Is There A Substitute for Experience?

by Seth Sinclair

On August 26, 2013, the Washington Post published a story that foretold a grim future for the operations of the United States government.  The story told of a “wave” of retirements among senior federal employees: nearly twice as many as four years ago.

By 2016, wrote the Post, more than a third of the federal workforce will be eligible to retire.  Nearly three in five members of the Senior Executive Service, and nearly half of all the senior managers in government, are among that group.  As a result, the General Accountability Office has put the pending loss of experienced workers on its list of high-risk future challenges.

This accelerated departure of experienced managers means that the government will lose exactly the type of people it cannot afford to lose.  In times of short funding, accelerated cycle times, and increasing demands on agencies and people, employees with proven management and leadership skills are vital to the success of every government agency.  Yet they are precisely the men and women whose years of service offer them the opportunity to retire.  Thanks to years of no pay increases, and fewer and fewer bonus opportunities, many senior leaders are taking that opportunity.

Those who will replace these retirees (if budget constraints permit them to be replaced at all), will inevitably be less experienced, less knowledgeable, and less able to respond to the challenges their predecessors routinely handled—at least until they gain their own experience.

The old adage “there is no substitute for experience” is true: but there is a way for these new leaders, and new managers everywhere, to fast track the process.  Coaches and mentors provide leaders—new and experienced--with the support and information they need to identify and implement their goals; to balance their work life with their home life; and to transform the way in which they think, feel, and act.

There is a difference between coaching and mentoring, however.  Most mentors have “been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.”  They directly transfer their experience to those they are mentoring, model positive behaviors, and help to guide career development.

Executive coaching, on the other hand, is a more subtle process, and can be accomplished by coaches without direct experience in the field those they are coaching are in.  According to Mary Beth O’Neill, author of “Executive Coaching with Backbone and Heart,” a trained executive coach helps leaders work through challenges so they can transform their learning into results for the organization.

In addition, coaches:

·      Share conceptual frameworks, images, and metaphors with executives;

·      Encourage rigor in the ways clients organize their thinking, visioning, planning, and expectations;

·      Challenge executives to expand their learning edge and go beyond their current level of competence; and

·      Build clients’ capacities to manage their own anxieties in tough situations.

The Sinclair Advisory Group has the depth to provide both experienced leaders to serve as mentors and professionally trained and certified coaches.  In many cases our resources are cross-trained and have the ability to “switch hats” between mentoring, coaching, and consulting in alignment with client needs.  We understand how to identify which approach will best serve the client; both together can offer a ray of light that can alleviate the gloom and doom the Post and others foresee.

In future blog posts, we will delve further into the subject of leadership coaching: how it can be done successfully; what it can accomplish; and what leaders should look for and expect from an executive coach.  We hope both new and experienced leaders will use this information to make informed decisions about choosing mentors and coaches, and to get the greatest value from the men and women they choose.  We’d welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.