The Leadership Programme Newsletter.

If you want to be a better leader you’re in the right place, welcome!

This newsletter is delivered every Friday and is a minestrone soup of tips, techniques, learnings and thoughts, & the odd disaster, based on my 25+ years of managing teams.

Read time: 3.14159265359 minutes. ( to the nearest 11)

Have you ever had the Boss say “… and did you try”?

or “how about ….”?

In other words, do it my way? Don’t get me wrong, they want to be helpful.

But it’s not.

They are giving you ‘the benefit of their experience’, without letting you create for yourself.

Hold on a minute….do you do this with your team?

Let’s go back a step.

It’s entirely appropriate to give ‘advice’, or instruct a team member to carry out a task in a certain way.

There are times when it’s essential that you do that, and provide training.

Coaching is different: with coaching, you want the coachee to come up with the solution.

Coaching is appropriate for anyone in the organisation, regardless of their position.

Science bit

There are reasons coaching is more effective than training.

Coaching requires the person to think for themselves. This creates new neural pathways in the brain.

The more neural pathways, the stronger it becomes.

Every time we repeat an action, a fatty covering called myelin coats the neural pathway, making the connection stronger and more secure.

Better neuroplasticity: it expands their thinking.

Literally.

(Bite-sized science explanation here , and detailed paper here. )

And this is why coaching is better than straightforward advice, telling or teaching.

It’s also why it’s hard to coach yourself, regardless of how much you want to change habits.

So the difference between training and coaching is shown nicely in this diagram.
With coaching the responsibility for the outcome, is on the coachee.

Coaching applies to several situations, but the most typical ones we find at work are:

1. to provide constructive feedback

2. An employee’s personal development

If you’re not used to a coaching style, start easy, and start small. Build from there.

Coaching framework for ‘corrective feedback’

A team member needs to change a behaviour or action: eg They didn’t complete a task correctly.

1. Prepare for the session - what is the outcome you want?

2. Do you have the details of the challenges or problems that need addressing?

3. What questions will you use? Ask ONE question at a time. Just one, and listen carefully for the answer. It will direct the next question.

4. Have a positive environment.

5. Accept the pauses and silences. Don’t fill them with more questions.

Ask questions, so they get to the answers that enable the coachee to carry out the task correctly next time.

Start with an opening question, such as:

• How did [Task A] go?

• How do you feel [Task A] went?

• What are your thoughts on [task A]?

• What’s on your mind?

Listen to their response.

Do they recognise there’s a problem, or not? Ask questions until they recognise the challenge

Use the AWE question -

• And What Else?

• And What Else could you do?

They recognise the issues. Then questions such as:

• How could we improve the process?

• How could you improve the process?

• What could you do differently next time to avoid [the incorrect action]?

With those ideas, get a very clear plan of action, and timescales

• What creative, imperfect action can you take immediately?

This is powerful. It gives permission to think widely, and creatively, and sets a timescale for action.

• Get a plan of action, timescales, and hold them accountable.

Coaching Framework or Personal Development

These could be used at a 1 to 1 session or planned development session.

1. Prepare for the session. It’s their outcome, not yours!

2. Ask ONE question at a time. Just one.

3. Listen carefully for the answer. It will direct the next question.

4. Have a positive environment.

Ask an opening question:

• What goal do you want to discuss today?

• What’s important right now?

• What’s on your mind?

There’s always more going on.

Use the AWE question -

• And What Else?

They’ve explained their challenge or current goal. You need to help them uncover what’s stopping them from moving forward, and get an action plan to progress.

Ask more questions, listen to answers, and don’t fill in the silences.

Silence is your friend.

• What is stopping you from [the goal]?

• What the real challenge for you here?

• And what else?

Get action

• What action can you take to [remove the blocker]

• And what else could you do?

Notice how all the questions start with ‘What’.

It’s preferable, as it doesn’t prompt a defensive response.

Start with a ‘What’ if possible.

If necessary, reframe your questions so that they start with a ‘What’

“what are you trying to achieve?

“what is it you really want”

Wrap up with a very clear plan of action, and timescales:

• What creative, imperfect, immediate action can you take?

• And what else could you do?

Stick to asking questions, not giving advice or judgements.

Avoid providing or prompting solutions.

Embrace the silences.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Go practice.

Please don’t hesitate to forward this, to help others learn.

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Action for the week!

Want to have a practice? If you’re unfamiliar with this approach, start small. Use language that’s yours.

Coaching is appropriate for anyone in the organisation, regardless of their position.

Extra resources

Additional resources you may want to check out.

I love this book and I’ve recommended it before. Perfect if you want to improve your style, or want to start coaching the team. Go buy it.

Here’s an Amazon ( affiliate) link so you can see what it's like, but I’d prefer it if you ordered from your local bookshop. May not be as quick, but a better soul-feeding activity.

Music to get you ready for the weekend!

A mega playlist of supersonic tracks, to get you in the mood for the weekend. I heard Kaeto recently, through my daughter and instant love. This is spacey, dancey, etherial, lovely. Perfect intro to the weekend.Feeling stu

Other ways I can help:

1. Feeling stuck, and not sure how to move? 1:1 coaching can take your career to the next level. Let’s have a chat to see if its right for you. Calendly link here.
   

2. Micro-coaching : a single coaching session to help you overcome that one blocker or key issue you're facing. Details in the link here.
   

3. FREE RESOURCES Interview Mastery training: to master confidence at that BIG event. It could be an interview, public speaking, or that pitch. Make sure that the very best version of you shows up to that interview. Link here.