One senior professional puts it this way: “If I want to help my people acquire the skills I have, I must get them involved in planning the work, understanding how their task fits in, and interpreting the discoveries made as the project unfolds. There is no use in their sitting in on client meetings unless I am prepared to discuss with them why I handled myself as I did. They could too easily not realise the context specific factors that affect my decisions. I’m not trying to train them to do, I’m trying to train them to think as I do”
Being a good coach or mentor is not easy. It takes a genuine interest in helping juniors improve, not just in appraising their performance. The coach has to ensure that assignments provide stretching but recognizable challenges, and that feedback on what was done right and what needs work is detailed and prompt.
The professional quoted above takes his coaching responsibilities seriously. Yet all too often one hears young professionals complain about a lack of attention and specific, helpful advice from the partners they work for. In turn, partners too frequently view these requests as unreasonable, or at least as less pressing and less important than the other (very real) demands on their time.
Clearly, coaching is a time-intensive investment in the long run health of the firm. Frequently, however, the firm’s organisational, structure, method of performance appraisal, and culture discourage mentoring. Other responsibilities: business getting and servicing of clients are usually more visible and have quicker “paybacks to the individual. For example, most partner-compensation systems reward short-term business planning and billable hours more than the time spent working with junior staff.
The professional, no less than industrial companies, find it all too easy to sacrifice long-term profitability – building actions in the name of short-term pressures. Accordingly, coaching is not recognised and rewarded, and it tends to fall to those who find it personally fulfilling or who value the long range benefits to the firm move than their own short-term self-interest.
Excerpted from ‘Managing the Professional Service Firm’ by David Maister, pages 157 to 158