“The best time to make up your mind about people is never”
– Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story
Strategy execution is made up of many, MANY individual execution efforts – an infinite to-do list taken up by different people at different times. Performance coaching helps this process by creating the necessary commitment with the individuals involved to move these actions forwards. In other words, coaching creates engagement to get things done.
To find out more about coaching, here’s an overview of the 14 things every leader should know about coaching.
GROW ME
There are dozens of coaching methods out there, some better than others. The good ones will help you as a coach to facilitate learning rather than to direct it. GROW – originally conceived by Graham Alexander and further perfected by John Whitmore – is probably the best-known and appreciated coaching technique in the world.
COACHING IS MORE THAN A TECHNIQUE
Unlike other techniques, it is much more than a toolbox linked to an acronym. It’s an approach, a philosophy which helps you create the right context to help individuals transform their potential into peak performance. And I believe that’s exactly the reason for its success.
It’s my objective here to outline the main points in a few posts and also offer you 30 coaching tips.
THE ESSENCE OF GOOD COACHING
You can achieve limited success by diligently following the GROW road map. But without subscribing to the underlying coaching philosophy however, you will fall short of what is truly possible. The essence of good coaching is all about you, as a coach, helping your coachee to increase awareness and take responsibility. Of course, the process is important since it brings structure to the conversation, but it should not be the cornerstone of your coaching. Creating awareness and responsibility are. Frame your coaching in the context of awareness and responsibility and it will improve drastically.
THE GROW COACHING MODEL
- G for Goal setting: define the short- and long-term goals
- R for Reality: explore the current situation
- O for Options: identify and evaluate different action strategies
- W for Will: what will you do by when?
The GROW coaching model offers the coach a simple, yet powerful, framework. It helps you to structure your interaction with your coachee.
The conversation can start at any one of the four stages of the GROW model. A coachee might begin by telling you about something s/he wants to achieve (Goal), a current problem (Reality), a new idea for improving things (Options) or by outlining an action plan (Will).
By itself, the particular order of questions will not help you to become a great coach. Each question should aim to increase your coachee’s awareness and responsibility. It’s the combination of context and sequence, along with lots of practice, that will make you a better coach.
56 COACHING QUESTIONS
To inspire you coaching, here are some example questions for each phase:
- 15 great questions for the Goal setting phase
- 15 great questions for the Reality phase
- 11 great questions for the Options phase
- 15 great questions for the Will phase
