3. Recorded in December, 2019, this podcast with Sal Silvester went live in February, 2020. Timeless, practical examples for any manager or leader. Over 92 people downloaded it within 3 weeks.
Here are some gifts from 2018 that I’d like to share with you, my clients and associates.
I strongly recommend that you save this url in your contact for “Doug Gray” or “Action Learning Associates.”
You may want to download this new content and add it to your digital folder for “Action Learning Associates.” There are many great resources here!
Here’s to you, at your best! When playing with new friends like Spider Monkeys, or not.
Q4 included several customized leadership development workshops.
One F500 client wanted to “develop a culture of fiscal accountability using Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).” If you are a client and want to see the customized app that included that content please contact me here.
One client wanted to “introduce positive psychology practices into their organization.” Over 1,300 people have viewed the content here.
One F500 client wanted to “develop the executive presence and the reputations of their leaders.” A video of that content is here.
Several small business leaders wanted succession planning content to accelerate their leadership to the next generation.
Q3 included trademarking the AD-FIT model for any managers or professional coaches to use.
Many clients asked, “What works?” They needed a process or protocol to cascade consistent expectations to direct reports, to serve clients, to lead others effectively.
The AD-FIT Level 1 Certification Course is at www.WhyCoachesFail. If you are a client and would like free access please contact me here.
Many consultants, managers and professional coaches have completed the AD-FIT Level 1 Certification Course. And I have been invited to share the AD-FIT model at the Metrics That Matter conference hosted by Explorance, in March, 2019. Contact me for licensing details.
Q2 included my PhD in Organizational Leadership dissertation defense from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
My dissertation title was “Positive Psychology Coaching Protocols: Creating Competitive Advantage for Leader Development.“
My abstract / summary was: A gap exists between positive psychology coaching (PPC) theory and practice because PPC lacks rigorous measurement, evidence-based protocols and standard processes. This quasi-experimental study assessed the relationship between PPC protocols and performance or behavioral outcomes of leaders. The participants were global professional coaches (n = 220) who completed two sets of surveys after delivering 90 days of coaching, and completed approximately 60 minutes of digital training. The primary assessments were (a) the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-12), (b) the Values in Action (VIA-72) questionnaire, and (c) the Outcome Measures Survey that included the Goal Attainment Satisfaction (GAS) score. The PPC protocols included compliance using assessments, defining meaningful coaching outcomes, compliance over time, and compliance with the AD-FIT coaching protocol. Those participants with higher compliance to the AD-FIT coaching protocol (n = 16) reported slightly higher goal attainment scores than the participants with lower compliance (n = 18). Open text box analysis was conducted to deepen understanding of the relationship between participation and leader outcomes. The top two performance outcomes (n =100 responses) were increased productivity and focus. The top two behavior outcomes (n =115 responses) were improved relationships and effectiveness. The theoretical, methodological and practical significance of this research indicate opportunities to create competitive advantage in leader development.
All of you who are individual or team coaching clients are familiar with this new client intake document. Here is a very generous gift. When I work with leaders I ALWAYS use the AD-FIT process. Since 1997. It works. Outcome-based coaching is a straightforward process. I strongly recommend that YOU adopt the AD-FIT protocols. Click on the bullet below. Then download the content. Then use these 28 validated outcomes for executive coaching or business coaching. Leaders practice leadership, just as physicians practice medicine and attorneys practice law.
Do you think that you a born leader? That is a myth.
The reality is that leadership skills can be taught and developed. By definition, leaders influence the behavior of others by describing a better vision of the future. The primary skill of effective leaders is public optimism. Leaders tell great stories and share optimism.
Those leadership skills can be taught in a workshop or program. The most effective leadership workshops include training and coaching, then more training and coaching, to reinforce desired behaviors over time. Repetition works.
Leaders must adapt to change. At a recent leadership workshop one executive stated, “We need to master this content in the next 3 days because we are each the CEOs of our business. We need to create our future business.” That urgency is common.
Many of the tactics that leaders were taught 10-20 years ago are obsolete today. Management by Objectives (MBOs) and Forced Rankings are now considered manipulative, ineffective, and counterproductive. That kind of “leadership” will limit your career.
