quote:

Coaching doesn't replace training; it augments it.

Barry,

I'd go one further and build on something Alvin (Toffler [Future Shock] not Lee [Ten Years After]) said about learning, unlearning and relearning. If there is no conscious effort during training to recognise the current situation/status quo and differentiate from the new situation and/or behaviour required then real change is unlikely to occur since we will slide back into old habits over time. Indeed, in this situation coaching could inadvertently reinforce the previous situation.

That said, if the old situation is identified and the new explained, analysed and provisionally accepted, the coaching (or similar post training initiatives) is critical to augment and enhance the learning that has already started. Real learning (Senge's mastery?)only takes place at the point of implementation.......rather like driving on your own after you have passed your driving test.

Van - The key to scheduling is coming up with what works best for the individual - while most of my clients talk with me three weeks on/one week off, others are on an every-other-week schedule, others are on a monthly basis ... I even talk with one client once every 60 days (a form of maintenance mode). The duration of the conversation can vary, as well.

What's most important, though, is the coaching conversations - whatever their schedule and whatever their duration - on the calendar. That, in itself, dramatically increases the probability for the coaching to actually occur.

Vlad ~ (Didn't know you were such a rocker, Mr. Music-Man!)

I agree that without a 'readiness' for coaching, sustainable change will not occur merely as a result of of coaching.

To your Senge point, I've noticed that many people who successfully change their behaviors often don't notice it, at first. (Perhaps it's due to their attention being captured by some now newer, more troubling, problem.) So while the mastery may indeed only take place at the point of implementation, the realization of mastery often requires an after-the-fact connecting of the dots.

That's what "locks in" the learning, yes?

Hi Barry,

Thanks for the clarification / explaination.

Have a good evening.