Spend more between the noses!

The coaching industry worldwide is a big one, with big budgets. And most of these are spent on individuals.

There seems to be an assumption that developing leaders using an individually focussed approach contributes to great leadership. It’s a small hop from there to assume this investment will create great teams and leading organisations.

Is this a logic train you recognise where you work?

Sure, individual coaching is a powerful tool and should continue to attract investment.  And yet, leadership is evidently a relational activity that involves other people and some form of endeavour.

Fresh Air Learning - between the nosesIn an ever connected and complex world why is it that so few organisations invest in the stuff that happens ‘between the noses’?

Could it be because some coaching spend comes out of executives’ personal budgets? “I need to spend on me to survive around here.”

Could it be that effective teams are high maintenance and messy places? Does it take too much courage to spend money here? Is it ignorance? How many executives know what an effective team is? Is it a numbed acceptance? That this is as good as it gets?

As Peter Hawkins (2011) puts it, “The major leadership challenges lie not in the parts but in the interconnections.”

Will you spend more between the noses?

Dave Stewart

The Fresh Air Learning Company