2024 - The year to focus on performance AND well-being?

I just love the 'Performance & Well-being Framework' which is based on the work and research of the late Prof. Tony Grant. I refer to it in all the professional contexts within which I work because it's relevant for people of all ages and in work, organisational, school and life domains.?

The framework originally emerged in 2012 as Tony explored the idea that the return on investment for organisational coaching would be better realised through ensuring a balance of both engagement and well-being at work.

Tony built on this principle further in 2017 when he argued that workplace coaching had too long focussed on performance outcomes at the expense of well-being. He cited evidence for an emerging 'third generation' of coaching that could be applied in organisations within formal executive / leadership coaching contexts. But importantly he also advocated for more informal 'coaching conversations' between managers and their staff, and within peer groups, to create cultures of quality conversations that supported and sustained both well-being and performance in the midst of change and challenging times.

Over the last decade the research in to both coaching psychology and positive psychology - the 'Science of Well-being' - has strongly affirmed this approach of coaching and coaching conversations and it has been extended far beyond workplaces into schools and other organisational and community settings, forming an integral part of my own practice.

The reality remains however that increasing numbers of both adults and young people, despite great educational outcomes, an abundance of life chances, and significant professional achievements, are struggling with their mental health and well-being and are far from flourishing. Others, despite extraordinary resilience and optimism in the face of hardship, inequity and adversity, face seemingly insurmountable barriers to realising their potential. Others still fail to recognise they have potential at all.

As we enter the New Year, I invite you to reflect on the Performance and Well-being framework and consider:

Where do you sit on the matrix right now entering 2024? Where have you been in the past? Where would you like to be moving forwards? Where are your teams? Where are your colleagues/peers? Where is your boss? Where are your students? Where are your friends? Where are your family members?

To help, let me run you briefly through the framework:

Distressed and Dysfunctional

In this quadrant the level of mental ill health people are experiencing will be impacting on their ability to function effectively at work, school or in life. This is the space where clinical psychological interventions might be necessary, organisations will draw upon EAP services, schools will be instigating safeguarding, welfare and child protection policies and people would be encouraged to speak to their GP for referral to specialist mental health services or medication. This is not usually a place for coaching unless it is provided as part of a program of support under the direction of a clinician.?

Distressed and Functional

As an organisational coach I see many people, younger and older in this quadrant. I also very much relate to it myself from when I was in my last full-time leadership role. On the face of it our levels of performance, goal striving, engagement and achievement are high – we are certainly doing well. But this is commonly at the expense of our well-being, so we are not feeling so good. This runs serious risks of us falling into disengagement, experiencing burn out and potentially, if not recognised and managed, a shift to depressive symptoms or other clinical challenges that will impact on our ability to function well.

Because well-being is multi-dimensional, the ‘distress’ could be for any number of reasons, and we all face different sets of challenges at different times of our lives. These might include emotional overwhelm from anxiety, change and uncertainty; misalignment with our values, strengths and job role or organisational culture; all too common challenges with relationships at home, work or school; lack of meaning and purpose impacting on our motivation; facing discrimination or struggling to overcome barriers to achieve goals and make the progress we want; physical health challenges including problems with illness, diet, exercise or sleep; or a struggling with a negative mindset.

In my personal work experience, and as a coach, people who resonate with this quadrant are often the most hardworking, loyal and passionate leaders, colleagues or students. But due to a lack of awareness or focus on well-being by their organisations and themselves, they risk burning out and suffering not just from exhaustion, but cynicism and detachment from their work or mission, and worse still, a loss of self-efficacy, confidence and belief in their abilities, despite their history of success. I always find this so sad when amazing people who have done incredible things feel like they have little value to offer.

Languishing

Languishing is that ‘meh’ space where we might feel devoid of positive emotion and vitality. We will find it harder to get motivated and self-doubt creeps in. Or a sense of being denied opportunity for growth might result in feelings of hopelessness. Experiencing languishing has been recognised as a stepping stone to depression and therefore should not be ignored.

Coasting

In this quadrant we will arguably be feeling ok, - we are ‘happy enough’ but we may not necessarily be as engaged or motivated towards our personal, academic or professional goals as we might be. We may struggle to set goals at all. Our offices, workplaces and classrooms might have a lot of coasters!

Now, it might well be that coasting is where we want to, or need to be right now, as we can’t be full on all of the time. And that is OK too. But the danger here is when we know we could be doing more, achieving more, being more, but we may not know how to go about doing this or too many obstacles appear to be in our way.

The reality is we often lack awareness of our strengths or simply take them for granted. Even when we do have a sense of what value we can add, we might lack knowledge of how to draw upon our strengths, to set and take steps towards meaningful goals to realise that value. This might include how to overcome the personal negative mindset, the societal or institutional barriers that hold us back.?

So, again, our self-efficacy can suffer, comparison to others becomes a threat rather than an inspiration, and there’s a risk of slipping under the line into that languishing space where it’s then harder to find the energy or enthusiasm for change.

