Creativity Coaching - its functions and usage

Are you interested in enhancing your skills, in:

- Finding ways to overcome doubts, fears, anxieties, and worries so often hindering the mind’s creative genius?

- Excelling in accomplishing your creative goals?

- Better leveraging your personal strengths ?

- Developing latent sources of creativity and accomplishment

- Finding your next move after having successfully completed a creative project?

- Better navigating changes in your career?

- Identifying your vision, mission and purpose ?

- Touching your inner genius?

- Experiencing breakthrough processes?

- Generating novel creative ideas?

- Creating and leading new ventures?

- Developing your leadership style into an authentic and compelling Leadership Brand

- Discovering innovative ways to start a creative project on which you are feeling uncertain, blocked, and/or overwhelmed?

- Jump starting new thinking ideas and fresh leadership insights

- Providing clarity and insight

- Achieving greater levels of influence and impact

- Innovating: Turning ideas into action(s)

- Overcoming creative blocks and timely complete special projects

- Helping valued leaders maximize their potential

- Building your team members' creative acumen by providing a supported, practical experience with applied innovation

- Taping creative abilities within your team by highlighting distinguishing sources of power and success

- Better identifying leadership behaviors helping or hindering innovation in your workplace

If any of the above areas sound interesting to you, then coaching can do wanders for you and your team, supporting you in reaching beyond limitations and self-imposed boundaries.

Indeed, in today’s competitive environment, we’re becoming more aware of the relevance of increased creativity and innovation both in the workplace and schools. Syllab’s practically-oriented coaching is addressed to business leaders, and coaches. It shows how they can improve in making a difference.

In nowadays working environment it has become an imperative to assist people, teams and working groups in becoming more effective, productive and fulfilled. These important goals can be achieved to their fullest when minds are engaged with innovative approaches, conversations and techniques promoting novel ways of thinking, speaking, and acting.

Novel approaches to coaching can evoke creativity and innovation.

Innovative thinkers such as Peter Drucker and Henry Mintzberg have remarked that creativity and innovation are not keeping pace with the speed of change in our society today. Everything you learned or knew in the past is being questioned. Traditional ways of training, ways of interpreting things, and ways of acting are not sufficient for meeting the challenges facing leaders and their teams.

Without a doubt, creativity and innovation are invaluable assets for succeeding in business and leading a fulfilling life. As a source of innovation, creativity can lead to the production of novel and useful ideas. Such ideas can be generated by one’s own thinking or in collaboration with others.

Leaders need novel approaches. Using such approaches, they can increase their capacity to generate conversations with their team members sparking the process of generating creative ideas in them.

Coaching conversations can enhance creativity and the ability to create new possibilities.

Most people don’t take enough advantage of their inherent ability to create new possibilities. They are stuck in the paradigm of more, better and different. “Hidden conversations” and “undeclared commitments” hinder us from being more creative and innovative. Yet, there’s a particular way of coaching while dialoguing that uses “conversational spaces” and “conversational moves.” This novel technique supports the development of breakthrough thinking, speaking and acting. When using a “mindful” lens, others can be coached in better accessing their innate creativity and creative process, which can stimulate key shifts in their being and world views.

Engaging in single or more complex conversations aiming at building or sharpening a competence is a skill that can be learned. Furthermore deeper conversations can be stimulated pointing the way to more fundamental changes.

How people “see” themselves, others and the world they live in, determines their actions. To stimulate the process for shifting perspectives, people need to increase their capacity to observe themselves without judgment, and to open up new distinctions not only in spoken words but also in the domain of body and emotional language. So in order that true learning takes place, there must be coherent integration of all these three domains. New possibilities need to be created and envisioned allowing people to take mindful actions overcoming breakdowns or situations that otherwise couldn’t have been handled when left to themselves.

What’s the difference with other kinds of coaching?

Asking powerful questions and allowing their clients to explore actions and goals are only one aspect of the work creativity coaches do. Creativity coaching provides also for ways of tapping the state of exploration and flow, the intuitive process of choosing and creating, and the discovery of the tension surrounding the meaning of success, be-it financial or recognition.

