The SOLiance Group – Article for SOLiance Solutions – Claire Knowles © 2007

COACHING…because Connectivity Matters…

(by Claire Knowles)

(Many Business Leaders desire the skill and/or courage to genuinely connect with and respectfully raise important issues with the people in their respective organizations…the very people whom they rely on to advance their business forward!)

     The “last frontier” for exponential growth, the place you’ll find a new and sustainable competitive edge, resides in improving both the staff connectivity (internal relations) and market connectivity (improved win ratio).  This statement is at the heart of Susan Scott’s 2004 best-selling book, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and In Life One Conversation at a Time.   Susan Scott notes that “While no single conversation is guaranteed to change the trajectory of a career, a company, a relationship or a life---any single conversation can.”   

    Connectivity (internally and externally) begins with being able to hold the important conversations---the ones that matter, the genuine ones that make the difference, that advance an organization forward. It means holding quality conversations around issues that matter with people, groups, teams, organizations, communities and yes, to also build coherence with customers and suppliers.

    We all know what “undiscussables” are---sometimes we refer to them as the “elephant that is hiding under the rug”.  Susan Scott shares that the Maoris in New Zealand have a special name for the “under-the-surface issue”; they call it “Mokida”---that which is not spoken.  They judge the health of any community by the number of “mokidas” that exist within it.  Have you “undiscussables” in your organization?  Is there something that you are pretending not to know?

    Coaches that are worth their salt know how to lift up the “undiscussables” that are hiding in organizations so that Leaders can address them head-on. Effective coaching includes a highly-tuned and powerful process of communication and problem solving. It is all about high-powered conversations…the conversations that penetrate for greater clarity, coherence, improved understanding and conversations

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that provoke and create the impetus for change.  Coaching allows for facing courage issues that often inhibit honest conversations to take place.  Here are some starter questions:

        *If your coach talked with employees in your organization for the next few days, what would likely be uncovered as the “Mokidas”—the “under-the-surface” issues people feel they can’t talk about?  Why is that?

        *What are you trying to make happen/accomplish in the next few months?  What’s getting in your way?

        *What’s the most important decision you’re facing? What’s keeping you from making it?

        *What are the areas of your business that you really don’t want to talk about….why?

        *What area under your responsibility are you most satisfied with? Least satisfied with?  What are you doing about these?

        *What conversation are you avoiding right now?

        *What do you wish you had more time to do?

        *If you started your Staff Meeting off tomorrow with this question, “What’s the most important thing we need to be talking about?”…how open would you be to what you would hear?

     SOLiance Group Coaches possess a blend of authenticity, skill, integrity, experience and business savvy. We bring 80+ years of experience in Human Resources Management, Mediation, Governance, Leadership and Management to the Coaching Process. In addition we are highly skilled in “organizational sensing”, that is, “lifting up the Mokidas” that hide under the surface!

©2007 – Claire Knowles – The SOLiance Group – Niagara Falls, NY