Coaching is different than mentoring: Understanding the style and listening differences

Coaching fits in well with a systems/process view of work, as effective coaching
not only leads to performance and business results gains, but also improvements
in relating to team members as well as encouraging continuous improvement.
Coaching is the core of both continuous improvement and professional
development, as managing relationships improves both efficiency and
effectiveness, since it links the people-based elements with the task-based
elements within the process.

Oftentimes, I’ve heard in practice coaching and mentoring used as
interchangeable terms, as they both impact professional development, although
there are clear differences- namely approach, temporal, and leader involvement.
It is not usual to find that someone plays the role of both a coach and mentor,
but coaching requires skills beyond that of mentoring (Dalakoura, 2009).
Coaching involves a different mode of listening compared to mentoring, as
employees need guidance  in raising their own self-awareness and  motivation,
which goes beyond the knowledge and experience shared in mentoring (Hicks and
McCracken (2009).

Listening to employees is crucial in guiding my decisions in choosing between
the three types of coaching I apply in my position: performance coaching,
behavioral coaching and developmental coaching; these choices impact how
employees' leadership development is applied at the line level. Self-development
is a major advantage of coaching. Dalakoura (2009) stated this self-development
is important, as it promotes continuous learning, and it's not just a matter of
leaders themselves initiating development, but development is encouraged by
employees, other managers and HR leaders as part of a system. Coaching is a tool
that helps others succeed, as Berg and Karlsen (2007) explained, since it
fosters self-confidence and contributing to actions that create results; thus,
coaching is action-oriented. They went on to state coaching challenges employees
to develop their personal goals, strategies, and achieve results now and in the
future, supporting- but not directing- employees.

Whereas coaching techniques involve guiding employees by clarifying ambivalence,
finding exceptions and summarizing, which fosters employees' self-discovery, 
mentoring involves giving advice based primarily on the mentor's own experience,
values and beliefs  (Hicks and McCracken, 2009). MacLennan (1995) explained
coaching is a relationship with someone to learn with, whereas mentoring is a
relationship with someone to learn from. Also, MacLennan made a distinction in
the level of involvement, as he stated no one can unknowingly be a coach,
whereas someone can unknowingly be a mentor. Although coaching can last for
extended periods, it is in practice temporary, and mentoring is often a
long-term approach used to sustain the gains from coaching.
What are your thoughts?
 
References:

Berg, M. E., & Karlsen, J. T. (2007). Mental models in project management
coaching. Engineering Management Journal, 19(3), 3-13. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/208964459?accountid=29086?accountid=29086

Dalakoura, A. (2010). Differentiating leader and leadership development. The
Journal of Management Development, 29(5), 432-441. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02621711011039204

Hicks, R., & McCracken, J. (2009). Mentoring vs. coaching-do you know the
difference? Physician Executive, 35(4), 71-73. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/200000273?accountid=29086?accountid=29086

MacLennan, N. (1995). Coaching and mentoring. Brookfield, VT: Gower.

Recognizing and leveraging coaching moments: Relationships drive results

Relationships impact results in organizations, as we encounter numerous coaching moment opportunities on a daily basis. Effective leaders and managers recognize and leverage coaching moments to increase engagement and influence results.

Coaching moments are day-to-day opportunities to become involved so as to impact individuals, as well as teams, through listening, asking questions, and providing insight, encouragement and support. We can leverage coaching moments to help employees contribute and succeed.

In the video clip below from the movie The Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi presents an example of a coaching moment through putting the tasks performed by Daniel into a bigger perspective, which has a lasting impact on Daniel’s future potential.

Coaching moment opportunities exist for all employees whether or not they are strong performers, so in order to be effective, it is critical that we recognize differing coaching moments and shift coaching approaches accordingly.

In addition to specific tactics for four coaching moments described below, there are a few important common points we want to incorporate into our approaches:

1)    Be authentic

2)    Focus on behaviors

3)    Listen and ask questions  first, then talk

4)    Collaborate, instead of dictate

5)    Share feedback and acknowledge progress.

