If a coachee is to develop a pathway to improved performance then they must first be able to identify their own strengths and areas for improvement, or they risk the journey being a long and winding one, with no real chance of reaching their destination. Self-analysis is the process of critically analysing current performance in an open, honest and trusting environment. Coaches must therefore provide this environment and must also be exemplars of this process.
The key here is critical analysis, people are often their own harshest critic, when asked for their strengths, coachees may find it a hard question to answer as they do not wish to appear overconfident or arrogant, instead preferring to remain humble in their answer, or they may simply be unsure as to what their true strengths are. Inversely, when asked for weaknesses a coachee may have several points they wish to focus on, some of which may not be aligned to their role or may even be innocuous and easy to rectify, with very little impact on overall performance. Some may seem so all encompassing that they are having a considerable effect on confidence levels.
There are varying methods and tools that can be used to help with both self-analysis and self-awareness, however, the two must not be confused. Self-awareness is intrinsically linked to emotional intelligence and our ability to understand and control our emotional responses to various situations. Whereas self-analysis, as previously mentioned is the process of critically analysing performance in order to identify strengths and areas for improvement. One of the most common tools used is the SWOT analysis (Koch AJ 2000), a process of highlighting Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). This tool is very useful, especially if it is aligned with roles and responsibilities. What it does not do though is shed light on how close someone is to achieving mastery, or just how good they are within their role. There are various accounts as to who first created the SWOT method of analysis, however, it appears to be so well utilised since the 60’s that credit cannot in fact be given to any single author.
Another approach is to use a performance wheel or performance profile, which was first used in sports coaching (Butler & Hardy 1992). This is a very different process to completing a SWOT analysis as it focusses in on the skillsets required in specific areas of life or work. This tool compares how important we see an attribute/skill compared to how good we believe we are at it. This provides a comparative score that helps to identify strengths and areas for improvement. The focus must always be on the coachees beliefs, how essential they see that attribute in terms of their own performance, what is required to perform their role to a high level. A coach may guide their thinking by keeping them focussed but they must refrain from imposing their own standards on proceedings.
Performance profiling breaks great performance down into its component parts, Physical (strength, flexibility, endurance), Attitudinal) (personality traits), Psychological (mental skill, emotional intelligence) and Technical (Skills, knowledge). When profiling performance a coachee should be encouraged to select attributes of differing types, for example, not just concentrating on knowledge or lack thereof. Coaches must remember though that performance profiling has its roots in sports coaching so not all the sections will be reflected in your coachees role and responsibilities.
Both SWOT and the Performance Profile give coachees a great opportunity for critical analysis of their performance, there are of course other methods and tools that can be used for this purpose, it is down to coaches to use the tool that they believe will have the greatest impact on their coachee.
Action Point
When was the last time you analysed your own performance? What small adaptations could you make in order to improve your output or performance in your current role?