In 2020, we launched the Paying It Forward program by which leaders of nonprofit organizations receive six months’ leadership development coaching at no cost. Since then, certified Stakeholder Centered Coaches have helped many organization leaders get better. For those curious about the process, here’s a roadmap:

1. Prospective Coach and Coachee have a conversation to decide if there’s a good fit.
2. The Coachee identifies people in a good position to list his or her strengths and potential growth areas that would be beneficial.
3. The Coach conducts confidential interviews of these people.
4. After gathering this information, the Coach puts together a report and works with the Coachee to identify a goal to work on to improve.
5. The Coachee identifies a subgroup to serve as Stakeholders, meaning they will have an ongoing role in the coaching process.
6. With Stakeholders, the Coachee shares the goal and solicits feedforward – practical suggestions for improvement that will be put into an Action Plan.
7. The Coach and Coachee work together to create an Action Plan that is then shared with the Stakeholders.
8. The Coachee thereafter checks in with each Stakeholder on a 30-day basis, asking, “What progress have I made? What suggestions do you have for me going forward?”
9. Coach and Coachee check in with each other on an as-needed basis, as well as weekly regarding progress on the goal and action plan.
10. At the end of the engagement, the Stakeholders receive a third-party administered confidential survey in which they’re asked: “On a plus three to minus three scale, what progress has the leader made on his or her goal over the past six months?” They’re also asked, “What suggestions do you have for further improvement?”
11. The Coach debriefs the Report generated from the confidential survey to assist the leader in gaining insights as to the level of improvement perceived by the Stakeholders.
12. The last element of the coaching engagement is the After-Action Review, in which Coach and Coachee assess progress and what needs to happen going forward.

Perhaps the most frequently asked question prospective Coachees ask is: “How much time will this process take?” My answer is that although time spent depends on each situation, Stakeholder Centered Coaching^® is by far the most time efficient coaching system I’ve encountered.

Except for the Coach’s initial interviews, the steps listed above do not consume a great deal of time. Marshall Goldsmith developed this coaching method so that he could effectively coach CEOs of Fortune 50 companies – leaders already burdened with huge demands on their time and energy. Marshall would not have enjoyed the success he has had with a coaching method that was overly time consuming.

SCC is efficient and effective. We hope many more leaders of nonprofits will benefit from it. If you are a prospective Coach or Coachee, or otherwise have questions, please email me at jathan@stakeholdercenteredcoaching.com.