We know that rigid managers and leaders prevent innovation and problem solving. We also know that agility can be taught and developed. We can teach agile leaders and managers to promote effective outcomes, efficiency, and employee engagement.
Today, many employees demand fulfillment and purpose. They want to feel inspired and know their place in society and their contribution to the world.
We know that leaders need to practice leadership, just as physicians practice medicine and attorneys practice law. All managers and leaders struggle.
A great leadership workshop should provide:
Leadership exercises and experiential activities that encourage open communication and sharing of ideas
Profound breakthroughs in understanding how to influence others.
Lectures, digital workbooks, videos, powerpoint slides, and activities designed to model engagement
Pre-assessments and Post-assessments to discover your strengths and track the ROI of your investment
Group problem-solving tasks that encourage conflict resolution through a better understanding of human behavior and group dynamics
Customized apps with content to download and distribute your consistent messages throughout your organization
A recent client stated, “This was by far the most useful leadership development program I have experienced in over 20 years of forced participation in some kind of training. The content was easy to understand. All of the sessions were customized for our organization. All of the consultants were experts. We were fully engaged in each session. We did our work. And now I have the skills I need to lead my team in a new and useful methodology.”
All of our leadership workshops use our trademarked positive psychology AD-FIT™ process. We typically include our leadership development coaching to assess your strengths and increase your probability of achieving your outcome-based results.
The best leadership workshops should ask you to take an honest assessment of your professional leadership style and define measurable outcomes. We typically use both quantitative and qualitative assessments. We offer both virtual and direct workshops with several exciting results-oriented topics to choose from. See the list of leadership workshop topics here.
We provide services throughout the U.S and Canada. We recently delivered programs in Chicago, IL, Charlotte, NC, Louisville, KY and Washington, DC. If you are near the Nashville, TN area, an executive coach in Nashville can help you.
Define a meaningful goal or outcome for the leader/ coachee. (A measurable performance or behavior)
Focus on the leader/ coachee’s agenda. (“I’m a little concerned about…”)
Intervention or possible action for the leader/ coachee. (“Have you considered…”)
Takeaways or next step for the leader/ coachee. (Model accountability and change.)
% of adherence to this model? (0-20%, 20-40%, 60-80%, 80-100%)
Understanding of Positive Psychology Coaching (PPC) protocols:
Introduction to Positive Psychology
Positive Psychology (PP) may be operationally defined as the science of well-being and optimal functioning. The phrase “positive psychology” was coined by Maslow (1954) and is rooted in humanistic psychology. Recent research in PP has defined five clusters of scientific findings, the PERMA model, that describe positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishments (Seligman, 2011). The construct of signature strengths can be assessed using the Values in Action (VIA-72) questionnaire (Seligman & Peterson, 2011). The construct of Psychological Capital (PsyCap) can be defined as a dynamic, higher-order construct comprised of hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism (Luthans, Youssef-Morgan & Avolio, 2015).
Introduction to Positive Psychology Coaching
This Positive Psychology Coaching (PPC) program was designed in response to a perceived need for development of business leaders actively engaged in professional coaching. The confidential relationship between coaches and coachees will be maintained throughout this research. Autonomy and mastery are critical aspects of professional coaching relationships, and will be maintained throughout this research.
The goals of this PPC program include: (a) assessing and developing individual character strengths using validated strengths-based assessments, (b) adhering to a structured evidence-based protocol for positive psychology coaching, (c) developing a strengths-based goal attainment process customized for each leader (coachee), (d) measuring Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) by evaluating adherence to three goals that are personally meaningful and relate to business outcomes for the leader (coachee), (e) modeling action planning and accountability in each coaching session by evaluating adherence to the coaching protocols, (f) quantitatively and qualitatively measuring the effect of positive psychology coaching on coachee outcomes.
Coaching engagement goals
The goals for each coaching engagement will be defined by each client (coachee) and customized with their professional coach. Each coachee will be encouraged to define three goals that are personally meaningful, relate to business outcomes, and can be measured using the goal attainment scale (GAS). Representative examples of coaching engagement goals may include (a) driving retention and organizational performance through tactical execution, (b) developing strategic thinking and planning, (c) developing leadership capability in key areas to leader success, (d) aligning and integrating current role with desired future role, (e) developing executive presence, (f) aligning operations with other business sectors to drive shared accountability and measurable impact on business outcomes.