Strong performers, those who are performing well and eager to take on more, seek feedback, encouragement, and developmental opportunities in their coaching moments. It’s important to avoid pitfalls such as deferring performance reviews and discussions, providing little or no positive encouragement, and allowing day-to-day tasks to fall behind while they take on larger opportunities. Effective tactics include:

1)    Discussing a big picture perspective

     and how their efforts fit in accordingly

2)    Engaging them as to how they can

     better utilize their time and skills

3)    Identifying opportunities for encouragement, training, and projects

4)    Helping them focus on problem-solving rather than debating points.

Another group of coaching moments we encounter involve helping those who are unable to balance or manage their workloads well, including those exhibiting loafing or slacking behaviors. Ineffective approaches include deferring performance discussions, avoiding assigning them challenging tasks, and accepting constant excuses and patterns of inferior results. Appropriate effective tactics include:

1)    Defining and agreeing on priorities

2)    Mutually reviewing their workflow and limits

3)    Meeting regularly to follow-up on priorities

4)    Recognizing and praising accomplishments and progress

5)    Addressing performance issues promptly.

Some coaching moments involve issues with employees getting along with other co-workers. We do not want to patronize employees, rather we need to be honest about how these issues impact the work environment. Furthermore, we don’t want to reward inappropriate behavior by listening to constant gossip. Effective tactics include:

1)    Discussing effective conflict management approaches with employees having issues

2)    Using face-to-face interactions when possible, instead of electronic interactions, to facilitate communication and motivation

3)    Bringing these employees together to help them work out their issues

4)    Mutually agreeing on expectations for cooperation

5)    Guiding affected employees on options for more productive uses for their interpersonal energies.

 

Finally, we’ll look at coaching moments involving employees who do not accept negative feedback or criticism. We do not want to be general or avoid providing feedback in these opportunities, as they are not only ineffective approaches but they could backfire. We need to remain authentic, focused, and seek engagement during these coaching moments. Effective tactics include:

1)    Focusing on critical issues and providing specific details

2)    Explaining we are discussing their roles in processes as opposed to criticizing them as persons

3)    Setting expectations that they participate in identifying options and developing a response

4)    Engaging them in identifying issues and options, as well as executing solutions

5)    Following-up and acknowledging progress.

Click here to review Dan Rockwell’s informative blog post about essentials when giving negative feedback, as that provides additional insights to consider when tailoring your approach.

 

Although there are various types of coaching moments we face on a daily basis, we can still anticipate and leverage these opportunities to help improve self-awareness, share feedback, and provide encouragement so as to strengthen the critical links between day to day tasks and long term objectives.

What are your thoughts and experiences?

7 points for coaching colleagues: Breaking down barriers with even difficult peers

Many of us experience, or hear stories of, challenging colleagues making meetings longer, cornering us in hallways, elevators and even through instant messaging, and creating havoc at the water cooler. For instance, in the clip below from the movie “Office Space”, Milton corners Peter on the phone regarding various issues. More often, though, helping colleagues is not so dramatic, as they seek our input, feedback and encouragement. Breaking down barriers through clear communication and empathy is crucial to developing and sustaining relationships critical to being a successful team.

Relationships drive results, so understanding how to effectively adopt a coaching process to dealing with colleagues provides a supportive and collaborative process to identify, define, tackle and work through issues. Coaching colleagues facilitates a positive, inspiring and collaborative work culture and team orientation.

The dynamics of coaching colleagues are different than coaching subordinates or supervisors.  In all three cases, the goal of coaching is leveraging relationships to improve results by empowering those coached to take responsibility for solutions.  However, the coaching approach for peers integrates the coach’s role on the team as well into coaching process, as that affects how we manage conflict, communication, and provide feedback as well as encouragement.

Our role as coaches isn’t to take over issues, rather we should listen, ask and respond in ways that allow our colleagues to consider options and retain responsibility for the solutions. Questions, not statements, empower and guide them towards solutions. For instance instead of laying out options, consider asking them what they have done so far as well as what else they could do.

We can also use questions as a way of augmenting how we provide feedback, thus leveraging developmental opportunities.  Timing is everything, so effective feedback for peers builds upon a relationship involving frequent communication to recognize timely and relevant opportunities. The slides below guide how we can more effectively provide feedback.

 

 

The team element is important when coaching colleagues. Dr. Marie McIntyre identified six roles crucial to successful teams. Click here to review the roles she describes, as understanding these roles, especially as they relate to strengths and challenges, help us empathize  with and support colleagues more directly.

