IN THIS ISSUE:

Product in Depth. Coaching Gym: Accountability Plus. Sage Portfolio Group's Coaching Gym program creates accountability in participating employees. It also teaches accountability. Read article

Frog Pond: Reflections from a Values-Based Organization. Building a House of Four Rooms. Our CEO shares her “picture” of a successful organization. Read article

What’s Out There. The Three Signs of a Miserable Job. Patrick Lencioni's book proposes a profoundly simple formula for an enjoyable job, whether it's working the drive thru or making decisions from the corner office.  Read article

The Culinary Coach. Breakfast Torta. Not meat and potatoes ... egg and potatoes! Easy, hearty, and delicious, it's perfect for that all-day breakfast. Read recipe

If you would like a printable version of this newsletter, please visit www.sageportfoliogroup.com/archives.html

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Coaching Gym: Accountability Plus
By Jennifer Dawson

The many images evoked by the term “gym”--sweat-jewelled men and women pumping iron, spandex-clad aerobics classes, and maybe even (for the less athletically inclined) the humiliation of getting picked last for the murderball team in Grade 4--don't seem to relate to coaching. It's true that “members” of a “coaching gym” are more likely to lift a telephone handset than a free weight. But, like members of a fitness gym, coaching gym members are committed to self-improvement.

Sage Portfolio Group's coaching gym takes the principles of executive coaching and packages them in an affordable, efficient format that can be made available to a larger number of employees at all levels of an organization. The philosophy of business coaching remains intact: solutions are generated by the client and are supported by the coach, who holds the client accountable for the steps or tasks that are identified and, through the process, teaches the client how to internalize that accountability so that it is sustainable outside the coaching relationship. The approach in a coaching gym, however, is more focused. Goals may be identified by the organization as a whole or a specific manager. Or the coaching sessions could be designed to support the learning from a particular training session. Coaching takes place over the phone as a pre-scheduled appointment or a spontaneous call or email that will be answered during pre-set coaching gym hours.

Sage Portfolio group has recently rolled out “Coaching Gym Plus”, a program that concretely involves management in the coaching gym process. Organizations enrolled in this program participate in an initial “focus of coaching” telephone call that provides the coach, the client and his or her manager with a voice at the formative stage of the program. Working together, they establish the goals for coaching, the lines of accountability, the roles of each participant and the frequency of managerial involvement. This process ensures that all parties fully understand the expectations and outcomes of the coaching gym, and the degree to which each individual will be involved at different times.

In summary, Sage Portfolio Group's coaching gym is a cost-effective option to improve the accountability of employees in both an immediate and long-term way. The relationship with the coach models constructive accountability, and through Coaching Gym Plus, can directly include the input of a supervisor or manager. The coach, client and manager form a powerful team capable of pumping some serious metaphorical iron--which may mean moving the client beyond that formative murderball moment by establishing some more fulfilling wins.

To learn more about Sage Portfolio Group's coaching gym, visit our website here. To discuss integrating our coaching gym into your organization's development program, call 1-800-592-2303 or email melanie@sageportfoliogroup.com

 

Building a House of Four Rooms
By Melanie Parish

As CEO of a growing company, I am very aware of the time and expense involved in becoming the best organization possible. Creating new processes is costly, and sometimes feels like it gets in the way of the work we do and the product we deliver. Processes are about making the future better, but it can be hard to think about tomorrow when we have clients to serve and sales to make today. Rather than lose focus on the big picture, I have tried to think systematically about maximizing our potential as an organization. First I tried words. I ended up drawing a house.

At the top--the attic of the house--is the strategic or overarching plan of the organization. Below this, the house has four rooms that are each important to the success of the organization. The first room represents the PEOPLE. Getting the right people in place is vital to a functioning organization. The second room is PROCESSES. Processes make it possible to repeat and duplicate good employee behaviors. If the people and the processes are in place, I move to the third room, which is KNOWLEDGE. Do the people have the knowledge to excel at their jobs?  Do they have the right technical knowledge to succeed? Do they have the leadership and team knowledge to succeed? If the right people have the knowledge they require and are following good processes, then I move to the fourth room: ACCOUNTABILITY. Is there appropriate follow-up to make sure the processes are reliably and consistently followed, and the knowledge is applied?

At Sage Portfolio Group, we've done a lot of work in the “people” room - tantamount to a major renovation. We have created job profiles for each position and now use a tool to help us hire people who will be an optimum fit. The job profiles allow us to compare the job to the candidate and start a dialogue about our organization's needs, the candidate's strengths and weaknesses, and the ways the organization may need to adapt to the new employee.

The “knowledge” room was pretty good at the outset; we've done work more akin to re-decoration than renovation. We work regularly on learning and increasing our knowledge and the knowledge of our staff, including in-service learning, workshops and paid courses.

The room dedicated to “processes” has been given a lot of attention, as is the case in all fast-growing companies. Some processes we've created in-house to streamline and systematize our operations. Others have required the assistance of--to continue the reno analogy--an outside contractor to help us build, including exciting customized software we have developed to enhance our team approach to project management.

The room that I am most curious about is “accountability”. How do we hold people accountable without blame or finger pointing? How do we follow-up without micro-managing? One of the ways I do this is by making our coaching gym product available to all of our staff members. Every Sage Portfolio Group staff member who works more than 10 hours per week gets one-on-one coaching. We are a development organization, after all. I find it so helpful that my staff “work out” their challenges at our coaching gym. They have support, a place to vent, an objective opinion to check in with and someone--other than “the boss”--who will make sure they're following through on commitments. This has proven to be a powerful tool for people to work on their own accountability.

For my part, I’ll just keep on building our “house”.