There are many other types of coaches, who offer valuable help in exploring motives and decision-making processes. What distinguishes coaches focusing in the rich and powerful world of creativity, is sharing their bond of everyday creativity with their clients.

Why coaching ?

"In the world of organizational development, coaching has become the most effective tool to accelerate results in learning and professional development and building engaged workplaces and lives." 
— The University of British Columbia, HR department

While training and facilitation can produce powerful results, coaching provides the missing components to creating lasting change: Accountability and commitment. Transformation occurs more readily when organizations include coaching, to support leaders and teams to follow-up and follow-through.

One study examined the effects of executive coaching amongst managers in the public sector. Training — which included goal setting, collaborative problem solving, practice, and feedback, — increased productivity by 22.4%. Training and coaching increased productivity by 88%. (Public Personnel Management; Winter 1997; Olivero, Bane and Kopelman)

What is business coaching?

The origin of the word coach is French - meaning a vehicle for transporting people between places.

Coaching is a collaborative process involving self-discovery, goal setting and strategic actions, designed to help people and organizations create exceptional results. Through the process of coaching people can deepen their capacity for noticing, which help improve their knowledge and performance, while enhancing their life’s quality. Coaching has the capacity to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary and the result is alchemical.

How does coaching work?

Coaching is about asking the right questions. It's not about having all the answers. Your coach, becomes your trusted thinking partner.
So, a coach among many things:

- Asks thought-provoking questions helping people to find clarity of purpose and new insights that can lead to new innovative solutions.

- Senses, feels and sees possibilities for greatness in people.

- Assists people identify or define their aspirations and challenges, then becomes a trusted partner helping people achieve success — on their own terms.

- Is available to listen objectively, make observations, and assist people in the discovery of the right answers.

Coaches focus on areas like: where people are currently?, where they want to be?, and what they are willing to do to create success - as defined by them ? Coaches are available for support and encouragement and to celebrate achievements along the way, while holding people responsible and accountable on their progress. Results achieved always depend on people intentions, choices, commitment and actions.

For whom?

Syllab’s scope is the enhancement of leadership effectiveness - assisting leaders in better mastering new attitudes, approaches and behaviors. Using our extensive research and expertise in the field of leadership, we offer individual, team and group focused leadership coaching processes and solutions providing developmental choices for leaders and organizations.

Our creative leadership coaching offerings include: Individual, Team, and Coaching Skills Development. These offerings take advantage of our deep experiential understanding of the effectiveness of assessment, feedback and support – three elements found in all of our creative leadership programs. They are designed to meet a wide range of needs varying in depth and duration. They are distinguished by:

- A reliance on quality assessment

- The use of best practices throughout the coaching engagement

- A commitment to real, demonstrated leadership development

- Rigorous training for building people coaching skills

- A code of ethical behavior ensuring complete trust

Individual Coaching Overview

Syllab’s Individual Coaching provides one-on-one custom creative leadership development opportunities for senior managers and executives. Our coaching framework ensures that the coach and the trainee establish a sound and constructive relationship. Based on this relationship of trust, the coach challenges the trainee in a manner that encourages the stretch needed for development, and then supporting the participant to insure positive change.

Although each offering follows a similar framework, each engagement is custom designed for a specific participant, focusing on their particular developmental case. It is best suited for leaders who:

- Desire a more personal approach to development
- Would benefit better from a face-to-face personal contact
- Welcome the additional structure provided by a one-on-one exchange
- Belong to an organization that recognizes the value of individual coaching

Best suited for:

Any leaders who might want their personal skills enhanced through a confidential, empowering, professional relationship assisting them in improving their organization's effectiveness.

Team Coaching Overview

Syllab's Team Coaching offering provides teams and groups the opportunity to go beyond their current abilities; to create additional opportunities using a results-oriented process based upon member relationships, shared experience, and interpersonal awareness.

The Team Coaching offering follows Syllab's research-based framework, customized to achieve organizations’ specific needs and desired outcomes. This offers professional teams and groups the intimate coordination, collaboration, and creative thinking needed to address complex issues.

