Q&A: Coaching for Impact with Teams, Organizations and Communities
Beverley Patwell is founder, president and senior organizational development and change consultant at Patwell Consulting. She co-authored Triple Impact Coaching: Use of Self in the Coaching Process with Edith Whitfield Seashore and is an author and partner of CoachingOurselves.
As a HR & OD practitioner for over 25 years, what has changed since you began your coaching work?
Coaching has become multidimensional and multidisciplinary over the last decade. It has evolved from individual and intact team coaching, which is still very important for leadership development. However, given the complexities and challenges facing our organizations today, the fast pace of change, and the need to develop people in real time to lead and manage, I see a shift to coach more in cross company teams and groups.
The field of coaching is becoming more professionalized through accreditation programs that are adopting the International Coaching Federation standards. More work is needed to develop coaching as an integral role of all leaders and managers. This is where I see the value and future development for the field of coaching.
What advice do you have for business leaders who want to coach?
Coaching is a practice and should be approached as an opportunity for personal, team and organizational development. It is a natural way of developing people in real time or as a support to leaders and managers responsible for keeping their organizations focused and aligned to achieve their goals. Coaching can be very effective as a support to leading and implementing change.
What is the difference between coaching and mentoring?
Coaching is a critical and integral part of our roles as leaders and managers in organizations. We are often responsible for teaching and coaching employees new skills or knowledge to be successful in their work.
The following table describes the differences between coaching and mentoring.
| Coaching | Mentoring |
| Competence
Skills, knowledge and abilities |
Role Model
Values, beliefs, attitudes and mindset |
| Technical or professional focus
Related to a specific role and function e.g. accounting, finance, human resources etc. |
Political Focus
Introduction to influence networks |
| Performance-driven
Emphasizing goal setting, taking action, monitoring and sustaining performance over time. |
Vision-driven
Providing exchange of wisdom, support, learning and guidance to achieve strategic goals |
| Professional relationship between coach and employee | Privileged relationship can be formal and informal |
| Short-term development | Long-term development |
Source: Triple Impact Coaching: Use of Self in the Coaching Process
How did you develop the Triple Impact Coaching model and what are its benefits?
I developed the Triple Impact coaching model when working with managers at a high-tech company. Coaching managers or leaders to understand their “Use-of-Self” — all things under their personal control (choices, preferences and styles of leading and managing, dealing with conflict, and influencing others) — they could be more successful in achieving their goals and intentions. By improving their ability to influence and coach others, the managers quickly saw results that had a triple impact: themselves, the team and the organization.
I also learned through this process the importance of embedding coaching in the change process. Today, most organizations need to achieve results through the larger masses rather than through individual performance but the whole company needs to develop together. When coaching is meaningful, done in real time, and focuses on real work issues, it creates results that are faster, deeper and sustainable over time.
How does CoachingOurselves, your new approach to coaching address today’s business challenges?
Many companies are facing financial constraints and can not afford elaborate coaching or management programs, yet there is still a strong need to develop people in real time. CoachingOurselves, designed by Dr. Henry Mintzberg, develops teams and creates a shared mindset and learning community.
Typically, six to eight managers meet together every few weeks and discuss management topics that help them advance their own work. The groups are self-directed and do not have any facilitators. It is a coaching session where managers use their real experiences to coach each other without a formal coach. Valuable discussions take place that would not normally happen in a regular team meeting or classroom setting. Participants learn about how they personally influence others and how they use their strengths in leading, managing and coaching.
CoachingOurselves is very effective when used as part of a larger development program or as a support to culture change. It helps participants anchor their learning, build an invaluable support network that facilitates formal and informal learning about the organization and within the team, and sustains learning and the changes that they are implementing over time. Ultimately, CoachingOurselves helps create organizations as learning communities.