Below are seven points to consider when coaching colleagues:

1.       Focus on them instead of you. Listen and ask questions, but don’t direct or micromanage. It’s about relating to their needs and skills, so that they can own and tackle challenges.

2.       Be authentic. Clearly communicate your points, instead of generalizing, sugarcoating or being overly negative.

3.       Empathize. Listen first, engage, and seek to understand instead of judging.

4.       Recognize your right role on the team at the right time. Understand the strengths and challenges of your role so your team can become more collaborative and productive.

5.       Provide constructive feedback. It’s not about criticism, rather it’s about dealing with issues and

6.       Engage in day-to-day coaching instead of non-stop evaluation. Providing constant advice leads to micromanagement, and coworkers don’t typically appreciate non-stop evaluation.

7.       Coaching is not counseling. Coaching’s focus is on performance-related issues, but you should support coworkers by suggesting outside help when they disclose personal, non-work-related issues.

Managing relationships is so important to developing and sustain high-performance teams today. By taking a coaching approach towards managing issues with peers, you can leverage and strengthen relationships that impact mutual success.

What are your thoughts and experiences on coaching peers?

Empathize and confront: Six coaching tactics to deal with passive-aggressive behavior in the workplace

Sometimes it manifests itself through drama in the workplace. At other times, you’ll see it through someone’s frequent non-action or, worse yet, pattern of not completing tasks correctly. Passive aggressive behaviors may push a workplace to the brink of being toxic, but there is still hope. Employees who have passive-aggressive behaviors can still be coached for success, as you can take constructive actions that support them changing from within to improve their productivity as well as relationships.

Oftentimes, the easy route for dealing with passive-aggressive employees is to give up on them, essentially treating them as “dead weight” that is expendable and replaceable. These employees are “not dead yet” to the extent you can still find leverage points to communicate with them and coach them through issues. Simply giving up on them is a costly approach, impairs productivity, disrupts the workplace, and can be passive-aggressive as well. Furthermore, your success in the workplace may well hinge on how well you manage and work with those who are passive aggressive, so having a roadmap for coaching through these behaviors is essential.

Understanding the roots and signs of a passive-aggressive behavior pattern is an important step that we need to take in order to empathize with these employees and help them begin taking actions to deal with these behaviors. Passive-aggressive behaviors often were learned as a child as a way to deal with anger, so to cope with anger, a passive-aggressive person begins to take actions that focus on getting even instead of working things out. It’s a highly defensive communication style that pushes others away, especially through negativity, resistance and confusion. Instead of dealing with anger and hostility, passive-aggressive behaviors are used to mask issues. It really is a form of learned helplessness, but coaching them to build communication and conflict-resolution skills fosters a more productive workplace.

According to Murphy and Hoff-Oberlin (2005), the following passive-aggressive behaviors are common:

1)      Creating drama or chaos

2)      Constantly making excuses and blaming others for chronic mistakes and poor performance

3)      Frequently being late or procrastinating, especially when it is at someone else’s expense

4)      Sabotaging, creating intentional obstructions and  forgetting items (either overtly or covertly) in order to “punish” others or push through their own agenda

5)      Speaking ambiguously, creating confusion that obscures dealing with their insecurities

6)      Using the “silent treatment” to avoid conflict.

Click here to review Psychology Today’s online guide about recognizing five levels of passive-aggressive behavior, as it provides more insight you can use when empathizing with employees.

So, how can you help someone realize their destructive patterns of behavior and build more productive coping strategies? This is a challenge, especially when someone may feel their behavior is harmless, but skill and honest communication are crucial. These are some tactics I use:

1)      Recognize when you are encountering a pattern, rather than isolated events, of passive-aggressive behavior

2)      Connect with those individuals using reflective listening, emphasizing with them, especially given the misplaced anger and circumstances that created the behavior

3)      Confront manipulation and dishonesty calmly but authentically, setting and modeling healthy boundaries and responses

4)      Communicate and collaborate on more effective ways for dealing with conflict, helping them develop EQ tactics

5)      Help them recognize and acknowledge their accomplishments authentically

6)      Guide them towards finding better ways for taking care of themselves, especially in terms of work-life balance and making healthy choices.

We can become better leaders through dealing with passive-aggressive behaviors more effectively. What are your thoughts and concerns? Let’s discuss and help improve our relationships and organizations.

