How can coaching and mentoring drive culture change?

While coaching and mentoring can serve as important building blocks, they alone are not sufficient to successfully drive culture change. To change culture one needs to understand how it is shaped and this goes way beyond coaching/mentoring. Both can facilitate behavioral changes, both for individuals and groups. Without this guidance, individuals may continue to display existing behaviors, which conflicts with the desired cultural transformation.

Having worked in a number of organisations with very different cultures, styles and tones; coaching and mentoring alone cannot help adapt to a new culture. Business cultures are created as a result of years of myths, stories, rituals and beliefs - there will also be heroes, villains and superstars that will have contributed to the culture. Furthermore, cultures morph over time and are reinvented, refined and reinvigorated but often at a glacial pace. Coaching and mentoring are very important but in many companies today there’s limited bandwidth for such activities. Coaching will help hone a skill or fill a knowledge gap and mentoring will provide a sounding board to better understand yourself at work and your interaction with colleagues.

Simply put as a mentor you’re the expert, as a coach the coachee is always the expert. Critically for me it’s resisting the urge to add value, (prove to the coachee /team member or knowledgeable we are as the expert) when we coach. Coachees will always find solutions, as a coach when we add additional ideas or suggestion this drains the accountability and commitment of the coachee. Both coaching and mentoring deploy similar power skills, listening, asking, Curiosity and uncertainty

As a seasoned leader and strategist, mentoring and professional coaching serve distinct roles in my approach to personal and professional development. Mentoring involves me sharing insights and guidance. It's a relationship-oriented process where I offer advice based on my own journey, covering not only professional nuances but also delving into broader life aspects. Professional coaching, in contrast, aligns with my strategic mindset. It's a structured, goal-oriented collaboration where I guide individuals toward specific objectives by asking powerful questions that empower them to discover solutions. This approach is as I see it more task-oriented, focusing on skill development and promptly addressing immediate challenges.

It is essential to understand the building block for both. Both require enormous amount of honesty, transparency, and real life examples to achieve beneficial outcomes, be it an improvement in skills (coaching) or developing and achieving full potential along the way (mentoring.) Theoretical based coaching or mentoring can’t deliver desired outcomes.

Neither coaching nor mentoring alone can drive cultural change! They both are tools to be utilized while needed. It can be thought of as catalysts when the time, place, and person are all aligned correctly.

Like others, I don't think that mentoring or coaching can drive culture change. But they can be powerful support tools for change strategies and related training initiatives. There are interesting case studies of how the South African civil service used coaching and management training to effectively support massive culture change after apartheid. There were visibly greater improvements to performance by teams when managers received coaching plus training rather than just training. For coaching to be effective, however, coaches need to understand the context they are working in and the vision for the change to help staff engage constructively.

In the dance of personal and professional development, coaching and mentoring play complementary roles. Coaching is neutral and formal, a trusted expert observing routines and guiding for self discovery, creating a conversation that inspires interpretation, adaptation and learning. Mentoring is advisory and freestyle, a vocal choreographer providing their opinion and telling stories from experience. Coaching is the listener, unraveling narratives and fostering engagement, while mentoring is the speaker, suggesting swift and specific changes. Each has a specific lens and valuable contribution, working in elegant synergy to make the dance of growth and change truly unique and evergreen.

I have been mentoring a colleague in a different industry as part of the Gender Equity global programme and one of the big benefits they described was the ability to be truly open as you have no vested interest in their business so your advice, challenge etc is not biased.

Everyone struggles with change to some degree, in my experience. Even people who work in change management! A coaching culture which promotes self awareness and acceptance can make it easier and faster to accept and understand the changes needed and to spot the blockers making it harder to embed.

