Care as a Leadership Strategy

Last time I talked about the 3 C's required for people to feel empowered - Clarity, Competence and Care. We need all 3 for people to feel empowered. They need the skills to do the job right (competence), they need the information to make the right decision (clarity) and they need to feel that the organisation and its leadership are asking them to step up and take responsibility because it's the right thing for them, not the thing that will make the most profit or allow more downsizing (care). It should make their jobs better and more fulfilling, it should help them grow and advance their careers. If all 3 C's are present, people will feel empowered.

So care is essential for empowerment, but that's not all. My view is that care is the single most important quality that sets great leaders apart from everyone else. These days, care is not something we talk about a lot in a business context. There might be an "Employee care" section of the HR website which lists the services you can call when the stress of your job gets too much, but there is very little actual care involved in modern business. You are more likely to hear words like "data driven" than "care driven". I mean, most organisations call people "resources" without even cringing a little (and treat them like resources as well). Actual, real care and compassion for people is missing in modern organisations and I strongly feel that it needs to be brought back. Not just because it's good for people, but because it's good for business as well.

Leadership, CoachingDave Martin16 February 2021leadership, care, compassionComment

The Three C's of Empowerment

Hi folks, first post back after the break. I hope you all had a great holiday season and that the new year is treating you kindly (at least kinder than last year). I thought today that I would go back to a topic that I have covered before, because I think I left something important out when I covered it the first time. I have written before about empowerment and what conditions need to exist before people will accept that empowerment (here) . Empowerment isn't something you can just give to someone and expect it to work, they need to accept the responsibility and authority that they are given. If they don't accept it, they will be empowered on paper but will still turn to the hierarchy to make decisions for them.

I said before that there are two key things that need to exist in order for people to accept empowerment - clarity and competence. Clarity is the organisational clarity around why the decision needs to be made and what the operational constraints and limits are on the options that can be considered. Competence is the skills and other knowledge that someone needs in order to operate in that space. Without those two, no matter how much you tell people they are empowered to act, they will not do it. Unless they feel competent and have the right clarity, empowerment will not happen. All that still holds from when I originally wrote it, but I left something out. There is a third C - Care.

Leadership, CoachingDave Martin2 February 2021empowerment, care, compassion, leadershipComment

The Two C's Model of Coaching

I have been thinking deeply about my approach to coaching over the last year or so. Out of that has come my own personal coaching approach. I happened to mention this approach in a LinkedIn conversation with my good friend, Dan Prager, and this generated some interest. So, it’s time for a blog post on my approach to coaching. To be clear here, this isn't a collection of techniques. It’s not a way of structuring conversations. It’s not a set of categories for coaching interactions. It isn't any of the things you usually see in coaching approaches. It’s more my philosophical underpinnings of what makes for good coaching.

I call my approach the two C's model. Those two C's are Curiosity and Compassion. Those two things underpin my approach to coaching. To me, a great coach approaches the coaching with a spirit of open curiosity about the subject. They should also approach from a position of compassion for all those involved. For me, those two things are what distinguishes great coaching from good coaching. You can be a good coach without those things, but to be a great coach they must be at the heart of your practice. Let's look a bit deeper into why.