Table Of ContentHigh-Performance
Coaching for Managers
“In a world that has become increasingly complex, organizations are look-
ing to their managers to set higher standards of performance for their
employees. William Rothwell and Behnam Bakhshandeh do a stellar job
of explaining how to do this through performance coaching by describing
what it is and how it can be used to achieve results. This book provides
practical and research-based guidance on coaching employees regarding
what they should do, how they should behave, and how best to measure
success. This will be a great resource to any organization attempting to
increase overall productivity and performance on the job”.
Marsha G. King, PhD
Director, Leadership Coaching Certifi cation Program
Center for Leadership and Organization Effectiveness
School of Management, University at Buffalo
“In today’s world, there has been an unprecedented infl ux and demand for
coaching, where self-proclaimed professional and personal coaches can be
found in every other corner. Even without an offi cial title most managers
and leaders, need to play the role of coach to fully unleash their people’s
performance and potential. Whatever your role may be, many coaches lack
a structured approach and practical tools to deliver effective coaching. High-
Performance Coaching for Managers gives managers and coaches alike a
unique practical step by step paradigm to unleashing high performance from
their employees and is a must read for anyone looking to take their coaching
to new heights.”
Rani Salman
Managing Partner at Caliber Consulting
“I am excited for this book to be published and to be shared with the
full spectrum of managers, clients, and talent development professionals.
Rothwell and Bakhshandeh focus on a very specifi c use of performance
coaching, and I believe the profession will benefi t and come to understand a
facet of coaching in a much more concrete way”.
Ethan S. Sanders
President and CEO
Sundial Learning Systems, Inc.
“If you think of someone you’ve worked with or for that you consider to be
a great leader, they were also likely a great coach. Great leaders are great
coaches. High-Performance Coaching for Managers provides a comprehen-
sive and practical approach to building a culture of coaching in order to
unleash the full potential of today’s workforce.”
Steve King
VP, Chief Learning & Talent Offi cer
Rich Products Corporation
As a person who operates in the various states of coaching outlined in this
book, I found each chapter insightful and intuitive. The text will serve as
an excellent fundamental foundation for new and experienced coaches.
Rothwell and Bakhshandeh have provided a roadmap for those walking
on the coaching path!
Jamie Campbell
Assistant Dean, Diversity Enhancement Programs
Smeal College of Business
CEO Action for Racial Equity Fellow
High-Performance
Coaching for Managers
A Step-by-Step Approach to Increase
Employees’ Performance and Productivity
William J. Rothwell
647 Berkshire Drive
State College, PA 16803
Phone: 814–441–4087
Email: [email protected]
or [email protected]
Behnam Bakhshandeh
195 Crystal Park Blvd.
Greenfi eld Township, PA 18407
Phone: 760–518–9804
Emails: [email protected]
or [email protected]
With a Foreword by
Ethan Sanders
President and CEO
Sundial Learning Systems, Inc .
ROUTLEDGE/ A PRODUCTIVITY PRESS BOOK
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 William J. Rothwell & Behnam Bakhshandeh
The right of William J. Rothwell & Behnam Bakhshandeh to be identifi ed as authors of this work has been
asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by
any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used
only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe.
ISBN: 978-0-367-74060-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-74058-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-15592-8 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003155928
Typeset in Garamond
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
William J. Rothwell dedicates this book to his wife Marcelina ,
his daughter Candice , his son F roilan , his grandsons A den
and G abriel , and his granddaughters Freya and L ina .
Behnam Bakhshandeh dedicates this book to his three
children: his daughters Poneh (Renee) and S hima and his
son Behzad , and his two beautiful grandchildren: grandson
Gabriel (Behrouz) and granddaughter Darya .
Contents
Foreword .......................................................................................... ix
Preface ............................................................................................ xiii
Acknowledgments ......................................................................... xvii
A bout the Authors .......................................................................... xix
A dvance Organizer ....................................................................... xxiii
B UILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR HIGH-
PERFORMANCE COACHING JOURNEY
1 The General Concept of Coaching ...............................................3
2 Performance Coaching ...............................................................31
3 Mindset, Attitude, Behavior, and Performance .........................75
PHASE ONE—BUILDING RELATIONSHIP
AND RECOGNIZING THE SITUATION
4 Step 1: How to Establish Relatedness and
Building Rapport? ...................................................................109
5 Step 2: What Is the Issue at Hand? ..........................................145
6 Step 3: What Should Be Happening? .......................................189
PHASE TWO—ANALYZING THE GAP
7 Step 4: What Is the Measurable Gap? ......................................239
8 Step 5: How Important Are the Gaps? .....................................291
9 Step 6: What Are the Root Causes of the Gap? ........................325
vii
viii Contents
PHASE THREE—ANALYZING THE SOLUTION
1 0 Step 7: How Many Ways Can the Gap Be Closed? ....................349
11 Step 8: What Is the Most Effective Way to Close the Gap? ......367
12 Step 9: What Are the Consequences of Closing the Gap? ........383
PHASE FOUR—IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION
13 Step 10: What Are the Damages of Inaction? ..........................401
14 Step 11: How to Implement the Solution?. ...............................415
15 Step 12: How to Evaluate the Successful Implementation? .....427
SUPPORT, MAINTENANCE, SELF-EVALUATION,
AND SELF-RATING
16 How Effective Are You? ...........................................................443
Appendix A: Sources for Education and Implementations .............489
Index ..............................................................................................519
Foreword
I have spent a large portion of my career trying to convince clients that they
should keep three important concepts in mind: (1) Training is not a pana-
cea to all performance issues; (2) Classroom training is a small part of the
learning universe; and (3) If you put a good performer in a bad system, the
system wins every time (credit to Dr. Geary Rummler for this most appro-
priate of sayings). While I cannot trace these concepts to any particular
event in my career, I know that they crystalized in my mind when I had
the extraordinary opportunity to work on two ASTD Competency studies
with Bill Rothwell ( ASTD Models for Human Performance Improvement in
1996 and ASTD Models for Workplace Learning and Performance in 1999).
Bill and I were literally trying to redefi ne the profession which was rapidly
changing and growing more complex by the moment. Without question, it
was my years working at ASTD and conversing with Bill that launched me
into a meandering journey to better understand how organizational systems
work, how leaders effect these systems, what the role of a consultant truly
is, and how do we affect change in organizations that are often entrenched
in counterproductive practices.
I have often wondered about the true success rate of performance con-
sultants. I have dreamt about a study that calculated the batting average of
all performance consulting projects in the past 50 years. The closest I got
to this answer was when I was fortunate enough to work for the US Navy’s
Human Performance center, where we attempted Performance Consulting
on a historic scale. While I witnessed a great number of successes, I also
saw countless interventions that were well conceived, well designed, and
utterly ignored when it came to implementation. For most of my career, I’ve
believed that success in consulting is primarily predicated on the skill and
the infl uence of the consultant themselves. However, in recent years, I have
begun to see that a lot of what dictates success is the temperament of the
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