If you can create and establish an effective, performance oriented communication culture in your organization you will be ahead of your competition and better equipped to master a crisis. To find out why and how let’s look into:

1. Cultures
2. Coaching
3. Coaching Cultures defined
4. What you can get out of a Coaching Culture
5. How to establish and create a Coaching Culture
6. Signs of an existing Coaching Culture
7. A good source for professional coaches to help and support the establishment of a Coaching Culture

• Cultures evolve always when a number of people are living and working together, developing mindsets, skills and rules which help them to adapt to a given situation respectively to achieve  goals. With one word: people interact and thus create a culture. And people interact through communication, there is no other means to it. Many times these cultures get into existence without people being aware of or members of the group actively promoting a wanted culture. This results frequently in sub-optimal cultures because bad communication prevents good results.
• Coaching on the other hand is a very simple way of communicating, and the best which does exist so far, as it follows common sense, is structured and has a few rules which make sure there will be results. Coaching though is not easy because it requires skills and behavior which most of us seem not to have really learned or developed. We lost the sense of common sense!
• In short: coaching is if you want to go from A (where you are now) to B ( where you want to be) and you talk to someone who is asking you about B and A, how you think you can get there in the best possible way and what action you will take to get to B. Both of you will then review after a while where you are and whether you’ve got closer to B, thus helping you to  learn and achieve. (There are many coaching models out there but all stick to these basics)
• The core skills you need for coaching are the creating of a positive and good relationship with the person you coach (you can call it mutual trust), asking good questions to draw out the intelligence, knowledge and experience of that person and to make him think (there is usually much more than you imagine), listening to what that person is saying (that is really a tough skill), giving clear and precise messages of what you see and experience regarding that person’s  behavior (many people fear doing that because they don’t’ dare to hurt the other person’s feeling) and finally to acknowledge people when they have come up with good ideas or successful actions (why are there so many people around who don’t do that?)
• There is one “trick” though to learn and practice these skills a lot faster and better: using your positive intention!
• When you communicate with a positive, supporting and empathizing intention, put your will and energy into it, you can hardly go wrong, rather you will get better and better at your communication = coaching skills with whomsoever you are doing it, staff, peers, customers and vendors alike.
• And from here you can define a corporate coaching culture. A coaching culture does exist when all people in an organization confidently practice open respectful coaching conversations, not hindered by hierarchy and reporting lines. All “leaders” coach their subordinates internally and leaders utilize external coaches as required.  Members of this organization care about how they can achieve better team relationships and individual and collective work performance. All members practice and  value effective feedback because it’s a powerful learning instrument for personal and professional development. They are creating working relationships based on rapport and trust, permanently increasing job performance and improving customer satisfaction.
  
• While individual coaching (no matter by an external or internal coach) improves one persons’ performance, establishing a coaching culture goes far beyond such effects. You will find a better working environment in which employees are more engaged because they are involved in finding good and better ways to increase results. The staff turnover rates are reduced because people feel good in what they do and they have development perspectives. That also keeps good and talented people within the organization (war for talent!) as they will be developing into leaders of people and leaders of leaders, moving ahead and being engaged. As everyone is using coaching communication skills  leaders will free their time because staff is thinking and acting on their own such giving more time for leaders to think strategically and focus on the high priority issues. Organizational change will be much faster and easier as there is no “ordered from above” attitude but everyone is involved and engaged on their respective levels. And last but not least customers and vendors will be engaged in a positive and reward you with higher customer and vendor satisfaction
• To establish a Coaching Culture definitely requires a very clear vision from the top of the organization as to what should be done and for which purpose is should be. This vision needs to be excellently communicated throughout the organization and the top leaders need to show their highest commitment during the development process and thereafter. As well, the targets for the desired outcomes and business benefits must be defined and purposes must be aligned.  Measurable progress and outcome indicators must be in place. The implementation needs a support mechanism as well as high quality training and partners from outside to ensure a successful start and evolving of a coaching culture.
• So, how would you know that a coaching culture is evolving or existing? One very good sign is when leaders take over role model behavior and for example change from being the boss of people to be a coach for people.
• Another one is when coaching conversations are taking place on all levels, between levels, up and down, lateral etc. and when peer coaching conversations take place.
• Another sure sign is when HR systems are aligned and integrated, for example job descriptions include the requirement for coaching skills.  360 degree instruments request feedback regarding these skills.  HR has a number of internal coaches available to be offered to leaders and staff. Coaching is fully integrated into all systems that impact people, like talent acquisition and retention, orientation programs, training measures and effectiveness criteria, performance appraisals, promotions, recognition programs, and compensation.
• As well, when all people in the organization are focused on feedback to their internal and external customers as well as being keen on receiving feedback  to help their customers as well as themselves to learn and develop.
• Last but not least when teams become energized, getting faster and with team members expressing job satisfaction and developing a feeling of inclusiveness with a high grade of identification with the company, its products and its image.
• Certainly there is a need for qualified external coaches when preparing, establishing and developing a coaching culture in organizations as they will help and support to start, to train and evolve according to the very special nature and needs of an organization. In addition there will always be requirements for short term, special assignments which focus on the development of a specific competence, need or situation and where external coaches have the necessary coaching skills to leverage the individuals own knowledge & potential. But where to find them?
• As we all know there is no formally protected professional term for coaches. But there are coaching associations respectively federations which set standards for the training, professionalism, code of conduct and experience of their members.
• One of these is the International Coach Federation (ICF) with an international membership of 16,000. There is also a ICF Singapore Chapter with more than 100 members here in Singapore. This global professional body for coaching is setting coaching Standards and Ethics, has a Code of Conduct in place, has Defined Competencies to be followed and Independent Examinations which lead to various levels of Accreditation and Professional Development. Although interested parties can become members of the ICF for various purposes like networking or being in transition of becoming a coach, only accredited coaches guarantee the minimum standards set by the ICF. It is worthwhile when looking for coaches to refer to these ICF coaches (please look into the following website: http://www.icfsingapore.org)