What does it mean to coach the Hogan way? Effective Hogan coaching follows a specific protocol that is founded on principles of assessment-based coaching and a better definition of leadership. It helps leaders understand their reputations and modify their behavior for team effectiveness.
Recently on The Science of Personality, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, and Blake Loepp spoke with Trish Kellett, MBA, director of the Hogan Coaching Network, and Jackie Sahm, MS, vice president of integrated solutions at Hogan Assessments. Trish and Jackie are the authors of Coaching the Hogan Way, which introduces the Hogan coaching protocol.
First, Jackie and Trish described the inspiration behind their new book. Then they explained what coaches need to know about the Hogan coaching protocol and why it’s so effective. Finally, they shared stories demonstrating Hogan coaching success. The Hogan coaching protocol can truly help unlock the potential of leaders everywhere.
What Inspired Coaching the Hogan Way?
As director of the Hogan Coaching Network, Trish has coached hundreds of people and has overseen the coaches who deliver a six-month executive coaching process. “Our Hogan protocol consistently delivers the best results,” she said, adding that participants call Hogan coaching impactful. “I’ve known for a long time that we had something really special, and I wanted to share it with others.”
Jackie spoke to the Hogan coaching protocol in relation to leadership development. “Despite billions of dollars of well-intentioned investment in leaders, two-thirds of leaders are at best ineffective and at worst failing,” she said. Quality leadership is lacking, even while the leadership development industry makes increasingly wild ROI claims about leader success. “I saw that we were improving leadership and changing lives when we coached the Hogan way,” Jackie said. The positive outcomes of Hogan coaching were apparent, effective, and measurable.
The book grew out of Jackie’s and Trish’s two lines of work. The six-month protocol addresses the shortfalls of traditional approaches to leadership development with a proven coaching process.
What Do Coaches Need to Know About the Coaching Protocol?
The Hogan coaching protocol is for seasoned coaches who are skilled in integrating and interpreting Hogan data. Their coaching skills should be honed, and they should be facile in applying Hogan insights. “We’re assuming the person is a certified, capable coach,” Jackie clarified.
The book is a quick, practical text with many examples and case studies. The six-month protocol is intended to help coaches maximize impact in a short period of time. Hogan coaching focuses on how effectively leaders’ teams perform in their given context. “Leaders are often unaware of the impact they have on other people,” Jackie pointed out.
Coaches who aren’t yet certified in the Hogan assessments, as well as people who are responsible for leadership development, will benefit from the coaching philosophy that underscores the protocol. Those looking to differentiate their coaching methodology will find inspiration in the Hogan protocol’s unique qualities:
1. Definition of leadership – Leadership isn’t a job title or rank. It’s the ability to build and maintain a team that outperforms the competition.
2. HR involvement – The Hogan coaching protocol keeps the leader’s manager and the HR sponsor involved during the initiative. Everyone’s in alignment throughout the entire coaching process.
3. Strategic self-awareness – Our protocol helps leaders take an unblemished look at themselves and how they are perceived by others. This helps them build a meaningful development plan.
4. Context – Leadership effectiveness depends on context. A personality strength in one situation might be a shortcoming in another context or culture.
5. Assessment-based coaching – Any coaching initiative needs to start with a valid and reliable personality assessment. Who you are determines how you lead.
Regarding the value of beginning with assessment, Trish said, “If the coach asks the participant what they need to work on, it’s like a doctor asking a patient for the diagnosis! This speaks to how important it is to have that external perspective on our reputations.”
What Makes the Protocol Effective?
Broadly, the coaching protocol consists of coach selection, context gathering, personality assessment and feedback, development planning, behavioral modification and skill-building, and evaluation of progress to ensure continued success. Each component is integral to the protocol, from the chemistry call between the coach and leader, to the importance of 360-degree feedback, to building an actionable development plan. Hogan assessment results are also key because of the richness and nuance of insights they provide about personality strengths, development opportunities, and motives. “If you used a simpler or less scientific or cheaper assessment, you would be leaving a tremendous amount of value on the table,” Jackie said.
Furthermore, the Hogan coaching protocol is universal. “We already use it successfully in different countries and industries,” Trish said. Experienced coaches may, of course, adjust their coaching techniques based on their knowledge of the context, including organizational culture, industry, career history, and cultural differences. The structure of the protocol itself remains applicable across cultures.
Because Hogan coaching focuses on structure and process, it allows coaches to build rapport and relationships with leaders. Remember, coaches bring their own socioemotional skills to the protocol. They should tailor their sessions to connect with leaders on a personal level. “The protocol is meant to be supportive,” Trish said. “It’s not meant to be restrictive in any way, shape, or form.”
Impact on Leaders
Jackie and Trish both shared stories about people whose lives exemplified the transformative power of effective coaching. “Getting to see the impact with our own eyes and ears is the best part,” Jackie said. She told of a leader who wrote a letter of gratitude to her executive coach from a full seven years prior, thanking the coach again for the life-changing, career-changing coaching experience.
“People often have dazzling moments of clarity and insight when they see their results presented in the Hogan frame,” Jackie added. Leaders routinely call the Hogan coaching experience the best development activity they’ve ever had. They wish they could have had the experience earlier in their careers.
Trish told the story of a leader she called Carol, the chief marketing officer of a division of a Fortune 500 company. A creative marketer with an MBA, Carol led a successful team but was perceived by the board as lacking financial acumen and executive presence. Trish coached Carol on behaviors and demeanors to help her flex her style. “By the end of the six-month initiative, she had won the board over. They were just huge Carol fans,” Trish said. A few months later, Carol’s company was acquired by another Fortune 500 company. Carol received the CMO job at the acquiring company and subsequently earned the COO role. Today, she is the CEO.
Coaching the Hogan Way is full of case studies and success stories like Carol’s, demonstrating the lifelong impact of leadership development. Jackie summarized coaching success this way: “Hogan coaching provides people with coaching that they can’t live without—coaching that’s transformative. Sometimes that involves discomfort. That requires a certain amount of constitution as a coach to give the tough news and level with people about how their behavior is helping them and how it’s hurting them. That balanced approach is how we help leaders grow and change—not just enjoy their experience.”
* Article provided by courtesy of Hogan Assessment
