Coach's VIEW is a business column authored by executive coaches in COACH A, aimed at providing valuable insights and effective approaches for leveraging coaching to foster organizational and leadership development. The column draws on the latest coaching trends and data, as well as insights from notable global publications on coaching.
Are you inside or outside the change?
"Don't stay in your comfort zone."
This line from a movie stood out to me recently. A character, facing a tough situation, was reassured with, "It's okay, everything will work out." His response was simple but powerful:
"What do you know?"
It made me reflect on an experience from my previous role at a cosmetics company. When a new product was launched, I reviewed the sales materials and thought, "If I present this product like this, it should drive sales." So, I shared my thoughts with a beauty consultant, hoping to help. Her response was:
"What do you know? Tell me after you've actually served customers in the store."
At first, I didn't understand her reaction. I felt confused and a bit lost. But later, I had the chance to ask her about it. Here's what she told me:
"Even though we were all working toward the same goal, I didn't feel like we were moving forward together. It felt like sales didn't really concern you."
For her, someone who worked tirelessly every day to drive sales and connect with customers, my words probably came across as "arrogant"--coming from someone who didn't have direct customer interaction.
Looking back, I realize I had approached the situation with a "safe zone" mindset. Since I wasn't directly involved in sales, I thought, "I do my part, and you do yours."
That experience changed my perspective. I started thinking not just about how to get the staff to perform but about how we could succeed together. As my perspective shifted, so did my approach and interactions with the team.
Do you look at the problem from the outside or the inside?
I once helped a company reform its organizational culture. It took three years for the initiative to really take off. Even though various measures were implemented during that time, there was no sign of meaningful change.
One day, at a management meeting, a member of the organizational culture reform team, who worked directly with the president, spoke up:
"You executives tell us to change, but you don't seem to want to change yourselves. The organizational culture agenda is always postponed, saying there's no time, and in the end, it's never discussed in management meetings. Have you even talked to employees about it? They look at what you, as executives, prioritize based on how you spend your time and money. If you're not committed to changing, the cultural reform can never succeed."
"If you're not part of the problem, you can't be part of the solution."
This is a phrase from Adam Kahane, who works on resolving conflicts around the world through dialogue.
All human judgments and actions are shaped by how we assign meaning to a given event. Our words and actions change depending on whether we perceive ourselves as part of the problem or separate from it.
As coaches, we pay attention to the relationship between our clients and the "problem" they're facing. Are they inside or outside the problem? This shows in the words they use.
When the issue involves an organization, no matter who brings it up or what position they hold, they are part of the issue. This is because they are a member of the organization facing the problem. In the same way, coaches become part of the issue when working with clients. Our actions, words, and approach impact our clients, who are also part of the issue. This is why both coaches and clients can create meaningful change within an organization by changing themselves.
How are you trying to change?
I once shared the story of organizational change with a client of mine:
"Even when we talk as a management team, we focus on how we can change our employees, but we've never talked about how we can change ourselves. It all starts with us."
If you're reading this, you may be in the midst of a process of change right now.
Where are you coming from when discussing this change?
How do you make sense of it?
And how can you be a part of that change?
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Language: Japanese
