Author(s)
Author Organization:
Microfinance leaders are participating in an in
novative new professional coaching program and finding that it is successfully helping them address leadership issues. Glynis Rankin, Director of the WWB Coaching Program reports that the inaugural program is effective—participants are engaging actively with their coaches and colleagues and are implementing real, measurable changes at their institutions.
In a needs-assessment conducted before the start of the program, Rankin and her company Creative Metier found that among CEOs in microfinance there were a number of preconceptions about coaching, especially about remote coaching. One respondent commented that working with a remote coach to address business issues would be like having a tennis coach giving lessons from a different country.
In practice, though, the coachees have found remote support quite useful and are using the coaching to improve business results and performance; plan for succession; address management issues, including team management, delegation, and staff development; and improve 360 degree relationships with boards, line managers, peers, and direct reports.
The Coaching Program began with a 3-day Coaching workshop in Oxford, England in June 2010, after which participants call on coaches monthly via telephone, Skype, and using Creative Metier’s customized online tools. The key to success is that the coaching comes when challenges and opportunities arise. Some coachees prefer to skip a call during times when things are relatively uneventful so that they can have a more in-depth coaching session when they need to make a major decision or deliver an important project.
Particularly exciting is the level of change coaches are witnessing. As compared to large corporate banks or other institutions, the relatively small size of microfinance institutions and their inherent dynamism allows coaches and coachees to work on implementing new changes every month. One participant reports that monthly conversations with her coach give her the opportunity to bounce ideas off of someone who does not have a direct stake in the outcome of her decisions, providing the space to expand her thinking and make more strategic decisions. Other participants describe a newfound ability to speak out when they see problems, to gather staff feedback in a productive and inclusive way, and delegate to staff so that they feel empowered to excel and meet their targets. Unlike the image of coaching tennis from a different country, remote coaching does not forgo the needed personal touch, but rather offers a neutral and non-judgmental space to cultivate participant-driven results.
An end-of-program virtual roundtable was held on December 16, 2010, enabling participants to reconnect, share achievements, and hear from key stakeholders selected from their institutions about the changes they have noticed due to their colleague’s participation in the program. This will also provide Creative Metier and Center for Microfinance Leadership the opportunity to integrate participant feedback into the design of the next Coaching Program in June 2011.
The Center for Microfinance Leadership’s work with this group of microfinance senior leaders through the Coaching Program defies preconceptions and demonstrates that remote coaching meets a the need to support leaders when a problem is live and there is the most potential for change.
Visit our Help Center to find answers to frequently asked questions.