Coaching engagement outcomes
The outcomes of each coaching engagement are typically described by knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs.) Examples of knowledge outcomes for the coaching engagement may include (a) aligning the leader’s role with organizational vision, mission, and values, (b) defining how the leader’s role expectations affect collaboration with others, (c) understanding the strengths and values that describe each leader “at their best” and incorporating those strengths into regular vocabulary, and (d) defining key actions essential to reinforce business outcomes.
Examples of the skills outcomes of the coaching engagement may include (a) building capacity to manage resources and the productivity of others, (b) developing strategies for managing energy and time to improve productivity, (c) communicating the leader’s vision and key messages in an impactful manner, (d) developing skills in written messaging that focus on strength-based leadership, (e) modeling self-awareness by incorporating signature strengths into leadership and management activities, (f) applying conflict resolution skills to reach mutually beneficial and positive outcomes, (g) demonstrating effective active listening skills, (h) accurately reading a situation and projecting confidence, decisiveness, assertiveness and poise under pressure, (i) modeling collaborative leadership skills by creating actions plans that include partnering with other leaders, supporting performance goals, building key alliances, and implementing business outcomes.
Examples of the abilities outcomes of the coaching engagement may include (a) fostering innovation, (b) directing initiatives that build alliances and mutual respect, (c) communicating across business sectors by translating key messages between different groups, (d) leading alignment with others using strategic thinking, (e) enhancing problem solving ability to approach common issues/concerns with extraordinary thinking to foster innovation.
Possible activities for PPC engagements
The following list of evidence-based activities is a descriptive resource and is not intended to be prescriptive for any professional coaching or consulting engagement.
Encourage your coachee to take a validated assessment such as the Values in Action (VIA-72) assessment or the Psychological Capital (PSQ-12) assessment
Conduct a strengths-based interview of your coachee using results from the Values in Action (VIA-72) assessment
Conduct a strengths-based interview of your coachee using results from the Psychological Capital (PSQ-12) assessment
Encourage your coachee to describe their best leadership story (“At my best story”) using results from a validated positive psychology assessment
Encourage your coachee to determine three performance or behavioral goals, that are personally meaningful, that relate to business outcomes
Measure achievement of those three business-related goals using the goal attainment scale (GAS)
Encourage your coachee to develop a gratitude journal
Encourage your coachee to document “Three Good Things” for a day or a week, and note any contributing variables or patterns
Invite your coachee to practice multiple acts of kindness toward others, especially within 24 hours
Conduct a Best Future Self activity or guided meditation activity
Encourage your coachee to document the quantity and quality of physical activity, emotional shifts and cognitive energy, for at least 24 hours
My bias/ The bottom line:
The art and science of professional coaching requires that professional coaches adhere to the AD-FITTM protocol model.
See details in the products section.
For details on assessment, interventions, certification, training, or research contact us today.
Recently I was asked to speak at the Human Resource conference for the State of Tennessee. They wanted four sessions on “How to increase employee engagement.”
Studies continue to show that employee engagement in the workplace remains low- around the 30% range. Low levels of employee engagement have a negative impact on achieving organizational goals, and create a workplace that does not encourage high performance. During this session, we will answer the three key questions of employee engagement: 1) What do we know from evidence-based science? 2) How can I apply that science to increase my personal level of engagement? 3) How can I improve the engagement levels of others? This course introduces a new model based on positive psychology practices, called the AD-FIT%TM model, that you can apply immediately.
This course provides leaders at all levels with an introduction into the science and practice of employee engagement. Any manager or leader with a growth mindset can apply this course content to lead individual, group or organizational change in your business. This content has been distributed to thousands of leaders in governments, private and nonprofit organizations, as well as individuals.
The content of this course is gleaned from thousands of our leadership consulting clients since 1997, and the presenter’s dissertation research on positive psychology.
The goal of this course is to introduce leaders like you to world-class techniques so that you gain competitive advantage.
Learning objectives:
Recognize key variables that influence employee engagement
Discover how to measure employee engagement
Identify how to increase individual employee engagement
Identify how to develop organizational employee engagement
Please contact us for the handout before viewing the video section of this course.
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