We use individual and team assessments, to identify common group behaviors, demonstrate gaps in perception and thinking, providing everyone the opportunity to think more openly, and work collaboratively in a manner that creates shared group understanding and increased effectiveness.

Syllab received special training on tools and processes necessary to enable Teams to become more effective. However, coaching is not bound by any particular structure: coaches use their sound foundations on knowledge assessment and personal business experience, along with Team’s desires, to produce results far beyond their capabilities when left on their own. This area of coaching includes team and group coaching engagements.

Best suited for:

Any team or group that might use a confidential, empowering, professional coaching relationship to enhance effectiveness and desired outcomes.

Coaching Skills Development Overview

Coaching is leading. Once coaching tools are learned, trainees can immediately appreciate their effectiveness, being the most powerful leadership form one can practice. Leaders with the proper coaching skills can motivate direct reports and work with their bosses and peers in a manner that reduces friction and enhances productivity.

Designed to teach creative leadership coaching skills, these offerings are not a substitute for professional coach training and recognition.

Best suited for:

- Individuals who want to develop coaching skills for use in the workplace.

- Leaders who want to practice their coaching skills to be more effective.

- Teams who want to increase coordination, communication, and collaboration to enable
increased productivity.

- Organizations wanting to create a 'coaching culture.' i.e. an open and communicative
environment yields tremendous business results.

- Internal coaches (such as human resource and organizational development specialists)
interested in maximizing their organizational impact.

About us as Coaches

Coaches are key to effective Personal, Team and Group development. We believe that truly effective coaching occurs in the context of an ongoing relationship between coach and trainee, founded upon experience, mutual honesty, trust and positive regard. We are highly skilled professionals with many years of experience.

Our competences are based on an extensive list of core qualifications and capabilities:

- We have earned graduate degrees (M.B.A. and Ph.D.) and have significant business knowledge. We are independent businesses owners

- We are highly trained in the use of assessment instruments and feedback techniques. We have demonstrated competence in learning theories and the dynamics of the change process

- We possess a diversity of experience and style that allows for strategic, well-planned, well thought and intentional matches between our coaches and trainees

- We share a code of professionalism for maximum impact.

- We are flexible to adapt to our customers busy schedule.

- We have broad business/organization skills knowledge

- Our Values are based on sensitivity to trust, ethics, and are free from gender and culture biases

- Executive presence skills

- Strong interpersonal skills: listening, confronting, challenging, straightforwardness, rapport, trust, warmth, compassion, humor

- Assessment skills and instruments knowledge applicable to the client's situation

- Personal maturity and stability

- Flexibility and ability to work effectively with a broad range of executives

- Ability to plan, conceptualize, implement and manage a coaching relationship over time

- Demonstrated knowledge of learning theories and the dynamics of change

- Credibility and authenticity

MORE ELABORATE DESCRIPTIONS

Executive Coaching: One-on-one leadership development

Executive Coaching helps leaders accomplish more by building on their self-knowledge, relationships and skills needed to meet their goals.

Creative Leadership: Are you a business leader whose success depends on your ability to create and lead new ventures?

Idea management systems, stage gating processes, and other organizational innovation techniques can provide more value when people know how their leadership style impacts others' motivations and ability to innovate.

The Creative Leadership development process is used to build a leadership style encouraging and supporting workplace creativity. This unique executive coaching process includes:

- A customized, in-depth assessment of a leader's personal strengths, behaviors and preferences that impact abilities to cultivate creativity and lead innovations

- Several rounds of targeted feedback enabling leaders to check their perceptions against the perceptions of others.

- Defining development goals and strategies, and engaging others in supporting a leader's targeted changes.

- Coached implementation of leadership strategies, with an emphasis upon application and refinement of new insights.

- Sharing successes and defining leaders new extension strategies

Develop a leaders style into an authentic and compelling Leadership Brand

A strong leadership brand reflects the relationship leaders have with their key stakeholders; embodying a clear, consistent and compelling sense of who they are, what they value and how they can be counted upon to act.

