Readiness and Characteristics

Have you ever heard the expression “you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink?” If so, you may have heard teachers using this expression to describe students who have tremendous intellectual potential but are not motivated to learn. The same is true in coaching for leadership development. As a future coach, you may encounter the most promising leaders who simply are not ready to be coached. You may wonder how you might spot such leaders. One indicator is a lack of motivation to change, but there are countless other indicators as well. While the leaders who do not indicate a readiness to be coached are not necessarily lost causes, they certainly will be less likely to reap the benefits of coaching. In fact, they may possess characteristics that detract from the effectiveness of coaching. On the other hand, you may encounter leaders who are the exact opposite; they are ready to make changes. Participating in coaching may have been their idea, and these leaders may exhibit a strong motivation to change. Such characteristics not only show that they are ready, but these characteristics contribute to, instead of detract from, the effectiveness of coaching for leadership development. As you review the case studies, you will consider some of the characteristics that contribute to and detract from coaching for leadership development. As you do so, it is important that you draw upon your knowledge of psychology and individual differences. You must think in terms of both the absence of positive characteristics and an overabundance of negative characteristics in leaders. Either of these situations can detract from coaching effectiveness. For example, conscientiousness is a trait that is positively related to leadership effectiveness, and the absence of this trait can detract from coaching effectiveness. • Review the attached case studies for clients #1, #2, and #3. Explain using the cases how the client’s #1, #2, and #3 in the case studies might benefit from coaching for leadership development. (use attached documents 1a, 4a for references and sources) • Explain using the cases which of the client’s #1, #2, and #3 are ready for coaching and which are not. Explain why. (use attached documents 1a, 2a, 4a for references and sources) • Describe at least two leader characteristics from any of the clients in the case studies that might contribute to the effectiveness of coaching for leadership development, and explain why. (use attached documents 1a, 3a, 4a for references and sources) • Describe at least two leader characteristics from any of the clients in the case studies that might detract from the effectiveness of coaching for leadership development, and explain why. (use attached documents 1a,3a, 4a for references and sources)