As a coach, we are often faced with the challenges of getting to know how to best communicate, motivate, and influence a person. Unfortunately, we are always bound by the amount of time we can dedicate to this pursuit.
One of the best ways to accelerate the "getting to know each other" stage is by using assessment tools.
Many coaches use these tools as a part of their coaching process so they can understand what to expect, how to best work with the coachee, and spend less time guessing "what they are like" and more time focusing on the results.
Let's have a look at the following example to understand how using multiple assessments in the beginning of a coaching relationship might be useful.
A Doer, Not a Talker
The most striking feature about John’s three profiles is the extreme task (or ‘doing’) orientation.
This is not the latte sipping, lar-de-dar conversation type. Expect him to get straight to the point, use short sentences, and expect to break your neck on a rocky surface if you decide to go diving for feelings.
John will respect a coach who is a real-world thinker with a strong practical mentality, who can talk to him in terms of R.O.I (return on investment). He will respond better to someone who is willing to stand their ground, compared to someone who tries to be his friend and win his approval.
John is the kind of person who respects hard facts, data and logic, not opinions and feelings.
This is reflected most strongly in the very high intensity of the D (DISC Graph), followed by the relatively high C (DISC Graph), combined with the very high Utilitarian (Motivators Graph), and the high level of Motivation (EQ Graph).
The relationship of these three graphs indicates that John is very goal driven, very results focused, and is passionately interested in getting a return on investment for his time, energy, effort and money. With this combination he might even tend to steamroll people to get to what he wants — and not consider them in his actions.
Money on the Mind
Getting a clearer understanding of John's world-view can be found in the Motivators Graph. The highest two are Utilitarian and Individualistic, which means that John is a person who is very strongly motivated by prestige, power and wealth.
This combination is important to keep in mind at all times in the coaching conversation. When ‘selling’ or presenting him with a new idea, John will gravitate towards anything that you can link to advancing his career position, material possessions, or economic status.
Direct Communication Style
John will be assertive and direct in his communication preferences. He won’t hesitate to let you know what’s on his mind. If he has a problem with something you said, he will let you know about it.
As a coach, be prepared for someone who is tough-minded, potentially cold, and even blunt at times. He will respond well to someone who is an honest, straight-shooter.
Low People Focus
One of the areas that you can expect John to be facing troubles with in his life is managing relationships.
This is supported by the relationship between low I/S (DISC Graph), low Social/Altruistic (Motivators Graph), low Empathy (EQ Graph), and average Social Skills (EQ Graph).
This means that the people around him may perceive him as bossy, rude, detached and even indifferent to their feelings — the impact of which he may be completely unaware.
John will need to work hard to improve his inter-personal emotional intelligence scores (Empathy and Social Skills), to ensure that his natural task-focused nature doesn’t sideline, or take front seat, over his relationships. Selling John on the economic benefits of becoming more emotionally intelligent might be a good starting point.
Characteristics to Expect
- Tough-minded
- Sets very high standards
- Comfortable with taking initiative
- Likes to move at a fast pace
- Totally keyed to results
- Will try to keep others on task
- Is deadline conscious
- Doing things quickly is a priority
- Forward-looking and competitive
- Interested in facts and data
- Strong need for training/education to be practical and useful
- Strongly independent
- Likes to make his own decisions about how an assignment should be completed
- Comfortable being in the limelight
- Not afraid to take calculated risks
Things That are Most Likely to Annoy John
- Wasting time and moving too slowly
- Too much chit-chat
- Conversations that are ‘touchy-feely’ or ‘wishy-washy’
- Not getting to the point
- Conversations that have nothing to do with money
- Being unprepared
- Statements that are not supported by facts
- Being late
Potential Areas for Improvement
- Being overly blunt or bossy
- Putting tasks ahead of relationships
- Overly perfectionistic; may try to micromanage
- "Short fuse" (i.e. quick to anger)
- Becomes irritated if deadlines are delayed or missed
- Lacks the patience to listen and communicate with slower acting people
- "My way or the highway” mentality
- Getting a return is more important than helping others
- Has difficulty relinquishing control of a project
- May seem emotionally detached, cold or aloof
As a coach, imagine having all this information BEFORE you even meet John face-to-face. Do you think it would make your life easier?
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