A Leadership Brand is a leadership development process integrating branding insights with executive developmental practices assisting highly valued leaders in developing the types of relationships promoting their success.

Building self knowledge and skills needed to lead authentically while moving an organization toward its strategic goals.

Outcomes include:

- Defining your personal leadership brand attributes, platform and promise.

- Eliciting feedback that checks the integrity and impact of your current leadership style.

- Identifying goals and strategies that develop the types of relationships capable of extending success; delivering your leadership brand promises with more consistent choices and behaviors.

- Measuring the impact of changes you implement, and designing long term supports for the ongoing development of your living leadership brand.

Leaders wanting to jump start new thinking and fresh leadership insights

Busy leaders looking for an infusion of fresh thinking on difficult challenges, can find immediate and longer term benefits from this focused, short term executive coaching process.

Using the Fresh Insights leadership development process to collect ideas on jump start new thinking, while considering feedbacks on specific behaviors impacting a leader's ability to develop more creative and effective solutions, by:

- Defining a leader's root challenge; selecting feedback sources; and approving a customized feedback tool.

- Reviewing feedback sources ideas, and observations about the leader's characteristic approaches to similar issues.

- Identify and refine the most promising ideas related to addressing the leader's challenge.

- Consider others' perceptions of personal leadership style, to help yield new ways leveraging these insights as you continue to work on specific root challenge.

Help valued leaders maximize their potential

Assist valued leaders in realizing their potential by maximizing usage of their strengths and help them to address workplace behaviors limiting their professional effectiveness. The Syllab’s Leadership Coaching process incorporates:

- Assessing your strengths and developmental needs in relationship to the organization's goals.

- Creating a greater awareness of how to adapt your leadership style to improve your ability to achieve results in the organization.

- Ensuring support for and implementation of a Leadership Development Plan.

- Short term coaching to support behavioral change.

Innovative Works: Building team members' creative acumen by providing a supported, practical experience with applied innovation

Listing six steps for creative problem solving is a totally different process from effectively leading and implementing creative problem solving in the workplace. Facilitating thoughtfully designed teams and creative problem solving processes capable of generating more effective solutions to leadership challenges, while developing leadership abilities to engage team members in approaching business issues as creative challenges.

The scope of the Innovative Works executive coaching process includes:

- Innovation strategy design: crafting the team charter, selecting and inviting team members.

- Exploring the challenge: collecting and considering data and information, defining the "real challenge," updating key stakeholders on these outcomes.

- Generating creative solutions: incorporating unique approaches and vantage points, defining a range of potential solutions; selecting and improving the best.

- Preparing for action: developing and improving implementation strategies; sharing the plan with others, integrating input and building support.

- Implementing for sustainable success: executing, measuring effectiveness and improving the selected strategies.

Creative Intelligence: Taping the creative abilities available within teams by highlighting distinguishing sources of power and success

Designed to address situations when business goals hinge upon bringing each team members' creative abilities to the forefront; a Creative Intelligence program can be presented as a day long immersion or a series of shorter sessions.

Provide teams with an opportunity to slow down and think differently about ways to:

- Become more consistently creative at work and life in general, by developing a stronger understanding of their personal sources of creativity while identifying ways to make fuller use of talents and strengths.

- Counter blocks to accessing and using creativity in the workplace: testing personal mythologies about creativity, defining ways to decrease mental clutter, and identifying attitudes, assumptions, and emotions that stifle innovation.

- Build habits supporting them in bringing more of their best to their work, individually or as a team.

Climate Check: Identifying leadership behaviors helping and/or hindering innovation in the workplace

Improve capabilities in implementing changes strengthening supportive practices while reducing identified obstacles.

Stages of the Climate Check process include:

- Crafting a survey process based on research-based tools, customized on-line tools, and/or appreciative inquiry interviews.

- Processing the survey's feedback, with an emphasis toward recognizing and building upon acknowledged strengths.

- Identifying ways to strengthen and sustain policies, practices and behaviors that support creativity, and reduce identified obstacles. Team leaders are being coached while in the process of planning changes, integrating behavioral changes, tracking progress, and defining ways to sustain achieved gains.