Reference:

Murphy, T. and Hoff Oberlin, L. (2005). Overcoming passive aggression: how to stop hidden anger from spoiling your relationships, career and happiness. New York, NY: Marlow and Company.

Authentic 4 step process for coaching through bad news

“I have some good news and some bad news.” It’s a serious task often downplayed in television and movies, yet many managers and leaders spend their day communicating and dealing with news.  As constant change makes the organizational environment more unpredictable, how we deliver bad news and understand the emotional impacts affects trust, fear and focus, which could impair our organizations. Communicating bad news and coaching to move on effectively involves being authentic, candid, courageous and emotionally intelligent.

Communicating bad news is a dreaded but necessary task we often encounter, but getting through delivering the message is only part of the picture, as coaching through bad news helps us get to the positive and build that which is good. It’s a bigger picture approach that involves creating and maintaining a healthy environment for sharing news by building trust, understanding the common types of bad news and anticipating the emotional reaction, and executing a process to manage and coach through the bad news. A bigger picture approach is especially important as more organizations become increasingly virtual and e-coaching becomes more prevalent.

I have found out the hard way early on my career about ineffective approaches for dealing with bad news, and both those approaches backfired. One approach involved not communicating bad news- rather attempting to deal with it myself- which erodes trust and is selfish to the extent it put my needs ahead of others. Another approach involved spinning or sugarcoating the message, which diluted its impact as well as made me appear all over the place instead of focused on improvement.

Here is an effective process that engages employees, builds trust and helps us move from the bad news:

1)     Prepare and communicate one clear, consistent message. Getting to the point, without diluting or sandwiching the message between other items. Don’t say “I have bad news” or “I have some good news and some bad news”, rather, thank the audience for listening and be authentic. Don’t extend the process by dribbling out bad news, deliver it all so open communication can happen. Clarify and confirm the news and facts, anticipate questions for serious news.

2)     Be quiet and listen after you deliver the message. It’s about your audience, not you, so this gives them a chance to let the message sink in and acknowledge their feelings about it.

3)     Lead authentically. Be respectful of feelings, keep in mind this is a business problem where expressing concern but not blame is important. You want to empathize besides being assertive.

4)     Move on and follow-up. After delivering the message, listening and empathizing, focus on the positive and move on. This is an opportunity to monitor the issue and engage employees, moving forward with a mutual understanding and plan of action, building their confidence rather than micro-managing them.

As shown above, bad news requires skillful communication whether or not it is performance-related. Performance-related bad news is often related to missed expectations either at the group or individual level, and follows some sort of human resource protocol within the organization. The other type of bad news, situational bad news, involves changes or errors often beyond the direct control of the organization. In either type of bad news, the process above helps guide moving on effectively. Furthermore, understanding emotions and motivators helps anticipate the type of emotional reactions to bad news, so you can more fully empathize with employees. The slides below provide some guidance on anticipating emotional reactions.

Trust is a critical piece to dealing with and moving on from bad news. Communicating a clear message without trust is like walking through a minefield, according to Covey, Whitman and England (2009). They explained how important it to “move with the speed of trust”, as bickering in low-trust situations not only escalates problems but drags down performance. They provided three guidelines that help build a trusting organizational environment:

1)      Create transparency. Spin, clichés and politics erode trust; verifiable truths grow trust.

2)      Keep your commitments. Doing what you promised to do rebuilds trust, whereas poor follow-though impairs it.

3)      Extend trust to your team. Treating your team as trustworthy increases trust in you.

Successfully communicating and moving on from bad news involves a coaching process coupled with authentic, candid, emotionally intelligent behavior. It’s a recipe that affects trust and confidence crucial to your organization surviving especially given the constantly changing environment.

What are your thoughts?

Reference:

Covey, S, Whitman, B, and England, B. (2009).  Predictable results in unpredictable times: how to win in any environment. Salt Lake City, Utah: Franklin Covey.

A 3 part process for developmental coaching: Going beyond “management by fear” and numbers

Coaching conversations, rather than algorithms, drive optimizing employee performance, especially when we use the developmental coaching approach for improving the performance of employees who are performing at least satisfactorily. Valuing the people that drive your organization goes beyond statistical purity to developing and sustaining relationships that involve developing skills and abilities, building trust and sharing knowledge. This helps manage employees as brand ambassadors in social media as well, as the corporate reputation online often rests upon how an organization builds relationships with its employees internally.

