Why Performance Coaching Might Just Be What You Are Looking For?

Written by: Marty Wightman, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

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We’ve all been there, we’re trying our hardest in our job and the results are just not coming through. Your boss is noticing and it’s not great for your self-esteem either. This is where the power of Performance Coaching can really come in handy.

Performance Coaching as described by Auerbach (2001) as “Performance Coaching helps clients focus on fine-tunning their skills and actions, clarifying their goals, and developing action steps to help achieve short-term goals or long-term strategic plans”. My own definition of Performance Coaching is that it is a method of coaching to improve upon a coachee’s cognition, behaviour, options, opportunities and identify raw materials to move towards a pre-defined goal.

There are some obvious signs of whether you are performing at an optimal range or suboptimal.

A very simple and understandable visual of performance optimisation through to deterioration can be described by Teasdale and McKeown (1994), and also by Nixon (1979) and pictured below:

There of course, can be difficulties in establishing performance goals. The first action is to assess the coachee against their performance goal they wish to establish. Getting from point A (Starting point) and getting the point B (B) means a gap analysis needs to take place.

The gap analysis can cover multiple areas of a coachee’s ability. As their coach, I would carry out an Assessment of the Current Performance utilising questions and scaling. Let me give you an example.

“Alex” (an alias) has come to my practice due to not meeting his sales targets for the 3rd month in a row and feels he needs an intervention, he is a self-referral.

I would follow a questioning set like the one below:

• What are the specific areas of the sales performance you would like to work on?

• What do you feel you need to focus on to add additional value to your organisation?

• How would you currently rate the sales process steps on your performance, from 1 – 10, with 10 being excellent?

a. Prospecting

b. Initial comms

c. Qualifying your prospect

d. Nurture your prospect

e. Needs analysis

f. Pitching

g. Overcoming objections

h. Closing the sale

• Describe your last 3 sales interactions and what feedback have you received on these?

• What might be holding you back on the areas where you and/or others have scored you low on?

• Utilising a Strengths Wheel from Positive Psychology – where can you see areas of movement that can enhance performance?

• What KPIs are you being measured on, and we can create a Performance Improvement Plan for these?

• What other ideas would you have in enhancing your performance?

• What else do I need to know that may be hindering your performance? i.e Anxiety?

In the end, we used a Performance Improvement Plan but also looked into his cognitive behaviours too.

See below:

​Performance Area: A build up of lost pitches has spooked a coachee into closing at pitch stage

​Performance Interfering Thoughts (PITS)	Performance Enhancing Thoughts (PETS)
​Unhelpful: I am seen as a failure from my CEO in the EMEA market.	Helpful: I recently won the top sales person in my area pre-COVID. I am a skilled sales person. I know over 20+ ways to close a deal.
Irrational: I will probably lose my job if I don’t close the next pitch.	Rational: I cannot control the outcome of sales. Things like pricing or chemistry with the client and my team are out of my control.
Lacking Evidence: I’m sure they probably have me on a redundancy list. I can sense it.	​Seeking Evidence: I will arrange a meeting with HR and my CEO to start an open discussion on this topic.
​Illogical: I fully own the won or lose decision – it’s all on my shoulders.	Logical: COVID has seen pitches stopped, seen clients looking for bottom floor pricing, and we are expensive. I do not actually have full control over the solution I’m pitching.
	Thinking Skills: Stop Mind Reading and open the conversation with HR.

It's amazing just how powerful Performance Coaching can be. Why don’t you try some self-coaching or speak to a member of Betterr, the Online Life Coach.

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info!

Read more from Marty!

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Marty Wightman, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Marty qualified as a coach in 2007 when he set up his practice in London, UK. He holds a Masters's degree in Psychology, and he graduated from the University of East London. In addition to his academic qualifications, he is a member of the Association for Coaching, a Senior Member of the ACCPH, and trained by Stanford University Professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans in Life Design. Marty takes a cognitive-behavioral, rational emotive behavior, and solution-focused approach to psychological coaching and its application to life/personal, health, performance, business, and executive coaching.