Frog Pond: Reflections from a values-based organization is a monthly column that explores our development as a company, with particular emphasis on how we express, honour, model and grapple with our organizational values. The title for the column comes from the last, but perhaps most profound, of the five values upon which Sage Portfolio Group has been built. We call it “frog pond”. Sitting beside the frog pond at Sage Portfolio Group’s head office in Dundas, Ontario on a warm summer evening with a glass of wine and meal made from locally grown organic produce has taught us to value local roots and global consciousness, quiet contemplation and sharing with others, dreaming big and common sense. Articles written for this column take the abstract principles of Sage Portfolio Group’s “frog pond” value and make them both real and useful. Dip your toe to test the water … or dive right in!

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A fable for managers (and their employees)
By Jennifer Dawson

Patrick Lencioni's book, published in 2007, begins with a fitting quote from Samuel Johnson: “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” The three signs of a miserable job, which are engagingly explored in Lencioni's tried-and-true fable-format, are not complex, academic or especially original. They are simple and based in common sense. This book is Lencioni's reminder, a la Samuel Johnson, that managers and employees already have the knowledge and tools to make the jobs around them meaningful and enjoyable.

All miserable jobs, Lencioni posits, are the result of three underlying factors: anonymity, or the feeling that no one knows who you are; irrelevance, or the feeling that your work has no beneficial impact; and “immeasurement”, a term he coins to describe why employees so often feel unable to determine, for themselves, whether they are doing well or poorly at work. It is a manager's responsibility to ensure that the “three signs” are absent from the jobs of their direct reports.

Employee accountability ties into the last two “signs” in interesting ways. If an employee has no sense of who benefits from his or her time, energy, insight and productivity--in Lencioni's terms, there is “irrelevance” in the job--there is little to motivate the employee to continue working. Employees who know, in specific and measurable terms, that clients, co-workers, or a manager are directly impacted by their work can see that their work has value. Accountability, then, is made real for employees. It also becomes clear that accountability is based in relationships--peer-to-peer, employee-to-customer, employee-to-manager--and not in abstractions like profit or loss.

The specific measurement component is also important to a discussion of accountability. Lencioni emphasizes that the measurement must be something that employees can use to gauge their own successes and areas for improvement. At one point in his fable, an employee at the drive-thru is asked to record the number of times he causes a customer to smile. Counting smiles, for this employee, is something that he does himself: he does the math, he keeps the records, he establishes his success or failure and reports it to his boss. Thus, in addition to being accountable to those with whom you have a relationship, you are accountable to yourself. This moves accountability from simply being an external judgement from a superior to an internal assessment tool and motivator that can be used by the employee him or herself.

Perhaps Lencioni's “signs” are more complex than they appear at first. Certainly they relate in thought-provoking ways to the day-to-day human resources challenges of any organization. They are simple lessons with profound impacts.

Sage Portfolio Group can assist your organization to eliminate miserable jobs, enhance relationships and increase accountability. Contact Melanie Parish at 1-800-592-2303 or melanie@sageportfoliogroup.com to discuss how we can help.

What's Out There is a monthly column highlighting thought leaders and trail blazers in the business world today -- people, organizations or subjects that push boundaries, break down barriers or build bridges in novel or unexpected ways.

 

Breakfast Torta

More than a decade ago I was visiting my friend Mariah in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She had recently clipped a recipe for an egg and potato dish, spiced with green chiles, and proudly served it to me. It was absolutely delicious, but I never got to see the recipe. Since that time I've been experimenting with the dish--playing with the addition of other ingredients, and tweaking the quantities--in a culinary evolution of Mariah's original. The current version, which I love and serve for many a weekend breakfast, replaces the chiles with spinach and parboils the potatoes for the sake of efficiency. Enjoy!

5 medium potatoes, sliced thinly
12 eggs, beaten
2 large handfuls of fresh spinach, washed
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
5 tbsp vegetable oil

Parboil potatoes. Sauté onion in 1 tbsp of oil in a large, oven-proof skillet. Add spinach and sauté until limp. Remove from skillet and set aside. Using the same hot skillet, add 4 tbsp of oil and brown the potatoes, arranging them to form a crust on the bottom of the pan. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and add the spinach and onion mixture and grated cheese. Pour over the potatoes and cover. Cook on medium heat until almost done. Place under the broiler to finish cooking the very top.

The Culinary Coach is Melanie Parish, founder and CEO of Sage Portfolio Group. Good food is about culture, community, family, physiology and fun. Each month we share one of Melanie's tried-and-true recipes, or some of her kitchen wisdom, in celebration of the power of food to strengthen, nurture and inspire. Cheers!

This month's contributors:

Melanie Parish, CPCC, PCC, is an accomplished speaker; executive and team coach; entrepreneur; and is the founder of Sage Portfolio Group. She has a 20 year background in sales, marketing and business development. Melanie regularly works with business owners who want to create incredible, profitable businesses. She has been a coach since 1999. Melanie is certified through the International Coach Federation and The Coaches Training Institute.

Jennifer Dawson is a cultural anthropologist, researcher and writer for Sage Portfolio Group.

About The Leading Edge:
The Leading Edge is published monthly by Sage Portfolio Group and written for a readership that includes coaching clients, human resource professionals, business leaders, fellow coaches and the occasional aspiring gourmand. Our goal is to offer a combination of wisdom and wit--sourced from our own in-house experts and other respected leaders in the field--in an easy-to-access e-zine format. A hard copy version is published bi-annually. We welcome editorial questions, comments and story ideas; please direct these to the editor, Jennifer Dawson, at jen(at)sageportfoliogroup.com. If you find value in the articles we invite you to pass them on to a friend with the recommendation to sign up directly for The Leading Edge at www.sageportfoliogroup.com. Articles from The Leading Edge can be reproduced in an in-house publication provided that Sage Portfolio Group is credited for the article.