 

The developmental coaching approach focuses on conversations and actions that make employees successful, especially in their career development. Besides helping employees discover and maximize what they do well, it also involves helping them develop and maintain a positive attitude about themselves- which then inspires others to have confidence in them as well.  Furthermore, developmental coaching could be used to help them become more aware of their emotional intelligence and how their behaviors and reactions affect other people, as they can discover and improve opportunities to adapt their behaviors and actions based on other people’s needs and the situation.
 

The success of organizations rests upon how we develop employees. If employees are focusing on short term performance rather than long term success, your organization is falling into a “management by fear” trap identified by Deming where employees dread performance reviews and the organization lean towards formal performance reviews to inform employees about how they are doing (Walton, 1986).  This point becomes critical given how social networking, particularly online, influences organizational performance today. It creates an organizational culture bent on rushing instead of continuous improvement, which holds back not only the development of employees, but the overall organization as well.

In his blog post “Work harder, longer, faster, or smarter?”, Chris Merrington  (2013) explained how rushing results from how employees manage their workloads given expectation for more results in an environment of less time and support. Eventually, this rushing impairs the quality of work (best ideas are replaced by first ideas) and makes mistakes more likely (which affects costs and images).
 

Rushing does not have to be the norm, as we can take a developmental coaching approach towards helping employees balance their workload demands. The Power Point below goes over recognizing developmental coaching cues we often find in employee conversations, which is important since they provide coaching opportunities. Developmental coaching conversations help provide regular, consistent feedback and steer employees towards continuously improving long term.

Developmental coaching is about asking and listening to employees’ ideas, and working with them on a strategy to execute and evaluate their progress. It’s not about giving them ideas, as that could make them feel micromanaged. It is about helping them discover and execute on their ideas.

I use the following three part process to help guide my developmental coaching conversations:

1.     Determine: You’ll want to set the stage for analyzing the need by agreeing on the expectation for the developmental coaching with the employee, including that you are here to listen rather than prescribe. This stage focuses on helping them discover needs through asking and listening. It is crucial for you to listen first in order to understand and build the trust to get at the heart of the real issues for development.

2.      Act: Once the cause has been isolated, the employee and you can collaborate on how to deal with the gap, including how to practice and build upon what they have learned.

3.      Evaluate: You’ll want to discuss and agree on how to assess progress through a follow-up plan.

In summary, developmental coaching is about observing, listening and helping the employee analyze opportunities. What are your thoughts?

References:

Merrington, C. (2013, Oct 16). Work harder, longer, faster, or smarter? [blog]. Management-issues.com. Retrieved from http://www.management-issues.com/opinion/6777/work-harder-longer-faster-or-smarter/

Walton, M. (1986). The Deming Management Method. New York: Perigee Books.

Three business coaching approaches for peak performance: How business coaching is like Vulcan Chess

Business coaching in an organizational setting seems to be like a game of Vulcan Chess. In Vulcan Chess, as demonstrated by Star Trek’s Spock, chess moves involve considering moving up or down any number of levels, augmenting traditional chess moves. Business coaching really involves thinking along three levels, similar to how Vulcan Chess involves considering moves along three dimensions. Unlike Vulcan Chess, though, we have to integrate logic and emotion to empathize with others so as to quickly recognize when we can help and what type of help (coaching) is needed.

We want to help others succeed, as that is the critical goal of coaching, so when we recognize coaching opportunities, we need to consider whether coaching is needed on a performance, developmental, or behavioral level. The daily interactions we encounter help guide our coaching approaches along these levels, and choosing the correct level helps develop and sustain relationships. Listening to employees is crucial in guiding our decisions in choosing between these three types of coaching, as these choices impact how employees' leadership development is applied at the line level. Choosing the wrong level is not only illogical but could lead to a quick checkmate.

Performance coaching is used when someone is performing below an expected level, whereas developmental coaching is used to improve and develop those who are performing at least satisfactorily. Behavioral coaching involves changing behavioral patterns that sabotage- or significantly hinder- success; it is potentially more transformational than the other two approaches. So, as you can see, knowledge, skills and behaviors are important criterion that factor into how we analyze coaching opportunities, as taking a psychological approach to deal with an issue that is knowledge or skills based could backfire. Furthermore, solely focusing on negative feedback without encouraging positive behaviors or acknowledging accomplishments deflates morale and could signal that we aren’t listening effectively.

