This post relates to my earlier post on Supporting Roles. You might want to read that one before continuing…

I have a pet peeve for most agile coaches that I meet. Most of them avoid having skin in the game when coaching their teams, leaders, and organizations.

What are the primary culprits?

Too much Life Coaching / Professional Coaching influence in their coaching approach;
A lack of deep and broad competency and skills;
Significant risk aversion and fear of failure.

What does “Skin in the Game” look like?

It implies you join those you’re coaching in their work. Think of terms like partnership, co-creation, pairing, and collaboration. From an outcomes perspective, you can look back and say—“I played a part in that…”.

You also stay around long enough to realize…

The consequences of your coaching;
The part that context played in your coaching, both for your clients and for yourself;
Learn and grow your ability to situationally sense and respond;
See the results of your coaching unfold.

Reflective learning is a massive part of having Skin in the Game.

Why do I need to get in the game?

Because otherwise, you’re just an outside observer, consultant, or commentator.
Because it matters if you want to demonstrate value as a coach.
Because you want to serve and positively impact your clients.

Can I have too much?

Of course, you can. You can be so “in the game” that you lose yourself in the tactical execution and delivery bits. Or you can lose your primary coaching focus and miss your strategic goals.

So, balance is critical.

But my experience is that there is so much avoidance that most coaches will struggle to lean in, so having too much SiiG will rarely be a problem.

Wrapping Up

I’m thinking of the one metric that matters to measure your level of SiiG. While there can be many, I’ll boil it down to—

Are those you’re coaching asking for your help, asking for your advice, and asking for you to partner with them?

If so, you’ve achieved SiiG; if not, you have more work.

Stay agile my friends,

Bob.