The Future of Technology and Executive Coaching

The Future of Technology and Executive Coaching

As a non-technology individual and by that I mean I really don't understand how it all works (it feels like magic). I am a consistent user of all that keeps me informed and connected to the wider world. I can get information on any subject at any time in virtually any place. Recently Google reported that it had over a billion discrete hits on its sight. That is one in 7 people has used Google since its inception. The use of technology has revolutionized all aspects of our daily lives. Watson, the IBM built computer won on the game show Jeopardy. Computers now can beat the best chess champions in the world. Robotic arms and lasers are all digitally modulated to reach precise locations in our bodies. The use of technology has no boundaries and feels limitless.
So what does this all mean and where do we as leaders in organizations need to do to be ready for the next wave of personal technology.

The futurist Ray Kurzweil writes that in the not too distant future, technology will be part of the human body. Already we have cameras that patients swallow to see the inner working of the body (they are eliminated through the digestive system), and information chips that let us know where our animals are and to whom they belong. Kurzweil writes that these technological marvels will tell us everything we need to know about what is going on inside our bodies. He also writes "Intelligence will become increasingly non-biological and trillions of times more powerful than today".

What will not change is the human components, the emotional awareness, the ability to understand, all the aspects of our emotions that make great leaders today, will still be what makes great leaders in the future. No technology will take the place of human awareness. It is how the leader interacts with the individuals, influences decision-making, motivates and rewards the individuals, which will result in success outcomes.
It is the responsibility of the technology leaders to understand that the human component of behavior and emotional intelligence is always going to the most important factor in success. Emotional Intelligence is the cutting edge no computer will ever get and that sets true leaders apart. It is here that executive coaching can help leaders accelerate their success.

"The Good Boss", Google Style and Executive Coaching

As an executive coach, I have had many clients where the individual needing the coaching was not a good manager or a strong leader.  A poor manager impacts the team negatively which often leads to lower productivity and inadequate results.
I have also coached great leaders, adored by their teams who accomplish amazing results but cannot get along with a terrible boss.
In both cases I wonder, what is a "good boss" and why does coaching work to make them more successful?

A recent New York Times article, March 13, 2011, described the process that Google, (the mega giant of information) used in ascertaining what is a productive, successful leader as measured by their teams. The Google HR folks looked at several years worth of data, massaging the information into numerous categories in order to discover what made a "good" leader. After the complex process was completed, Google's HR folks came up with 8 significant traits.
What was so interesting about the ranking of these 8 traits was that coming in dead last - remember this is Google, the king of technology, the master of information - was "technical expertise'!

The two most vital traits for successful leadership as a boss was having a clear vision for the team and connecting with the team members in more social terms. In other words, good bosses know where they are going and make consistent, quality time for the individuals needed to get to the goal. The individual team members willingly followed bosses they trusted with the team's success.

It turns out that even at Google, leadership is not about the hard skills, but rather about the soft ones. People leave companies when they have a bad boss. They thrive when they feel involved, valued, communicated with, and trust their leader.
I am not sure that hundreds of pages of data was needed to prove that the leaders and bosses at Google have the same traits as the leaders elsewhere. Research has shown the same results over and over again. Yet, when Google did their analysis, the results were similar.

Executive Coaching enhances the social soft skills and eliminates behaviors that get in the way of success. So what does Google do for their less than good leaders, you guessed it. They get the individual a coach!!

Organization Politics and Executive Coaching:How to Navigate When You Don't Play Politics

Organizations are complex entities.  They have specific cultures and rules. Navigating the different channels: working up, down and across the organization while executing on strategic goals, makes successful leadership difficult.

Who are the influencers and who are the least powerful? How does an executive learn organizational savviness while remaining as positive as possible? How do you motivate your team and align with the senior management? What if you see yourself as” not being political”? What do you do then?

Executive coaching is a process that enables the executive to understand themselves, the team, the organization and the rules that are in play. It is a concrete process that results in deliberate behavior changes. By learning which behaviors work in what situations, the leader learns what success looks like.

Everyone is political. I am going to repeat that statement, everyone is political. Just as making no decision is making a decision (to do nothing), claiming not to be political is being political. And that has consequences. A good coach will work with the leader to understand themselves and all the aspects of the organization as they relate to the leader and the goals that are necessary for success. Being political does not mean betraying your values but rather understanding how to succeed in an environment and what the rules are. According to Ephraim Schacter, “executive coaches help senior leaders deliberately chose behaviors to optimize organizational results.” In other words, be political.

Tiger Moms and Executive Coaching: How they relate

There has so much been written in the last few weeks, both pro and con, about raising children in the “Chinese” tiger mom method. Included in this method is having high expectations, practicing behaviors that give rise to success, and being totally committed to that success. (I am not going to discuss what success means in this blog posting or go into Amy Chua’s book).

One of the underlying assumptions in this Tiger Mom philosophy is that intelligence is the most important piece and that focusing on those skills that enhance academic accomplishment, will lead to success. What is not stressed is the importance of Emotional Intelligence and how self-awareness and being socially savvy leads to higher levels of success.

From Willie Geist (no this is not sarcasm on my part) of Morning Joe who spoke of the best leaders are the ones who can build strategic relationships, or David Brooks of the NY Times who wrote, “They (the kids raised this way) grow up skilled and compliant but without audacity to be great”, the notion that there is more to happiness, success and greatness than academic excellence or high IQ.

So what does all this have to do with Executive Coaching?

Over the years, I would say that the majority of coaching I have done is to enhance and build on executives’ emotional intelligence. Executive coaching is first and foremost about believing that the executive will succeed. It is similar to the tiger moms’ belief that the child will succeed. Both the coach and the tiger mom look at building new skills through practicing new behaviors. One of the major differences, and there are many, is that my executive coaching stresses the importance of emotional intelligence. It is as important, if not, more important that the technical and scientific skills that got the executive to their current position. Many executives reach a level where leadership is required and that means knowing yourself and how to get others motivated to reach a goal. This is where EIQ comes in.

The people at the top are not always the smartest in terms of IQ, but most have superb emotional intelligence.

Can We Change?

Yesterday I had lunch with an old friend who is also the COO of a major organization. He asked me if people can really change. If someone as high up and capable as he is questions this possibility how can I convince him?
YES people can change behaviors. With practice, positive rewards and a change in their belief system, they can be different. I have seen it work.