Using a Balanced Scorecard in Executive

Coaching

How can a coach help a coachee to clarify what “success” means for them?
ask Nigel Purse and Simon Scott of The Oxford Group

This is a profound question! The dictionary defines success as “attainment of object, wealth or
fame” but such a definition immediately strikes us as narrow, selfish or materialistic, lacking
any dimensions of emotion, spirituality or service to others. In this article Nigel and Simon
review the balanced scorecard as a means for coachees to measure success.

We all seek to be “successful” but even a
moment’s thought about what this actually
means tells us that it is something richer and
deeper than the dictionary definition.
This really matters in any coaching
relationship for two important reasons. Firstly,
we cannot assume that individuals do have
clarity about what success looks like for them.
Secondly, until some degree of clarity is
achieved, coaching conversations risk missing
the target issues which would maximise the
payback from the investment in the coaching
relationship. This paper discusses an
approach which contributes towards helping
the coachee achieve such clarity.
We know from our own experience that trying
to define what success means for ourselves is
a difficult task. Priorities change, projects
come and go, and the cycles of our “life
outside work” ebb and flow alongside our
work life and career. In parallel, we strive to
be better parents, sons, daughters, to be fitter
and healthier, and to plan for financial
security for ourselves and our families.
It is difficult enough to work out clear,
measurable objectives in a single domain,
without trying to integrate them all into a
single picture.
But this challenge is not new, and has been
faced already in a different arena, that of
setting and measuring strategy goals for a
healthy organisation. In 1992 Kaplan and
Norton introduced the “Balanced Scorecard”
in an article in the Harvard Business Review,
presenting a management system which does
not rely solely on financial information but also
on non-financial key performance indicators.
Based on extensive research in successfully
managed companies, they concluded that
these companies were using a systematic
approach to managing customer satisfaction,
internal processes, innovation and learning as
well as financial performance at the same
time in a balanced way. They therefore
proposed to structure organisational measures
into four “perspectives”: financial, customer/
market, internal and innovation/learning.
This same concept can be a powerful When asked to give a “score out of 10”
coaching tool to help coach and coachee against each area, individuals are readily
move towards the objective of clarity on the able to quantify “where I am now” and to set
meaning of “success”, balancing the different a realistic target for where they want to get to.
perspectives that make up their life from a
The deep insights that flow from working
holistic point of view.
through such a process are valuable in
Whilst we find that everyone’s personal themselves, but in addition, the process helps
balanced scorecard is unique, we often start to set the agenda for future coaching
with four key clusters of measures - health, conversations, as well as providing a means
wealth, relationships and achievement/fun. of tracking and reviewing process. Finally, but
Health embraces both physical, emotional by no means least, making progress against
and spiritual elements. Wealth covers not only the scorecard measures itself contributes to a
income and pension, but also the concept of sense of achievement and progress.
“enough” – defining needs rather than the
The personal balanced scorecard helps to
endless pursuit of money for its own sake.
heal the divide between work and non-work
Relationships - with family and friends - triggers
life which has so insidiously bedevilled our
thinking in a vital area known to be
lives since the industrial revolution. Before
associated with a long and healthy life.
then, for most people, there was “one life” in
Finally, life at work lives in the domain of
which work, family, friends, health and
achievement and fun – itself a potentially new
security where intimately bound together in a
perspective on what you are doing between
single cycle that followed the seasons and
9 and 5!
was punctuated by festivals and community
Talking through this concept, and jointly celebrations.
building a first draft or working model of the
The personal balanced scorecard helps to
coachee’s scorecard is a powerful way to
restore the sense of “one life”, to be lived to
move towards the goal of clarity on “what
the full, in the here and now.
success looks like for me”.
But a scorecard is more than just a list of
“areas for attention”. It is also a tool for setting
objectives and measuring progress towards
achievement of these objectives.

Nigel Purse founded the Oxford Group in 1987 based on his vision of building a
business that would make a real difference to its clients by designing and delivering
truly inspirational people development solutions. He is passionate about being able
to measure that difference at an individual and organisational level.

Simon Scott is a highly experienced executive coach who works with CEOs and
Senior Directors across a wide range of industries. He sees on a daily basis how
executives juggle a wide range of priorities—inside and outside of work—and so
need a simple yet powerful tool to bring focus to their efforts.

For more details please contact:

Sheena Porter
Managing Director
Executive Coaching Practice
T: +44 (0)7831 421566
sheena.porter@oxford-group.com

The Oxford Group, Bankside, Hanborough Business Park, Long Hanborough, Oxfordshire OX29 8LJ UK
T: +44 (0) 1993 883338 F: +44 (0) 1993 883140 www.oxford-group.com