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COACHING—ONE-TO-ONE LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER 10
scenes, to develop their people so that their people are prepared to assume
ever-greater leadership responsibilities.
Like communications, good coaching is a two-way street. To be success-
ful, coaching requires the commitment of the individual player or employee.
Coaching enables individuals to fulfill their potential, to be what they are
capable of becoming for themselves, their team, and their company. Organi-
zations succeed because of the people running them. The more exciting the
enterprise—be it in business, government, or social service—the more com-
mitment it requires.
One of the maxims of coaching is that its purpose is to move people from
compliance (going along with the flow and not making waves) to commitment
(making a difference and creating waves if necessary). Commitment can
occur, however, only if the goals of the individual and the goals of the organi-
zation are in synch. If they are, then good things can happen; if they are not,
then it is up to the coach to help get them into alignment. The coach can per-
suade the individual that the organization needs and wants her or him, and that
therefore the individual should make a commitment. For example, if a com-
puter engineer is not demonstrating the right degree of care and attention to
detail in his or her work, it is up to the team leader to point out the engineer’s
deficiencies and suggest improvements. Furthermore, the team leader may
draw a link between individual slackness and weakness in corporate return on
investment. The leader then demonstrates that the engineer’s deficiencies are
hurting not just the engineer, but also the entire company. In this way, coach-
ing plays a role in both individual and corporate development.

ALIGNMENT OF PERSONAL AND CORPORATE GOALS
Coaching can be an effective means of aligning individual aspirations with
organizational goals. It is the coach’s responsibility to bring out the talent
within the individual and to ensure that there is a good match between that tal-
ent and the organization’s needs. For example, an accountant wants to work in
a place where she or he can use her or his analytical skills and make a contri-
bution to corporate objectives. The company needs good accountants to man-
age its finances in order to achieve its fiscal goals. In this situation, the goals
of the employee and the company are aligned. Sometimes such alignment of
goals may not be possible. If, for example, an employee prefers working solo
rather than as a part of a team, an organization where team culture rules may
not be a good fit. The coach can advise the individual that he or she might be
happier working somewhere else, in a more autonomous environment. And
this can be good news. A number of successful entrepreneurs have left the