Functional

At this point on the matrix we are doing ok and feeling ok? - lots of us would relate to this space. In my workshops and coaching sessions, I regularly ask people “On a scale of 1-10 how are you getting on?” and a common score is a 7 – it’s fine. But in reality, things could be better. The key question is what needs to be different to shift up a notch and get into that flourishing space?

Flourishing

To flourish is to have high levels of optimal functioning – to be able to feel good and do well, despite the inevitable stresses and challenges that work, school and life bring. This will resonate for many of you reading this I am sure, and you might find yourself in a context where many people flourish. This would be rare though, as research suggests on average only about 20% of the population is likely to be flourishing.

Flourishing is far from being ‘happy’ and both the science and lived experience are very clear that we often thrive at the most difficult and challenging times when we are truly stretched and outside our comfort zone.

We might be uncomfortable, confused, anxious or even fearful, but we are still able to experience the full range of emotions and draw resources from our gratitude, joy, curiosity, inspiration, amusement, or pride. We are likely to be making best use of the strengths that energise and sustain us. We will be trying to invest positively in our relationships so we can both energise others and draw vitality and support from them, in both good times and hard. We are likely to be values-driven and will have a sense of purpose or mission that motivates us and in turn inspires the setting meaningful goals that we can strive towards one small step at a time. Hopefully we will be taking time for self-care and self-compassion and focusing on what we can control.

Sustaining

But it takes effort and investment to flourish and it’s easy to get unstuck here. The world is tough as we know, and it’s hard to keep it up! Life will often conspire against us and it can be a very steep and slippery slope from feeling good and doing well, down in to the distressed and functional quadrant. Or we may find our progress is blocked and fall into the auto-pilot mode - becoming less engaged as we go on and then wondering where all the years have gone. We may have become defined by our learned behaviours rather than our real strengths, and we may unwittingly find ourselves undermined by unwise or overuse of our strengths.

We may shift our place on the matrix subject to any number of internal or external factors that impact upon us at any particular time.

So, the key questions are what do we and our organisations do to help those who are flourishing to sustain their capacity to do so? And for those who are not, how do we help them to reflect upon why and provide practical and appropriate support to help them to be where they want to be?

Coaching & Coaching Conversations

We know through the field of well-being science that are many evidence-based interventions that can support, enhance and sustain well-being, But we also know there is ‘no one size fits all’, each of us is different.

So, this is where coaching comes in! ?Coaching gives us the space to think "What does this all mean for me, where am I right now, where do I want to be and what steps can I take moving forwards?"

Research studies into the outcomes of evidence-based coaching for people within the ‘non-clinical’ population have demonstrated its effectiveness in significantly improving capacity to:

• Identify and work towards the achievement of intrinsic and meaningful goals relating to personal and professional development
• Bolster resilience, psychological capital and mental toughness in onesself and others
• Learn to think more positively, optimistically and creatively.
• Improve engagement, performance and productivity
• Enhance leadership skills and capabilities
• Build levels of life satisfaction, hope, meaning and well-being
• Buffer against anxiety, stress, burn out and depressive symptoms

Coaching conversations in schools and workplaces can facilitate a greater awareness of self and others, create positive relational energy, generate greater alignment of shared values, harness strengths and collective action towards positive change and organisational mission, and contribute to building more compassionate cultures resulting ultimately fairer, healthier, safer and more successful institutions.

Your Reflections?

Having considered the Performance and Well-being Framework from your own perspective and context as you enter 2024

Where do you and those around you potentially sit?

How might coaching help sustain your individual or collective capacity to flourish as the year moves on?

Or if you recognise that you or those around you may not be feeling so good or doing so well, and changes need to be made, how might coaching help you to

• reclaim the space for safe reflection
• remind you that negative emotions are healthy and normal
• re-engage with core your values and drivers
• refresh your strengths awareness and use
• renew your confidence and self-efficacy
• re-energise to gain forward momentum

...and make 2024 the year you focus on both performance AND well-being?!

Either way I wish you well.

References

Grant, A. M. (2012). ROI is a poor measure of coaching success: Towards a more holistic approach using a well-being and engagement framework. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 5(2), 74–85. doi:10.1080/17521882.2012.672438

Grant A.M. (2017) The third ‘generation’ of workplace coaching: creating a culture of quality conversations. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 2017 https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17521882.2016.1266005

Wang, Q. et al (2022) The effectiveness of workplace coaching: a meta-analysis of contemporary psychologically informed coaching approaches. Journal of Work-Applied Management 14 (1), pp. 77-101. ISSN 2205-2062.

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Clive Leach is an international organisational coach. He was honoured and privileged to have studied coaching psychology under Prof.Tony Grant at the University of Sydney Coaching Psychology Unit 2007-8. Clive is forever grateful for the impact that Tony has had on his own life and the lives of many people with whom he has been able to share Tony’s research and wisdom within the corporate, public and education sectors.

For more information on coaching opportunities and workshops contact Clive through LinkedIn or at [email protected]