Books

Although Rachel was initially thrilled to receive a promotion to a position as a director of product services, three months into her new position she is quickly burning out. Her staff has been cut, her time-off has diminished, and what leisure she does have is fraught with anxiety. Worst of all, she’s discovering that the hands-on management style that got her to this position isn’t working. On the advice of a friend, she meets with Patrick, an executive coach. Over eight one-on-one weekly breakfast meetings, Rachel moves from being a doer and problem-solver to a solution-focused leader and coach. She learned how to coach her employees to recognize their strengths and focus on creating solutions rather than on analyzing problems. As a result, her team becomes more productive, morale improves, the entire organization becomes more empowered, and—as an extra perk– she gets balance back in her life.

In a 2009 survey conducted by the Human Capital Institute in partnership with DDI, 44% of the companies surveyed named the development of mid-level leaders as their current top priority and only 27% of the mid-level leaders rated themselves as “very effective.” Mid-level managers often end up in their positions because they are good at detail-oriented performance, not because they were trained as managers. But the skills that boosted them into management are not the ones they need to be successful in their new roles. These managers must incorporate leadership and coaching activities into their repertoire, according to David Antonio, associate professor of management in the School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the mid-level management certificate program.

Readers will relate to Rachel as they identify with her falling into the trap of giving her team members the answers to their problems. This trap, although quicker in the short term, ultimately hurts the individual and the organization in the long-term. Readers learn how to avoid this trap by transforming their employees from the bearers of problems to the generators of solutions.

Through the introduction of OSKAR, a coaching model created by Mark McKergow and Paul Jackson in their best-selling book The Solutions Focus, readers are provided with a practical tool for making the leap from manager to leader. By utilizing OSKAR they can teach their employees to generate solutions to the challenges they face.

Readers realize they can, and should, find the time to coach, and that with the right coaching process they can fit coaching into every day, no matter how hectic it is. The book clarifies the coaching relationship between leaders and the people they lead. For those mid-level leaders who are exhausted from the burden of being the only problem solver, this book is a must-read.