Gaby Hinrichs
Leaders of business units engaged in sales activities need modern and efficient methods to boost the success of indi- viduals and teams over the longer term. In no other part of the company is the stress and the pressure to succeed greater. In order to develop the target group’s sense of self-responsibility, motivation and ability to learn new skills, we have integrated at least one METALOG® learning project into each of the five modules of our Executive Coach Program. While they work on each “leadership topic,” their unconscious competencies are revealed and this enables them to transfer strategies that work to their daily lives as leaders. In one of these series of training programs for a financial service provider, we used METALOG® tools to teach executive coaching tools and methods and as a means of reflecting on the leadership tasks they need to master.
STARTING BASIS/EXAMPLE
The fourth module, “Leading in Change,” explores self-awareness and analyses individual attitudes towards the change process. The insights they gain enable the participants to mobilize their own inner resources to successfully support and consolidate change. As the participants explore and pass through each of the various phases involved in change, they develop their own appropriate behavior as leaders towards their employees. Here we like to work with the Four Rooms of Change model.
WHICH TOOL?
One of the learning projects I like to use to explore and then define the appropriate new/different rules and procedures that a change process entails is CultuRallye.
STAGING and PROCEDURE
The participants are asked to take a seat at the tables and to familiarize themselves with the rules of play. Each mini-group is then given the opportunity to ta share thoughts and also do a five-minute practice run-through. The leaders learn and internalize the rules quickly and then start the first phase of the game. From now on, they are no longer allowed to speak. They attempt to be the best in their team and to collect as many coins as possible, all while sticking to the rules. Here, it becomes apparent that some participants react faster and are particularly good at adapting their behavior. The player with the most coins changes to the next table and the second five-minute round begins – once again in silence. However, the new players and the previous group members do not know that there are different rules at each of tables and that the symbols have different meanings.
The aim of this phase is for the “newcomer” to quickly become familiar with the “code of conduct” applicable here in order to keep up with and understand the others. At the same time, it is also interesting to see how the original group manages to help the new team-mate understand the rules, i.e. how he or she is integrated and how they deal openly with existing rules.
After this round, the best player changes tables again (as a rule, it is usually a different player to the first round) and the third and last round is played. Once again, the participants are not allowed to talk. The leaders realize how difficult it is to adjust, especially when they have become used to certain routines. It takes time to move from unconscious competence back to conscious competence and to truly understand, and then apply, new approaches.
It is really interesting to see how the participants deal with the situation in the third round. Do they adapt their approach or do they even impose their rules on the team?
During the feedback and debriefing phase, we then evaluate the causes and reasons and how they are dealt with in real change processes.
As preparation for the game leader, it is important to master the rules and to suitably prepare the room with tables. In some settings, if there are too few participants to form four groups, this learning project can also be performed with three small groups. I have even already performed this learning project with 2 sets of CultuRallye and with 32 participants, that is, 8 groups.
EVALUATION/REFLECTION
Firstly, all of the participants return to their “home tables,” where they share their experiences, impressions, and perceptions of the learning project.
Then we transfer what we have experienced to the participants’ day-to-day working lives with reference to the topic of “leading in change”. We use questions similar to the following to develop awareness of which of the behaviors that they experienced are the most promising for how they handle their employees.
• What does what you experienced mean for how to deal with change?
• What are you now aware of about dealing with different employees and your peers?
• What does this mean for how you think about communication in situations of change?
• From your experience, where do you think that different rules apply in different contexts and how can you deal with this in your professional life?
• Which situations in your world of work can you transfer the experiences gained in this learning project to, and what are the conclusions you draw from this in your role as executive coach?
The participants write down their insights on cards or flipchart paper. They then individually present their results to the whole group.
This is the way in which we apply the different METALOG® training tools during the different modules of the Executive Coaching Program. The feedback from the groups has been sensational, because they feel they have gained intensive in- sights that they can use in their day-to-day lives as leaders for a long time to come.
Gaby Hinrichs has been a sales and management trainer for 20 years and also has extensive practical experience with METALOG® training tools. Her groups at FRIEDER- BARTH in Hamburg were impressed by her approachability, strong communication skills, and the high level of learning transfer. Her clients value the dynamic, skillful, and creative support she provides in her seminars and coaching sessions.