Coaching Generation Y

by Erin Flynn Jay

(http://coachingcommons.org/featured/coaching-generation-y/)

The Gen Y market is a massive generation, even larger than the Baby Boomers.

They are graduating from universities in a down market and facing as much as 50 percent unemployment. Now is a ripe time for coaches to work with this generation.

The Baby Boomers are not retiring as fast as expected because of the economy, leaving both Gen X and Gen Y somewhat frustrated, according to Bonnie Hagemann, CEO of Executive Development Associates.

Can coaching help Gen Y sort out their career options?

Hagemann said there are a few to explore: 

* Going after their dream job with gusto. “It will help if they are willing to relocate, potentially even start their careers with an international assignment,” she said.

* Getting an advanced degree. Many are choosing this route if they have the financial staying power.

* Start a small business. The Baby Boomers had to do it and Gen Y will too. “They can start a micro business or a multi-level marketing business which both require little up-front investment and have potential for good payouts.”

Anecdotal and empirical evidence suggest that Gen Y is emerging from college without critical thinking skills and without a firm handle on the requirements of a 21st Century workplace, said Dani Ticktin Koplik, founder of dtkResources. “Raised by my generation of over-involved parents, these kids have only been told how great they are and that the world is theirs. Without really having to work for it,” she said. “So they come into the marketplace with an outsized view of their initial value and a sense of being entitled to a ‘balanced’ life.”

From the employers’ point of view, they’ve spent the last few years cutting fat and expecting more from everyone with less. “Millennials entered college when the world looked one way, and graduated when it looked quite different. Not only has it been a challenge getting them to understand the new reality but their learning curve is way too shallow,” said Ticktin Koplik.

Ticktin Koplik is producing a Millennial career event on January 8 in NYC — From Bubble to Boardroom. The one-day free event consists of high-profile speakers who have lived the skills dtkResources is teaching and who embody many Millennial values, skill-based workshops, live interactive demos and networking.

Ticktin Koplik decided she had to do this on a bigger scale to intensify the national discussion on making these kids (and, by extension, our economy) competitive in the global environment.

Al Auger, consultant on “In Search of a Profitable Life,” thinks Gen Y have a good sense of work-life balance. “Although they are smart and balanced with life priorities and motivated more by living a life and not chasing a dollar, if they are not careful this attitude could be their very undoing,” he said. “They grew up in the economic boom times, and instant gratification mentality which could make them easily frustrated in a different environment or job or even this new slower less instant gratification economic time.”

Here’s how Auger believes coaches could assist Gen Y in keeping their edge and not falling prey to themselves:

1. Remind them that things take time and that it’s ok to take the time and stop. “It’s ok to stop and take time to figure out that which they want most to do with their lives. The bad news with this is that Gen Y fights the instant gratification fix,” he said. “The good news is that they are great and not being motivated strictly by the dollar so they will be able to find their true path without that bias.”

2. Get them to always question their motivations in whatever it is they are doing. This could be Gen Y’s toughest challenge as they fight the instant gratification, Auger said.  Their self-assuredness gives them the power to question everything and everyone (employers, parents) but they have great trouble with questioning themselves.

3. Flexibility is a great characteristic of the Gen Y, but it only works if they can do one and two above. “The old mentality of get a good job stay there for years and retire with a great pension failed miserably and the Gen Y knows it,” Auger concluded. “They have the greatest ability to tap the flexibility of changing career paths with ease, so encourage that flexibility and creativity to become what they really want.”

Bottom line: The current economy presents opportunities for coaches to help the Gen Y market find their true career paths.

CIO Magazine: Insider's Guide to Executive Coaching

Here is a good article I read recently. These are good pointers of what one can expect from the Coach, the Coachee and the Client. - AB

Truth be told, I was asked to be a coach before I knew what one was. Fortunately my ignorance wasn't career-limiting, because no one else knew either

Susan H. Cramm 08 September, 2005

Six ground rules for successful coaching engagements.

While most people have heard of executive coaching, few have personal experience working with a coach. Here's my view of the profession and process from seven years of working as an executive coach.

Truth be told, I was asked to be a coach before I knew what one was. Fortunately my ignorance wasn't career-limiting, because no one else knew either. Over the past 15 years or so, executive coaching has emerged as a practice and is making a real difference in the lives, careers and businesses of many.

There are plenty of references that describe the various types of executive coaching, the benefits, and the ideal approach to selecting and working with a coach (for example, "The Wild West of Executive Coaching", Harvard Business Review). But I find that the literature falls short when it comes to disclosing the caveat emptor realities of executive coaching. If you are thinking about investing in executive coaching services, keep the following in mind.

