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The Diamond Newsletter, because every one is a gem (I know, I know!).

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 minutes

I’m shortly launching my Masterclass - Lessons on how to crush your pitch, without losing your 💩.

From someone who generated over $1bn in sales. Interested in finding out more? Reply to the email with any questions 😁 

But now, lets dive in…

Coaching is like a magical potion for productivity.

It's like giving your team a secret power-up, turning them into productivity superheroes. 🦸🏻🦸‍♀️

Just imagine them wearing capes and conquering deadlines with a single bound!

I remember the first time I was aware of being coached:

“What options are there?” my manager asked

“I don't know”

He looked at me.

“Just tell me the answer” I said half joking (not!).

“Lesley, you know the answer…”.

All effective leaders should be able to coach their team, this is how we get the best performance.

But if you're not being coached effectively, you’re probably not delivering effective coaching either.

I've seen coaching that’s :

• too theoretical,

• too complicated and

• frankly got nothing to do with the work!

This could be because they:

Had coaching, but couldn’t translate these newfound insights into action, so nothing changed

OR

The shift from given advice, or telling, to asking questions to encourage learning, was still a bit too alien or didn't bed in

OR

They opt for ‘pretend coaching’ . You knwo that cunning technique of asking a fake question:

” have you thought about…”

” did you try…”

Advice - disguised as coaching.

Ooops, did I hit a nerve?
It’s called The ‘Advice Monster’ and it needs to quieten down.

Why go to the time and trouble of coaching?

“Answers are closed doors, and questions are open doors that invite us in“. Nancy Willard

Questions are important because “we are what we give our attention to”.

In other words, asking a question helps make something explicit. And that might influence how you work.

There’s also a scientific reason it works.

Coaching taps into the brain's natural capacity for neuroplasticity (fancy word - steal it and impress ): the brain's ability to reorganise itself and form new neural connections.

When we engage in coaching, we stimulate our brain to create new neural pathways as well as strengthen existing ones. This enhances our capacity to learn, adapt, and develop new skills.

When should you do it?

There is no secret formula because it’s whenever you get the opportunity. Or rather, it should be a daily informal act.

It doesn't need time blocking, diaries, complex charts, and check sheets

Coaching helps others unlock their potential. It's not about giving answers, which is how most of us have seen ‘management ‘ or even ‘leadership’.

I know I have.

Coaching is about less advice, and more questions:

Ask questions, be curious, and encourage self-reflection.

AND there's other bonuses!

Coaching is a first step to being able to delegate successfully to others (note the word successfully).

It actually helps YOU, too :

• get rid of overwhelm,

• prevent a team from being over-reliant on you

• and of course, a high-performing team reflects well on .… you!

How to do it?

When you coach you can coach for development, or for performance.

Do you distinguish the two?

Performance - is to ‘fix’ a specific problem or challenge; the everyday stuff that crops up. Typically, you don’t plan for that.

Development - this is to turn the focus from an ‘issue’, to the person. It’s to help them learn, improve and grow.

Most often, it falls into either

• a project

• a person

• or a pattern of behaviour

Choose one at a time to address. Another challenge most leaders have is the need to ‘warm up:

“I was wondering..”

“Out of curiosity..”

…that need to frame it, almost to set it up.

Stop the fluff and get to the point! That extra stuff isn’t needed.

The BEST coaching question of all time!

This is my favourite, power question. I use it to ‘peel the onion’. Ask the question then listen for the initial answer.

And then ask ‘and what else’ ?

This is what Michel Bungay Stanier calls the AWE question.

When you ask ‘and what else’, you prompt more options.

Often better, deeper responses and options.

Better options lead to better decisions.

Better decisions lead to…better performance.

YAY!

This is what we’re all after. Ultimately coaching is about less advice and more questions.

Not used to coaching, but want to start?

Start easy, and small.

Be intentional in looking for opportunities. Your team (and you) will thank you.

Action for the week!

Want to have a practice?
Look for opportunities to coach.
Choose one day next week. Be aware of all of your interactions with your team members ( phone, zoom, ‘real life’…) Do you catch yourself falling into any of the traps?
Make an effort to turn at least one of those interactions into a coaching opportunity.

Or, be conscious and intentional about reducing the advice, and increasing the questions.

Happy coaching!

Extra resources

Additional resources you may want to check out.
I’d highly recommend the book below. It’s easy to follow, MBS has a light writing style. It’s interesting and fun to read, plus you can get through it in a couple of hours. Its the best book of read, on coaching as a leader.

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,

This week: I checked out songs about coaching. Most were xxx rated 😂 so I’ve opted for this dance classic to ease your way into the weekend. An oldie, but a goodie.
When you feel stuck, you know what you’ve got to do …

Other ways I can help:

1. I’m shortly launching my Masterclass - Lessons on how to crush your pitch, without losing your 💩.

   From someone who generated over $1bn in sales. Interested in finding out more? Reply to the email with any questions 😁
   

2. 1:1 coaching to help you develop the leadership skills you need to take your career to the next level. