Employees who don’t feel the need to improve say, “Just tell me what you want.” But, passion for self-improvement drives the desire to be coached.
Those committed to growth want coaches, not bosses – especially young, aspiring leaders.
3 tips for coaching style leaders:
- Don’t get sucked into problems.
- Don’t feel responsible to find solutions.
- Create tipping points.
3 parts to coaching conversations:
- Problems or frustrations.
- Solutions or progress.
- Tipping points.
Problems: What’s wrong?
- Dig into their problem, never minimize it. “That seems serious.”
- Listen for frustration and explore it. Don’t fear it. “What’s frustrating about that?”
- When does this problem flare up?
- What do you see? Define problems in behavioral terms.
Solutions: What do you want?
When you ask a coachee what they want, they tell you what they don’t want.
“I want complaining to stop,” for example.
When you ask a coachee what they want, they tell you what they want from others.
“I want them to stop complaining,” for example.
Tipping points: What can you do?
- Define solutions in positive, not negative, terms. “I want a positive work environment,” is better than, “Stop complaining.”
- Define solutions in behavioral terms. “What behaviors create positive work environments?”
- Encourage responsibility. “What can you do to create a positive work environment?”
- What system or process might help?
- How can you reward positive behaviors?
- How can you not tolerate or marginalize negative behaviors?
- What’s the first thing you would like to try? When? How frequently?
Dealing with sticking points: It won’t work.
Coachees protest that problems are too big and solutions imperfect.
- Improve as you go, not before you try. Just try something simple, observable, and small.
- Trust the ripple effect. Small shifts produce powerful impact.
- Explore commitment. On a scale of one to ten, how committed are you to try this? Why didn’t you choose a lower number?
What does coaching style leadership look like to you?
What are the challenges of managers coaching their team members?