Coaching conversations really start when we look at the frequent exchanges we encounter daily, whether they are in person or online. You don’t see people walking around with “Help me” signs, but you can pick up cues that help you make decisions and make mental notes that help you relate with what they need. This really is where logic and emotion come together to help us analyze, relate to and engage those who need coaching.

So, effective business coaching involves listening and collaborating with someone as opposed to coaching at them by directing solutions. What cues can we use to help guide which coaching approach to take? The following short PowerPoint presentation provides cues I have used to help guide my coaching approaches.

In the end, determining the most appropriate business coaching approach is a lot like choosing the most appropriate move in Vulcan Chess: we need to observe, listen and analyze the opportunity. As Spock would say, “That is only logical”.

What are your thoughts?

Coaching up, without getting fired

You don’t want to be perceived as insubordinate, nor do you want to risk your job. Yet, you have constructive feedback for your supervisors that can help them professionally as well as the organization. You don’t have to remain silent nor do you have to be manipulative. How can you approach these situations so you remain respected and not get fired?

 

Coaching in our current environment is truly 360 degrees, regardless of whether we work for a business or non-profit organization, as we seem to find ourselves providing feedback for not only those work for us as well as colleagues, but also for our bosses and leaders as well. Supervisors who are strong leaders realize they become better by listening and acting on feedback from all sources, especially from their subordinates, and that strengthens the organization as well.  In The Blame Game, Dattner and Dahl (2011) explained the best leaders invite contrary viewpoints and do not shun criticism. Feedback does not have to be accusatory and blame-based, as that contributes to making an organization dysfunctional. Put differently, your constructive feedback helps reduce supervisors’ blind spots and improves problem-solving.
 

 

Coaching is a process of discovery, not directing, so you are taking a supportive, collaborative role when you take advantage of coaching moments with your supervisors. You aren’t prescribing an answer, rather considering the issue and alternatives. In “Differentiating leader and leadership development”, Dalakoura (2009) stated this self-development is important, as it promotes continuous learning, and it's not just a matter of leaders themselves initiating development, but development is encouraged by employees, other managers and HR leaders as part of a system.

You can develop a perception that you are a reliable, trustworthy team member, as you discuss issues directly with supervisors, instead of going around them. Opening channels for speaking up can improve, rather than jeopardize, your work relationships when you have a positive approach for tackling “coaching up”.

Here are five considerations for approaching “coaching up” discussions:

1)      Remain positive: Your supervisors and you are part of a team, with the goal of strengthening the organization, not making your life tough. Keeping a positive demeanor also helps your focus on the facts instead of emotions.

2)      Empathize: Your supervisors are people as well, so putting yourself in their shoes may help you appreciate their challenges, improve the timing of your critiques, and also help you remain humble. No one knows all the answers, yet a diversity of opinions can strengthen our collective knowledge and drive improvement.

3)      Ask for their consent: This helps invite your feedback and signals how receptive they will be towards your feedback.

4)      Be authentic: You don’t want to sugarcoat the issues with excessive compliments at the start, nor do you want to unnecessarily put them on the defensive. Don’t skirt or divert the issues. The focus has to be on the issues and improvement, and you want to set an appropriate perspective on them.

5)      Contextualize it: Focus on actions, behaviors and processes, and discuss how changes could help improve meeting or exceeding objectives. Be specific and fact-based. This also helps you distinguish what is urgent and important, highlighting those issues that can be managed. Consider how your critique adds value, especially for consumers.

These points should help strengthen your relationship with your supervisors, as it develops channels for openly sharing feedback and encouraging mutual respect. No one is perfect, we all want to grow. As a supervisor myself, I can appreciate feedback that helps me improve and I try to encourage feedback on a consistent basis.

What are your thoughts and approaches to coaching up?

References:

Dalakoura, A. (2010). Differentiating leader and leadership development. The Journal of Management Development, 29(5), 432-441. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02621711011039204

Dattner, B. & Dahl, D. (2011). The Blame Game. New York, NY: Free Press.