Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter Signup
  • Cart (0)
  • Account
  • Search
Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Explore Lean
        • What is Lean?
        • The Lean Transformation Framework
        • A Brief History of Lean
        • Lexicon Terms
        • Topics to explore
          • Operations
          • Lean Product & Process Development
          • Administration & Support
          • Problem-Solving
          • Coaching
          • Executive Leadership
          • Line Management
  • The Lean Post
        • Subscribe to see exclusive content
          • Subscribe
        • Featured posts
          blocks that spell put incentive

          Ask Art: How Do You Align Incentives...

          Animation on Starting a Lean Journey

          Getting Started with Lean Thinking and Practice

          • See all Posts
  • Events & Training
        • Custom Coaching and Learning Experiences
        • Co-Learning Partnerships
        • Forms and Templates
        • Featured learning
          • Building a Lean Operating and Management System 

            February 02, 2023 | Boston, MA

          • Lean Summit 2023

            March 08, 2023 | Optional Pre-Summit Workshops March 6-7
            Tucson, Arizona

          • Key Concepts of Lean Management Remotely 

            March 13, 2023 | Online Live Course

          • Improvement Kata/Coaching Kata Remotely

            April 10, 2023 | Online Live Course

          • See all Events
  • Store
        • Shopping Cart
        • Featured books
          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          Learning to See

          Learning to See

          • See all Books
  • About Us
        • Our people
          • Senior Advisors and Staff
          • Faculty
          • Board of Directors
        • Contact Us
        • Lean Global Network
        • Press Releases
        • In the News
        • Careers
        • About us

The Lean Post / Articles / Why Coaching is the Hardest Job I’ve Ever Had

Why Coaching is the Hardest Job I’ve Ever Had

Coaching

Why Coaching is the Hardest Job I’ve Ever Had

By Kasey Corbishley

May 20, 2015

"In 2011 a new term entered my company... we went 'lean'," writes Kasey Corbishley. "The office buzzed with anxiety as whiteboards were erected, and the word 'consultant' kept getting tossed around. Soon we were poised with raising problems and solving them ourselves." Read what happened next as Corbishley stepped into his new role as coach.

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmailPrintComment

In 2011 a new term entered my company… we went “lean”. The office buzzed with anxiety as whiteboards were erected, and the word “consultant” kept getting tossed around. Soon we were poised with raising problems and solving them ourselves. I’ve worked in the insurance industry going on 8 years. I’ve seen mergers, acquisitions, and brand name changes, but I’d never seen this.

Cut to a few years later, and I thought I was as lean as they came. As our organization took ownership of our transformation, jobs dedicated solely to continuous improvement became available. So I stepped up and became the Lean Coach for my regional office. I took the job after a few of my fellow co-workers suggested that my demeanor and ability to work with people matched perfectly with the role of a coach. I thought I’d have the office up and running, adding more value to customers then they knew what to do with! Boy, was I wrong.

Within weeks of accepting the role I noticed a change in the people I’d known my entire career and how they behaved around me. People would get tense when I asked questions. Others would challenge the lean tools and practices that myself or others implemented, as if just for sport. I would observe, provide thoughtful feedback, and observe some more. To my dismay, I didn’t see any real fruits of my labor. I tried to create structure for standing meetings by sending out agendas. I tried experimenting with whiteboards to make things more visual. Neither achieved my desired outcome, which was more active problem solving. I became discouraged quickly.

Everything changed when a really big problem landed in my office. How do we increase our market share, and still provide the same quality of service to our customers? The problem had more tentacles than a family of octopuses. I knew the only way we could tackle it would be to go through the problem solving process. We slowly began working through the data until my team members and I were able to see the measurable gap of the real problem we were trying to solve. The next step was finding the root cause(s).

“I feel like there are so many issues. Where do we even start?” someone said.

I knew if I suggested a fishbone diagram they would instantly shut down. So I tried:

“How about we just list 3-4 major categories, then write possible factors relating to those categories underneath each one?”

I had them. We all got to work. By the time we finished, we had 4 long lists of possible causes. I tried to use this opportunity to coach: “You realize you all basically just did a fishbone diagram, but vertically,” I told them. 

“Really? Well, how about that,” someone said. And that’s all it took. A small step towards improvement, a huge win for me, and a lesson learned to fellow workers. We were getting somewhere. They learned by practicing. To me, that’s what good coaching is all about.

As for me, I try to remember:

  1. I have a lot to learn, and I always will. There is no end to learning. There is always something new to understand or an improvement to be made. Just this fact means that I need to get comfortable being uncomfortable. If I am comfortable, I am not challenging myself. This was and still is my biggest hurdle as a coach. It is okay to fail. How can I coach others to step outside of their comfort zone if I am not able to step out of mine?
  2. Reflect. Reflect. Reflect. I mentioned how disappointed by what appeared to be the lack of results from my coaching efforts. What I failed to do at the time was stop, look back, and ask, “What did not work according to my plan? Why? What will I do differently next time?”
  3. Change shouldn’t happen overnight. Long term change doesn’t happen instantly. Has a doctor ever recommended not eating to lose weight? No, they advise patients to slowly reduce calories to achieve the desired outcome. The same goes for lean thinking. One small step in the right direction may not be noticed the following day, but looking back (see lesson #2), this is what helps you make progress.

When I try apply these takeaways, I feel more fulfilled. Instead of focusing on what isn’t working, I work on slowly improving (and I mean very slowly) the things that are working. I still have less than a year of experience as a lean coach, but the amount I’ve learned in this new role is ten-fold over what I soaked in over the 8 years I spent on the front line.

Every coach as challenges (if you don’t, e-mail me your tips!). What are your frustrations or lessons learned?

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmailPrintComment

Written by:

Kasey Corbishley

About Kasey Corbishley

Kasey Corbishley is a lean coach who currently works for Liberty Mutual Insurance. He has been in the Insurance industry since 2007. He took an interest in Lean after he saw the ease of doing business it created and the endless opportunities it gave him to work with people to become more engaged and educated in the daily work they perform.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

jpw fund for the numbers

Coaching

Assessing a New Way to Develop More Lean Thinkers

Article by Patricia Panchak

a group of people holding large puzzle pieces

Coaching

How to Get the Most from Your A3 Thinking and Practice

Article by Lean Leaper

Students Take the Lead in JPW Fund Internship

Coaching

Students Take the Lead in JPW Fund Internship

Article by Patricia Panchak

Related books

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

by Freddy Ballé and Michael Ballé

graphical user interface

Four Types of Problems / Managing to Learn Set

by John Shook and Art Smalley

Related events

April 10, 2023 | Online Live Course

Improvement Kata/Coaching Kata Remotely

Learn more

April 17, 2023 | Online Live Course

Developing Structured Problem-Solving and Leadership Skills using A3 Thinking: Managing to Learn Remotely

Learn more

Explore topics

Coaching graphic icon Coaching
Problem Solving graphic icon Problem Solving

Subscribe to get the very best of lean thinking delivered right to your inbox

Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

©Copyright 2000-2023 Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
Lean Enterprise Institute, the leaper image, and stick figure are registered trademarks of Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Learn More. ACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!