Coaching an Uncoachable

Some of you may find it odd that a CTO, who provides executive coaching to his team, would be writing a piece that would discourage you or some of my colleagues. That's because I'm not just a director, I’m also supposed to be a business support and a mentor for my team and the last thing I want to see is people that waste my time, waste for the business and waste an office space.

Here are three signs that someone of those types of people are not coachable.

·        The term coachable means someone is willing to be corrected and act on that correction. The key word is willing. Lots of people talk about self-improvement. Yet they are unwilling to listen to feedback. It's difficult to help someone improve when they only want to hear what they want to hear. No, it’s impossible. Save your time.

·        I'm frequently asked to coach people who never should have been placed in the job they're in. However, many of these people soar when they are moved into a job that's more suitable for their skill set and interest. If you have someone who you think may be in the wrong job, take the time you were going to spend for coaching and invest this in retooling them, so they can move into a position that is well suited for them.

·        You can't help people who don't want to be helped. If you find that you are more invested in helping your people grow than they are then it's time to come back down to reality.

Coaching is a partnership. To be successful, both parties must work in concert with one another. Be honest. Is the person you're about to assign all in or are they merely going through the motions? If it's the latter, take the time you've allocated to this individual and give it to someone who is super excited to be given an opportunity to become the best version of themselves.