COACHING IS OPTIONAL. You cannot force someone to participate in coaching. I have a client who wants me to work with one of his direct reports, but that person is not interested. In fact, the only thing the direct report is interested in developing is his golf game. While it might be possible for me to sell him on the benefits of coaching, it is ethically important that I pull back: A coach can't change someone who is not interested in changing himself.

COACHING RELATIONSHIPS ARE LONG-TERM. Once someone clicks with a coach, she is likely to stay with that coach, in some capacity or another, over the long haul. The initial relationship will be the most intense. With the foundation built, subsequent interventions will be targeted and efficient. Just as with a well-loved doctor or mentor, it doesn't make sense to discontinue a relationship that continues to be useful. Senior managers who benefit from coaching and have their own budgets will find some way to pay for it, even if it's not within company policy.

COACHES WORK FOR THE CLIENT. My client's interests trump those of his supervisor or company - regardless of who is paying the bill. Managers have input on the expected outcomes, but they cannot control the process or determine how their subordinates define success. I have a client who wants to start his own business in five years, and his motivation to change is driven by this objective. As a coach, I must respect this objective and help him move toward his goal.

Even in this type of situation, however, there's no conflict of interest 99 percent of the time, because the resulting behaviour changes will benefit the company, thereby enhancing my client's career prospects there and increasing the likelihood that he will remain with the company.

COACHING FOCUSES ON THE SOFT STUFF. The hard business issues - such as organization, strategy, measurement targets, processes and road maps - are the easy stuff of coaching. Ultimate success lies in the more difficult work of shoring up, mitigating or leveraging soft skills - including the ability to assign the right people to the right roles, gain commitment to a strategy, develop strong relationships, communicate effectively, manage up and delegate. Recognize that better soft stuff will lead to the right hard stuff, and give the coach room to work on both.

COACHES MUST DELIVER. Executive coaches are sometimes called "performance coaches" - a term I love. I agree that "coaching that focuses on business performance is key to improvement in executive performance" (from "Coaching: No More Mr Nice Guy", Gallup Management Journal). It is essential that coaching goals include the "what" of quantitative business improvement (for example, project success) as well as the "how" of qualitative behaviour changes (such as stakeholder alignment). Coaching should be guided by business needs, fuelled by proven business theory and practices, and grounded in the work that is on the client's desk. The best coaching engagements are iterative and require contracts that are short-term and measurement-focused.

COACHES AREN'T NICE. When someone hires a coach, she is agreeing to change. But because people like the idea of change better than the reality, the best coaches practice tough love. One of my clients tells me in the same breath how difficult and how beneficial coaching has been for him. Good coaching sessions are simultaneously stimulating and exhausting. Most clients look forward to the beginning and end of each session, but not to the hard work in between.

As with any profession, there are good and not-so-good executive coaches. If you decide to work with a coach, do your due diligence and manage the relationship as you would with any professional services provider. If you do so, you have a good shot at embarking on a business-building relationship.

Reader Q&A

Q: I believe your ground rules are more applicable when the coach is from outside, rather than within, the organization. How different is it when the coach and the coached are in the same company or even the same department?

A: Depending on your company, your internal coach may actually be more of a mentor - someone who serves as a sounding board with no specific performance objectives, agenda or approach. If you are, in fact, in an internal coaching relationship, then it is much more difficult to ensure impartiality and confidentiality - two elements that are critical to securing the trust that is so fundamental to productive coaching relationships. In addition, it may be much more difficult for the coach to be tough, given that the client is part of the same organizational community.

Q: What are your thoughts on the characteristics of the best coaches? Do you think someone with practical experience (such as yours) tends to make a better coach than someone without that experience?

A: The best coaches are teachers and counsellors by nature. They care deeply about helping other people and are perceptive. They are able to form trusting relationships in which they can offer their knowledge and insights in ways that resonate with others. The background of a coach, from which he or she acquired skills and knowledge, is important depending on your needs and coaching objectives.

Q: How does one move into executive coaching? As a former CIO, management consultant and adjunct professor, I would enjoy helping folks become the next generation of CIOs.

A: As with any career move, do your research, establish your qualifications and marketing pitch, and start networking. Good luck!

Q: I am recruiting online coaches and would like to learn of any qualifications to become an online coach, as well as the payment and pricing structures used in the industry.

A: I don't know anything about online executive coaches, other than to say that online advice sites have been tried and haven't succeeded, to my knowledge. People like to get to know experts whom they pay, and that's hard to do on a Web site.

Susan Cramm is founder and president of Valuedance, a California-based executive coaching firm

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