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How Great Leaders Coach: PART 3

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In this final part of our Coaching series, we will focus on helping your team take action.  To recap, in Part 1 we introduced the business case for coaching and two primary tools, acknowledgment and validation In Part two we covered the importance of being present as a prerequisite to effective Listening, Clarifying, Asking Permission, and Brainstorming. This article focuses on skills which help you take what you learn into later one-on-one meetings, to help your team members act.

It is the future, and you must be a Leader Coach

In a 2011 study done by the University of Wollongong in Australia, coaching is referred to as ‘a clear feature in the workplaces of the future.’ Welcome to the future.

It is far more difficult to be a Leader Coach than to be an external Coach.Being present, listening without judgment, and NOT problem-solving is not easy when you have a work history with someone. In addition, looking out for the organization and the interests of the team member are, sometimes, in opposition. All of this is amplified in dysfunctional cultures where objectivity and change is particularly challenging. Nevertheless, it is the leader’s job to navigate and help each individual reach their performance potential safely. So let’s introduce some tools to ease the way.

Tool #6: Educating & Giving Information

The Leader Coach hovers between coach and consultant when sharing information. To create a sustainable enterprise, leaders must coach teams to think critically and solve problems. Your team cannot do this if you always tell them what to do. Be open and clear about the facts, limitations, and share professional resources; but for less concrete problem-solving, help them find their way.

This will not be easy at first. Asking open-ended questions and waiting for an answer can be painful. When your team member is silent it can be awkward, especially when they expect you to give them the answers. Be consistent and supportive until they find their own solutions. Do this with confidence by creating a clear and consistent process that feels natural for you. See an example below. You can use it, change it, or create something completely unique.

  1. Let team member describe the challenge, problem, or opportunity. Then ask -
  2. What would it look like if things were going as you would like?
  3. Tell me what you already tried?
  4. Of those, what should you continue doing? Set a goal.
  5. What do you need to stop doing (is not effective)? Set a goal.
  6. What action or actions will we see that will show you are making progress (short/long term)? Set goal measurements.

Keep in mind that if you adopt this that listening is key, and changing the questions based on the direction of your team member is vital to an authentic and effective interaction.

Tool #7: The 3-Step Process to Action

If you can connect your team member to a prior success, the 3-step process is a great choice for helping them to action. By reframing that experience they become motivated to focus on solutions and strengths. For instance, if your team member expressed frustration over team communication gaps on your primarily virtual team, using the 3-step process could sound something like this:

Tool #8: SMART Goals

The best way to manage performance is to create goals that are SMART. This is certainly not specific to coaching goals. If you have had a performance review you have likely heard this term. But do not let that association dissuade you – SMART goals are a smart decision.

You can create a SMART goal for anything you want to accomplish, in response to a problem, or as you create a new product or process. below is a quick introduction and example, but for a deeper dive into Goal setting and using SMART check out this from ascend (Harvard Business Review).

Specific
Specific

Being specific means clearly defining the details of what is to be carried out. A coaching conversation around this would sound something like this:

Team Member: I want to create a more cohesive environment for my team.

Leader: Considering they are all virtual, what do you mean by cohesive?

Team Member: They must be able to communicate in real time, in multiple ways, confidentially. They cannot always call each other because often they are on other calls or in meetings when they need to consult one another.

Measurable
Actionable
Realistic
Timebound

In all these skills, and those before them, the common theme is empowerment. You will not always be around to answer questions. By coaching you give the sustaining gift of inquiry that your team member will eventually practice on their own as critical thinking. Then they will be able to take action. We hope you enjoyed this series. Let us know what other coaching tools you use or would like to learn about? The Hire offers Coaching Services for Individuals and Groups, we can also help your leaders become better coaches. Get in touch to learn more.

me

Lisa Crockett is a leader and professional development coach with more than 20 years of experience in Human Resources, Learning, and Performance. To learn more about her professional career visit her on LinkedIn.

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