Performance and its measurement – some coaching aspects
On 23/12/2009, in Managers' corner, by andras
The author is a member of the Business Coach Association in Hungary. More information about the Association is available here (the English language page is under construction).
I don’t think anyone having worked as a manager for any company in any profile whatsoever has had the luck to avoid being the target, or the executor, of PERFORMANCE-MEASURMENT (PM). This category seems to be an above-all factor in many an organisation, and even the survival of the company itself can depend on whether these figures meet the EXPECTATIONS.
Figures, charts and spreadsheets dominate. Headcount and HR-decisions are based on results from PM. But is there an alternative? Can top-notch executives be persuaded to apply other ideas and depart from these fundaments? This question can become an exceptionally exciting issue once a company (or, rather, its management) faces problems that cannot be solved by traditional methods, and when the decision is made to ask the assistance of a coach.
Trust Your Dolly Grip!
On 30/09/2009, in Managers' corner, by andras
Recently I attended a seminar on business-coaching where István Szabó, the Hungarian director awarded the Academy Prize for his film ”Mephisto”, told us a story dating back to his early years in the business. It happened during the shooting of a film about a young couple in the 1960-s’ Budapest. The dramatic effect of one given scene required that after the first few moments, when both actors were to be visible, the camera gradually closes in on one of the two stars, the other person vanishing from the angle of the shot. Szabó was determined that this should be a no-cut scene, meaning that no “jump” is allowed from one angle to the next. However, he had no idea how to make this happen in a way that would be unnoticed by the audience. He felt totally helpless, and not one single solution came to his mind. The shooting, well underway and progressing fluently until then, abruptly stopped. All eyes turned to him, the Master, as if asking: “What now? No instructions? No guidance?”
