Case Studies
Here are two examples of how the Unsighted Coaching methodology has helped bring the unsighted into view.
Case Study within Sport
Alan was an experienced ex semi-pro footballer now working as a coach. He wanted his players to be leaders and ‘talk more’ but was struggling to make this happen. His natural style was to be directive as he’d been managed this way. Alan recognised that different approaches could possibly get the players talking and he wanted to better understand the part he played in the dynamic.
As per the Unsighted methodology, Alan withdrew from watching play, stayed in the dressing room and videoed his team talks. He was nervous prior to the first ever practice and was quite sure the players wouldn’t engage in team talks because he believed the group lacked leaders.
When the players came back to the dressing room for the first team talk, the dynamic had already changed. They were vocal, engaged and didn’t wait for Alan to start the talk or lead the conversation. They talked about what had gone well and there was a real buzz. They were specifically pleased that they had noticed changes to the opposition’s formation and how they’d made changes to their formation to nullify the opposition’s threat.
48 hours later when Alan watched back over the videos, he saw something new and recognised the dynamic he created. When there was a break in the conversation, he jumped in to ask questions. Immediately he took back control of the conversation and began solving the players’ problems. When this happened, the conversation quickly fizzled out and the players become quiet.
After each practice, the players were asked for their feedback. They always found the experience to be of huge value and really enjoyed leading the conversation. Several reported that this had also impacted other areas of their lives away from football. They were now much more comfortable to openly share their thoughts and make contributions.
Alan’s feedback was that he now believed he didn’t always have to observe live play to coach performance. Working from an unsighted perspective meant he had to develop other skills to support the players. Over time as he spoke less in team talks and actively listened more, the players engaged. He began to facilitate more and got the desired outcome: players who wanted to participate in team talks.
Case Study within Business
Claire was the Chief Technical Officer at a software company. Her natural leadership style was to give her team opportunities to grow and develop. Claire had used an executive coach and followed several coaching programmes but hadn’t developed her coaching skills to where she wanted them to be. Claire decided to use the monthly Senior Management Team (SMT) meeting as her deliberate unsighted coaching practice.
Prior to the start of each meeting, Claire thoroughly prepared and visualised her desired performance. She was videoed discussing what a shared, successful meeting would look like, how the group would work in her absence and how she could best support the group when she returned to the room. Claire then withdrew from the meeting for 30 minutes.
She then would return and spend 5 minutes with the team helping them reflect on their performance and plan for the following 30 minutes whilst being videoed. Claire then retreated and allowed the meeting to progress for a further 30 minutes.
Claire reflected from memory on her performance, then 48 hours later reflected using her video clips. She recognised slight differences she could tweak and that she didn’t always have to be ‘coachy’. The group agreed with this and said that on occasion they would benefit from more direction.
After the third monthly practice, Claire and the team began to quantify how much more efficient the monthly meeting had become. Time was no longer wasted sharing ‘off-the cuff’ information. Due to better planning, more succinct interventions were offered by the group. Decision making was quicker, and this positively impacted internal satisfaction with the SMT meaning standards of customer service were increased.
Claire’s feedback about the unsighted process was that the stronger focus on planning for the meeting, coupled with using her video footage, provided deeper insights for her coaching sessions. She got the insights she was looking for and learnt this by reviewing her own experience.