A Case of Shiny Object Syndrome?
I watched a demonstration of a seasoned coach providing coaching supervision to another agile coach the other day. In both cases, these were coaches who coached in agile contexts. So, they walked the line between operating as a Professional Coach (ICF) and an Agile Coach, who provides much more breadth of coaching than Professional Coaching.
It was a virtual session, so perhaps 40-50 agile coaches were observing. I could tell that everyone was intently following the conversation as it unfolded. I was enthralled as they artfully constructed a coaching conversation arc that felt, well, masterful.
First Reaction
It was a wonderful demonstration of professional coaching, specifically coaching supervision in action.
The client/coach, in this case, brought a real-world scenario, so they showed tremendous vulnerability and courage in sitting under supervision. You could tell that it was a hairy situation, and the coaching session helped them advance the system dynamics between themselves as a coach and their client.
The demonstration illustrated the depth and breadth of a skillful professional coaching session, the power of presence, sensing, powerful questions, and listening.
We were all in awe of the power of professional coaching and the insights it emerged. And I, for one, was truly inspired to take this example forward into my agile coaching. To really “lean into” the Professional Coaching stance even more.
It was a beautiful and profoundly moving experience.
Reflective Reaction
As I later thought about the situation, something occurred to me.
First, everyone in the room who experienced the demonstration and learning was, like me, a coach. I wondered if they all were affected the way I was.
But then I thought, might it also be a trap?
I mean that the coaching demonstration showed coaches what coaching supervision was and secondarily demonstrated a master-level Professional Coaching.
But the danger is that I left the room with shiny object syndrome for professional coaching. I was enamored with it. I was excited to explore it and improve myself.
A Trap
But it was a trap or a shiny object.
Professional Coaching is one of many stances as an agile coach, and I shouldn’t lean too heavily into it. I would even argue that it provides the least perceived value to my clients in many contexts, so overusing it can be a colossal mistake.
For a metaphor, it would be like Agile Coaching being equivalent to an Executive Chef and Professional Coaching equivalent to a Pastry Chef. Sure, dessert and pastries are essential, but there is much more to being a well-rounded and skilled Master Chef, particularly if our clients are paying for an entire meal.
The trap is that so many agile coaches get overly enamored with and focus too heavily on Professional Coaching in their—training & certifications, practice, thinking, and self-mastery.
If I were to give you some advice, I’d recommend you only adopt a Professional Coaching stance no more than 20% of the time. No matter what your coaching role or client you are working with.
Profound implications
And I realize this advice has profound implications. For example—
If you’ve focused most of your Agile Coaching learning journey towards Professional Coaching, then you might be in trouble.
If you have a ton of Professional Coaching certifications OR agile coaching certifications that spent most of their time practicing Professional Coaching, then you might be in trouble.
If you are in an Agile Coaching role and you lack domain experience (Technical, Leadership, Organizational, Business, and Product) that limits your coaching stance options, then you might be in trouble.
If you’ve been reticent to have or get “skin-in-the-game” with your coaching clients, then you might be in trouble.
And by in trouble, I mean that you might not be providing perceivable value to your clients, might be a layoff/reduction risk, and might be irrelevant. Also, I think staying in your comfort zone or your shiny object zone is not a viable skills growth strategy.
Wrapping Up
I’m making the case here for a moment of self-awareness and reflection for all of us.
It’s not about how we’re evolving our skills to gain affirmation or approval from our coaching peers. In the case of Professional Coaching, you’ll find oodles of folks to train, certify, and confirm your bias. And it will feel oh so good.
Instead, it’s about how we’re evolving and leveraging our skills to—
1) Serve our clients and
2) Deliver perceived and real value. For our clients' success and our survival,
So, the reflection question is—
“Agile Coaches”—are you chasing any shiny objects?
Stay agile, my friends,
Bob.