Coaching is harder when the coach is the boss. Open listening, courageous honesty, and not fixing are rare in conversations when one person has organizational authority.
Use the GROW model:
Frameworks provide clarity, consistency, and confidence in coaching relationships. Use four questions that align with the GROW model.
G – Goal: What do you want to achieve?
Define the desired outcome. Ensure the goal is clear, achievable, and relevant.
R – Reality: Where are you now?
Discuss the current situation, challenges, and resources.
Add this additional question, what are the potential obstacles? Identify obstacles and gaps between where they are and where they want to be.
O – Options: What could you do?
Create multiple solutions. Encourage creative thinking.
W – Way Forward: What will you do next?
Select the best option and create an action plan.
Set timelines, define next steps, and establish accountability.
Anticipate 10 challenges when coaching employees:
- Time pressure and deadlines.
- Navigating confidentiality and organizational interests.
- Honesty and candor.
- Goals that are set by top management, not the coachee.
- Curiosity is manipulation when managers ask leading questions.
- Discomfort with the supportive spirit of coaching and expecting results at the same time.
- Listening feels burdensome to managers who typically give directions.
- Employees look to managers for answers. “Just tell me what to do.”
- Impatient managers who know how to do their team member’s job.
- Lack of training for managers.
Coaching – as a management style – enables managers to solve problems, enhance engagement, fuel performance, and increase enjoyment in ways that connect with today’s workforce.
The GROW model was developed in the 1980s by Graeme Alexander and Sir John Whitmore. Read, “Coaching for Performance.“
What are some keys to successful coaching between managers and employees?
