The Walker Texas Ranger Room

The Walker Texas Ranger Room

I don’t know how prevalent this is. I’ve seen it now in several of our client’s offices – instead of referring to conference and meeting rooms by number or letter, these rooms are given “names.”  I guess technically “Room 5b” is a name – though admittedly not a very interesting one.  “Room 222” was the name of an old TV show and assumedly also the name of a room at the fictitious high school that served as the backdrop of the show – but I digress. 

These new “names” though are different.  One of our pharma client’s buildings features rooms all named for famous chemists or biologists or thinkers – like the Madame Curie room.  Another client’s building applies the names of trees to its meeting rooms – the Elm Room and the Maple.  Then there is the Texas client that has named every meeting room after some famous Texas personality – some fictional characters, some historical.  It was there that we encountered the “Walker Texas Ranger Room” – I don’t make this stuff up.

One of the projects we were working on with this particular client was one aimed at helping their managers better coach their reps toward improved sales effectiveness.  That coaching typically involves a one-on-one meeting between manager and rep.  And when possible, we suggest that those conversations take place away from the distractions of the rep’s normal work space – in say a meeting room.  So which meeting room do you think they selected – CORRECT – the “Walker Texas Ranger Room.”

Now let me point out the obvious first.  Walker Texas Ranger is a character played by Chuck Norris – a Texas Ranger if you missed that detail.  The thing that sets this character apart (aside from questionable acting ability) is the fact that he is an expert in some form of martial arts.  Not being an expert in martial arts myself, I’m not sure whether we’re seeing Karate or Kung Fu or what.  All I know is that before the end of every episode of Walker Texas Ranger, a bad person gets their butt kicked.  (I had originally used another word there, but our legal department got all upset). 

So picture the scene . . . “Hey all you sales reps.  We’re going to take you one by one into the room named for the guy who kicks people’s butts and we’re going to talk to you about how you’re doing in sales.” 

“Can I go first?  Please?”

But there’s more.  It seems that the “Walker Texas Ranger Room” had been used with some consistency as the place managers took reps for uncomfortable conversations – you know, the managerial equivalent of kicking somebody’s butt.  So even if the room had been called the “Yellow Rose of Texas”, it had a reputation for being something akin to the Principal’s Office.

With all that history, we called on our years of experience and our deep insight into motivational psychology and submitted the following operational suggestion . . . “You think we could use another room?”

Now I know most companies don’t have a “Walker Texas Ranger Room” – though the world might be a more interesting place if they did.  But we regularly encounter companies that in one way or another, intentionally or otherwise, communicate to their reps that coaching is primarily about confronting negative behavior.  In those companies, coaching doesn’t have a positive association with reps and that directly impacts the outcomes (you’re just naturally on guard around Walker Texas Ranger – just in case he decides you’re a bad guy).  Beyond moving the conversations to Room 5b, we asked one of Aslan’s Friends, Bobbi Kahler for some specific suggestions on how companies could create a positive environment around coaching.  Bobbi is head of Kahler Leadership, an author and expert in the area of coaching and leadership development and we’re happy to say a frequent partner with Aslan Training and Development.  Here are her suggestions for managers who coach:      

1.        Coaching is for Stars and Stars in Development.  Organizations who set this expectation create an excitement    and a privilege around coaching.  This leads to a higher level of engagement in the coaching process, which, in turn, leads to better outcomes and performance.  As a coach, be excited about your role!

2.        Have and display unconditional positive regard.  Another way of saying this is to demonstrate your belief in them.  Think of this as a mirror that you are holding up for them.  What is it that you want them to see in themselves?  If we want to bring out the best in the coachee, we have to be able to see it.  Generally, the coach sees the potential long before the coachee does.
3.       Communicate your role - as coach - in the process.  Make it clear that you are there to be a partner in their development.  Have an open discussion about what that means to you.  Ask the coachee what would be most helpful for them in that partnership.                                                                            

4.        Find out what is important to the coachee.  How do they want to grow?  What do they want to achieve?  What is on their list of personal goals and priorities? 

5.        Consciously think about how you can create a balance of challenge and support.  Adult learning happens when there is a delicate tension between these two.  Too much support and there is no need to learn or change.  Too much challenge and learning – and the coachee – shuts down.   As a coach, most of us have one that we tend to favor.  For example, I tend to favor support, so I have to consciously monitor that and make sure that I’m challenging the coachee enough. 

6.        Set up safe places and ways to experiment.  In the book, The Knowing-Doing Gap by Stanford professors Robert Sutton and Jeffrey Pfeffer, the authors talk about the need to have safe spaces to try out new behaviors.  They urge managers to “punish inaction; not unsuccessful action.”   In coaching we are asking people to try out new skills and behaviors.  We have to give them room to learn and sometimes that means they might fail in the short term.  

7.        Help them celebrate their wins along the way.  To keep them motivated and engaged, break larger development areas into small wins as a way to build momentum.  This is the equivalent of stopping at a gas station during a long road trip.

We want to thank Bobbi for those suggestions.  If you’d like more information about Bobbi or Kahler Leadership, visit her website www.kahlerleadership.com.