Finally, for people interested in a different approach to coaching, I recommend Tim Gallwey’s The Inner Game of Work. Not only does this book apply Gallwey’s inner game theories to the workplace, but it also includes a personal analysis tool in which he suggests that you think like the CEO of your own life. How many shares have you given away?

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Regularly take time to step out of your own shoes and get into your boss’s. A great way to do that is to do what top leadership coach Tim Gallwey calls transposing. Transposing consists of asking three questions as if you are the person you’re trying to work with or influence. The questions are: What am I thinking? How am I feeling? What do I want?

Scott Eblin’s post “How to Influence Your New Boss, Part II” explains a practical application of what Tim Gallwey calls “Transposing”

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This book has been an attempt to look anew at the most basic premises underlying how we work in our culture. It has suggested that when we work, much of the time we are being driven by factors we are not conscious of. The goal has been to learn true mobility, to work consciously, and to be free human beings while working. This last chapter is a discussion of desire—the force that fuels all work. Desire is the most personal, most important, and yet most difficult factor to put our fingers on. It is the very heart of our quest.

In the Beginning, There is Desire

What is the impulse that moves us to purposeful action? What is it that motivates or drives our work? We tend to give more thought to how well we are working, what we are accomplishing, or how to get better results. Seldom do we reflect on what is the generating force behind our work itself—what fuels our movement toward our work goals.

Some might think this question is too obvious to be worth asking. Others might think it is too deep to address here. Perhaps it is both. In either case, it is not an easy topic, but I know of no other that is more important. I believe that desire is at the heart of the matter of work, and perhaps of all things human. It is often said that “where there is a will, there is a way.” But we spend most of our time trying to understand “the way” and very little time trying to understand the source of “the will.”

* * *

I give free rein to this long-quieted voice within me. It grows even more bold. I will not censor it. It speaks to me, and to you, if you care to eavesdrop.

Workers of the world, the chains that bind you are not held in place by a ruling class, a “superior” race, by society, the state, or a leader. They are held in place by none other than yourself. Those who seek to exploit are not themselves free, for they place no value in freedom. Who is it that really employs you and commands you to pick up your daily load? And who is it that you allow to pass judgment on the adequacy of your toil? Who have you empowered to dangle the carrot before you and threaten with disapproval? Who, when you wake each morning, sends you off to what you call your work?

Is there an “I want to” behind all your “I have to,” or have you been so long forgotten to yourself that “I want” exists only as an idea in your head? If you have disconnected from your soul’s desire and are drowning in an ocean of “have to,” then rise up and overthrow your master. Begin the journey toward emancipation. Work only in such a way that you are truly self-employed.”

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Coaching is an art that must be learned mostly from experience. In the Inner Game approach, coaching can be defined as the facilitation of mobility. It is the art of creating an environment, through conversation and a way of being, that facilitates the process by which a person can move toward desired goals in a fulfilling manner. It requires one essential ingredient that cannot be taught: caring not only for external results but for the person being coached.

The Inner Game was born in the context of coaching, yet it is all about learning. The two go hand in hand. The coach facilitates learning. The role and practices of the coach were first established in the world of sports and have been proven indispensable in getting the best performance out of individuals and teams. Naturally, managers who appreciate the high levels of individual and team performance among athletes want to emulate what coaching provides.

The coach is not the problem solver. In sports, I had to learn how to teach less, so that more could be learned. The same holds true for a coach in business.

* * *

Recently, Bill Blazek, the editor of a business journal called The Executive Coach, conducted an interview with me on the subject of Inner Game coaching in business. I’ve included several excerpts from this interview that highlight some of the aspects of coaching not yet covered and underscore others that bear repeating.

BB: Why, in your opinion, has coaching become such a hot topic in the business and corporate worlds?

TG: Because learning has become more important. In the so-called knowledge age of business, the critical competitive factor is how well and how rapidly you can grow your people.

Therefore, the first and constant task of the coach is to keep the responsibility for learning with the client. In the Inner Game approach to coaching, this means that the client not only is willing to learn from the coach, but has accepted personal responsibility for learning from his or her day-to-day experience.

BB: In your view, should managers be coaches?

TG: They should learn to coach. But that does not mean they should abdicate their primary commitment to produce business results through people. A manager/coach learns to wear different hats in different conversations. As a manager, he might tell the team, “Here’s what we must accomplish, these are the standards, this is the time line, and these are the available resources.” With his coaching hat on, he might say, “Now that you are clear about your performance goals, what are you going to need to learn in order to achieve them?” As coach, the primary commitment is to integrity of teamwork and the development of the skills necessary to accomplish the performance goals. The coach is someone with whom you have to feel safe to disclose your shortcomings, your mistakes and your personal aspirations. For this reason, in some environments, the coaching and managing functions are performed better if done by different people.

BB: So the manager is responsible for setting clear goals, while the coach helps the employee reach the goals?

TG: Yes. The coach also helps the individual or team make sure that individual, team, and corporate goals are as aligned as possible so there is minimal conflict among the three sets of goals.

BB: What kind of business problems do you see the Inner Game helping with?

TG: Those problems that involve the human dimension. There are more human problems than ever and they are usually solved by managers who are more used to solving the problems of systems and projects. In the past century, workers were molded and folded into business systems and processes. In this century, such a strategy won’t work. Business systems must harmonize with the processes of how human beings work best and grow best, not the other way around.

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“Business Newsmakers”
I was a bit nervous before appearing in my first interview on the Chicago TV show called “Business Newsmakers.” I had no idea what kinds of questions I would be asked about The Inner Game of Work. Jack Taylor, the host, wanted to know exactly how the principles of The Inner Game of Tennis and Golf applied to work. He focused mainly on how to quiet the fears and doubts of the mind which prevent achieving excellence in any endeavor. And, being from Chicago, he brought up Michael Jordan as an example of someone who was committed not only to excellence but to maximizing his enjoyment of every game he played. The bottom line: if we can acknowledge the great resources of Self 2 in both work and play, we will perform better, enjoy more, and learn a great deal at the same time.

“Milwaukee Mid-week”
The next interview was with Ann Dekorsi of WMSE Radio out of Milwaukee. She had a totally different approach in conducting the interview. She observed that the workplace had become a place where there were mounting pressures to get more done in even less time – and acknowledged there was a lot of burn-out. “In this environment some older people are opting for early retirement. Is this the right choice?” she asked. I replied that the choice was not whether or not to retire, but whether or not to become a learner. The current work environment requires that we all learn how to learn – this is a requirement of living in an age of change. We have to become comfortable owning what we know, admitting what we don’t, and skilled at closing the learning gaps. If you are not willing to do this, then you might as well retire, no matter how old or young you are.

“Noon Business Hour”
The third interview was a five-minute shot on WMAQ radio in Chicago. “Tim Gallwey says that it’s what happens inside that counts. What are the primary ways we get in our own way at work? What are some practical ways in which we can be better coaches? Can people who conform find happiness?” All this to cover in five minutes!!!! The answer to them all, however, was the same – we have to know how to reach inside to find our inner resources, and then be very aware of what is happening on the outside so we may respond successfully.

What am I learning? How different interviewers can approach this topic – and my task is to communicate with each particular audience – using questions of the interviewer as a springboard for saying what I have to say to people I’m not even seeing. Fascinating first day.

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