Page 199 - The Power to Change Anything

188 INFLUENCER

make the best use of your existing human resources and dra-
matically lower your risks, take your lead from Delancey by
turning your more experienced employees into coaches, train-
ers, instructors, and mentors.

Blind Spots. Perhaps the most obvious condition that demands
social support as a means of influencing vital behaviors comes
with the need for feedback that can be offered only by a pair
of outside eyes. Anyone who has ever tried to learn tennis on
his or her own and then gone head-on with someone who has
spent a similar amount of time practicing with the aid of a
coach quickly learns that real-time feedback from an expert
beats solo practice any day. This being the case, you’d think that
most people would turn to coaches to help in key areas of their
lives, but they don’t. Only a few ask for feedback outside of
sports arenas.
But there are exceptions. For example, in health care,
where doctors are required to insert tubes in people’s hearts and
perform other such high-stakes practices, professionals long ago
learned the power of real-time coaching. In many instances,
physicians aren’t allowed to merely watch others perform a
detailed and dangerous procedure before they try it on their
own. Instead, they must attempt the delicate procedure while
a coach provides immediate feedback on what’s working and
what isn’t.
When it comes to business and other lower-risk settings,
leaders rarely think of using real-time coaches. Some of today’s
companies provide their leaders with call-in advisers who dis-
cuss what happened yesterday when the leader faced a chal-
lenge and didn’t do all that well. But few provide real-time
coaching. This should change.
For example, when we (the authors) worked with Lauren—
a rather vibrant executive who was a terrible speaker—we pro-
vided her with a speech coach. It was amazing to watch someone
once described as having “the uncanny ability to whip a crowd
into a nap” be transformed into a solid speaker in a matter of a