap for self-confidence and self-directed production of the desired result.

 

 

4. Coaching Context

People who meet in coaching have their own unique environment and situational context. This context affects the needs of change, decisive behavior, and desired outcome of people who meet in coaching. There are demands at the individual level, but also demands at the team and organizational level. Context affects people's thoughts and actions. The consensual context is the organization and team to which people belong, and the broader context is the global environment.

1) Global Environment
The characteristics of the global environment are expressed as Bucha VUCA (Thurman, 1991). The speed of change is fast and dynamic volatility, and the qualitative properties that make up the change are rapidly changing, resulting in high volatility and uncertain prediction. The power and dynamics of the changing environment are diverse, have complexity that cannot be explained by causal relationships, and the meaning and pattern of change is ambiguous. In this environment, individuals and organizations must not be shaken, take the opportunity for change, and avoid threats. How is it possible? Obviously, doing that creates the desired result is important, but self-awareness of being, the subject of execution, and efforts to change have become important.

2) Individuals, Teams and Organizations
Looking at the workplace in a consensual context, the lifestyle of the older generation, which created the industrialization miracle, is familiar with the culture of 'quickly faster' than the new generation. The lifestyle of acting before thinking is ingrained in me. Thoughts are up to each person. Even if discussions on finding productive and creative ideas are conducted, they lack the ability to express themselves actively and proactively. Results are more important than processes. New generations have different ways of thinking and values than older generations. If the older generation thinks of themselves as members of the organization, the new generation thinks that there is an organization in one area of individual life. Generational differences also appear in the way they think and work, causing conflict.

   • How will the older generation and the new generation live together?
   • How will an individual make his or her life?
   • How will individuals and organizations get the desired results?
   • How will individuals and organizations coexist?

It is a question for everyone living in this era. The answer is to complete the demand-action- outcome connection in their respective contexts. A coach, who is a thought partner, helps people find answers to their questions. Coaches respect that coaching targets are experts and unique beings in execution in their workplaces, and help them find the answers they want by changing the frame of thought they have.

 

 

5. References

Ellis, A. (1994). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy: Comprehensive method of treating human disturbances: Revised and updated. NY: Citadel Press.

Kounios, J., & Beeman, M. (2014). The cognitive neuroscience of insight. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 71-93.

Lee, Sukjae(2014). Effectiveness Coaching by a Business Psychologist. Seoul: Kim & Kim Books.

Lee, Sukjae(2019). Thought Revolution That Changes My Life. Seoul: Wildbooks.

Seligman, M. E. P. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 1, 5~14.

Snyder, M., & Swann, W. B. Jr. (1978). Behavioral confirmation in social interaction: From social perceptionto social reality. Journal of Experimental Social Pyschology, 14, 148-162.

Thurman, M. P. (1991). "Strategic Leadership," presentation to the Strategic Leadership Conference, US Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA.

 

-Sukjae Lee