- Set the scene: inputs and output expected - Define a goal: determine a realistic detailed goal, achievable and measurable (KPIs) - Time it: Determine the time you can dedicate towards that goal

It’s worth changing coaches every now and again so that the relationship between coach and coachee doesn’t become to cosy and loses the aspect of constructive challenge that is so important

Algunos prácticas que considero relevantes: 🔹 Dale a la persona un reto que encaje lo mejor posible con sus expectativas 🔹 Apoyala con esa formación que te ha pedido, o que necesita para realizar su trabajo, que vaya a ese evento que es importante 🔹 Preocúpate de que mejore como profesional, dale el feedback que necesita 1 a 1, en equipo, a nivel 360, con las personas que ella elija… 🔹 Permítele que defina su camino, qué defina sus objetivos, cómo los va a alcanzar, cuando, qué obstáculos se puede encontrar, cómo los va a resolver, que apoyo externo necesita, cómo lo va a medir 🔹 Por encima de todo, acompañala

Less so about alignment to strategy and values, to be useful, coaching and mentoring have to be focused on the coachee and mentee needs. It should not be about the organization although it will ultimately benefit as well. The first priority for these programs to be useful/succeed is if they are relevant to individuals enrolled.

In driving culture change, coaching and mentoring play pivotal roles, something I've learned through practical experience. Best practices in these areas involve more than just imparting knowledge or skills; it's about shaping attitudes and behaviors. One essential method is to align coaching and mentoring goals with the desired cultural shift. This means mentors and coaches not only guide on job-specific competencies but also model and reinforce the values and behaviors that embody the new culture. Another best practice is to create a supportive environment where open dialogue, feedback, and reflection are encouraged by fostering a learning culture where growth and development are continuous.

Its all starts from the individual values and beliefs. Resistance is always there when the change crosses the individual values! It’s extremely important to find a starting point that can be a common ground which shares a specific value with the individual, this starting point can be then enhanced to lower the resistance and increase the likelihood of accepting the change. The issue here is Time, finding such starting point might require more than what the individual can tolerate.

Motivation is the lifeblood of progress, essential for both mentees and those receiving professional coaching. As a seasoned leader and strategist, I've witnessed firsthand the transformative power of motivation in propelling individuals and organizations towards their zenith. Motivated mentees actively seek growth, turning setbacks into stepping stones. In coaching, I can see how motivated individuals embrace change and passionately pursue goals, creating dynamic partnerships. Without motivation and mutual trust you are bound to face a lot of obstacles. In my point of view, it's the unwavering commitment that will create the desired effect to reach peak performance.

Obstacles are not roadblocks, but stepping stones to growth and learning. They provide opportunities to overcome resistance, develop resilience, identify areas for improvement, and promote alignment. By addressing resistance, individuals can open themselves up to the benefits of coaching or mentoring. Obstacles challenge us to think creatively, adapt, and persevere, not just in coaching but in all aspects of life. They also reveal areas where we need to improve, allowing us to seek support, acquire new skills, and allocate resources effectively. Embrace obstacles as opportunities and transform challenges into catalysts for personal and professional development

Addressing coaching and mentoring obstacles in cultural change involves a proactive stance. View resistance as constructive feedback and take the time to understand what is preventing people from engaging with your program. Continue to create opportunities for open communication and help stakeholders comprehend the purpose and benefits of these programs. Customise initiatives to align to diverse needs and offer sufficient resources and training for both the mentor/coach and mentee.

The biggest challenge i would say is not having the chemistry and which i would encourage always give a pool of options of mentors and let the mentees meet and select. This is main aspect of making it successful or not!

Mentoring or coaching can't be done against the will of a person. You like it or not, first, before any attempt of coaching through change, leadership or any responsible for a change project must establish an understanding with their team. A mentor can help the leader because they chose so. The same can be offered to team members but it can't be forced. Coaching and mentoring is a lot about alignment of personalities. One size doesn't fit all. If people agree to coaching, they will work on overcoming obstacles together.

