I am going to combine the conversation of Chapters 12 and 13 of Coaching Agile Teams this week because there is a common core in these two chapters. Chapter 12, When Will I Get There?, discusses when will you know that you have become an Agile Coach, and Chapter 13, It’s Your Journey, discusses the journey several coaches have to take to get there. Chapter 12 plots the journey and Chapter 13 provides several travelogues.
I have always enjoyed variety in my life; this is an outcome of moving every few years as a child. One of the original attractions of coaching for me was the variety of scenarios you find yourself in. To be a good agile coach you need to be able to help individuals, teams, and organizations. The range of things you will encounter includes: facilitation, counseling, listening, and teaching to name a few. A coach has to learn when to react and when to hang back. As a coach, you will have to work with teams and individuals both when people are happy and when they are under stress. In Chapter 12, Lyssa provides a laundry list of things that you need to be able to do as a coach but stresses that it is not a checklist. That said, I recently heard another coach telling someone they were mentoring about the checklist in “The Adkin’s book.” I had been closer I might have asked what they meant by a checklist. Please don’t, just don’t. Every coach has a unique set of capabilities that come from both training, EXPERIENCE, and introspection. This uniqueness reflects the message in Chapter 13, that everyone creates their own journey. Note: Calling a metaphorical Uber, getting a certification without experience, and calling yourself a coach will not end well. Experience makes the certification valuable. For example, two of my coaching friends came to coaching via very different paths; one via couples counseling in NYC and the other via a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology. They both drew from their past to build rapport and engage people.
If we pursue the metaphor of a coach as a journey, there are three often overlooked steps on the path of coaching. They are:
Every coach needs to identify a path of continual learning. Learning is necessary because the workplaces we get involved in are continually changing. Unfortunately, people judge other people for the craziest things, in the world we live in when the people you are coaching begin to see you as behind the curve it will be harder to create rapport. Also, continuous learning is a marker for being curious. A coach without curiosity is in the wrong profession.
Over the past few years, I have seen agilists and coaches wandering away from using the values and principles as an anchor. Once that wander begins to set in all sorts of agile technical debt begin to accumulate – agile becomes fragile. As an Agile coach, you must internalize and model the agile values and principles. Without an underpinning agile is just another set of techniques that may or may not work well together.
The final area and one I have struggled with at times in my career is the need to master the “I” problem. Coaching is not about you. It is about using your skills to guide others to be their best. At times it is thankless. How do you know if agile coaching has been effective? One answer is to assess the empowerment of the individual or team. If empowered and they make decisions, live the agile values and principles, and deliver value to the organization do your happy coach dance. As a coach, you may see your impact but everyone else will see the team and that is really what is important.
Observing the unique capabilities of others is a good source of motivation to continuously sharpen the saw (remember Habit 7 of Stephen R. Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Successful People). The need to use learning to guide our journey is highlighted in the commitments of the Agile Coaching Code of Ethics:
- I will seek to improve my self-awareness and effectiveness through introspection and professional development.
- Need to reflect on how well you are performing and then work on improving.
Coaching is not for the faint of heart; you need to build a wide variety of capabilities. The message of the last two chapters of this book is to plot a course and set sail.
Next week we will wrap up with final thoughts and get ready to set sail on Extraordinarily Badass Agile Coaching: The Journey from Beginner to Mastery and Beyond (Amazon Associate Link – buy your copy soon and start reading). Buy a copy now and start reading.
Previous Installments of Coaching Agile Teams (buy a copy and read along)
Week 1: Logistics and Introduction – https://bit.ly/3A1aNTe
Week 2: Will I Be A Good Coach – https://bit.ly/3nzDAHg
Week 3: Expect High Performance – https://bit.ly/3Rl4fFf
Week 4: Master Yourself – https://bit.ly/3zL8t2n
Week 5: Let Your Style Change – https://bit.ly/3Q8zHWa
Week 6: Coach as Coach-Mentor – https://bit.ly/3QLcSIi
Week 7: Coach as Facilitator – https://bit.ly/3AaP5KY
Week 8: Coach As Teacher – https://bit.ly/3AURGdL
Week 9: Coach As Problem Solver – https://bit.ly/3C06Gr7
Week 10: Coach As Conflict Navigator – https://bit.ly/3R6tmuc
Week 11: Coach As Collaboration Conductor – https://bit.ly/3fXoHOs Week 12 Agile Coach Failure, Recovery, and Success Modes – https://bit.ly/3T0FluQ