Coaching and mentoring, the architects of change, face storms that threaten the blueprint. Resistance becomes a gusty wind, shaking the foundations when habits, attitudes, or values stand firm against the winds of change. A scarcity of time, resources, or skills morphs into a relentless downpour, flooding the landscape of potential when availability, support, or competence falls short. Inconsistency or misalignment casts a shadow, distorting the cultural canvas, where objectives, methods, or outcomes fail to dance in harmony. Navigating these storms requires architects to become navigators: guiding the captain of the ship to take on turbulent waters, ensuring the cultural transformation sails resiliently against the headwinds of obstacles.

In healthcare, overcoming coaching/mentoring challenges involves addressing resistance through awareness and rapport, managing resources by setting realistic goals, and ensuring alignment with the culture change vision. This means involving healthcare professionals in the process, prioritizing actions based on healthcare needs, and regularly revising objectives to align with industry values and strategies.

In order to achieve culture change through coaching and mentoring, an organization must assess its readiness for such a change. This encompasses understanding the prevailing culture, power structures, and any political undercurrents. An integrated approach to HR is essential, going beyond ad-hoc interventions. It is critical to establish clear metrics for assessing the impact on the individual and the organization. Communication is also key, requiring clear articulation of the initiatives' purposes and outcomes, aligning them with the organization's core values and cultural objectives.

Overcoming barriers to mentoring and coaching in managing change is critical for cultivating a resilient and flexible organisational culture. One recurrent difficulty is the idea that coaching and mentoring are time-consuming frills, particularly during times of transition when operational responsibilities increase. To overcome this, organisations must change their thinking, recognising that spending time in mentoring pays benefits in the shape of smoother transitions and improved employee performance. By allocating committed resources and emphasising the long-term benefits of mentoring, these programmes can be reframed as beneficial investments rather than diversions.

I believe that it is incredibly hard to change culture in an organization, especially once the organization is mid-life or beyond. The Founders and executive set the original tone and, after that, it is incredibly hard to change. Are Founder's willing to be mentored? Often they are not. If they are, a thoughtful discussion on culture can be had and, then, culture can be thoughtful instead of just an outcome.

In the dynamic landscape of change management, I believe mentorship and coaching are vital keys for success. Mentors serve as custodians of institutional knowledge, bridging the gap between tradition and innovation. Coaches, on the other hand, empower individuals to embrace change as an opportunity for professional evolution. Ultimately, the symbiotic relationship between mentorship, coaching, and change management fosters a resilient workforce capable of steering through transformational waves. As organizations evolve, the investment in mentorship and coaching becomes an indispensable catalyst for individual and collective success.

While coaching and mentoring for driving culture change are important components of the process, they are not the be all and end all. For any attempts in this direction, a need has to be felt, understood and acknowledged across various levels of stakeholders. A receptive environment needs to be created where open and non judgemental dialogue and interaction is allowed/ accepted. In absence of this basic, all initiatives in this direction would be unidirectional and without impact. For any initiative to be of any essence, it has to start with acknowledging what needs to change and has to begin at the top. Needless to say that it is a long drawn process requiring patience and persistence and coaching and mentoring play a complementary role.

Cultural change is certainly not achieved through coaching and mentoring alone. Catchy slogans, colorful posters and flaming speeches do not necessarily help either. "Change comes through action", i.e. a clear "tone from the top" and "walk the talk" are crucial. As long as cultural change is not reflected in changes to our daily practices, processes, systems and structures, as long as there are no visible modifications, cultural change will not happen. Then coaching and mentoring remain merely tools that work on a personal level but do not touch the powerful organizational logics.

Coaching and mentoring are just a couple of tools in the journey of creating culture change. Yes, if done well, they can create a learning environment that can support cultural change, but achieving a fundamental change in culture needs a lot more. I believe that it must start from the top with the senior leadership team (SLT). When I work with organisations on these projects, I always start with a session with the SLT to explore where they are now and their aspirations. We look at what they need to do as a team and what resources others will need. Often, the project is kicked off with an intelligence-gathering activity. Engaging all levels of the organisation in forums/1:1 interviews to gather their true thoughts and feelings.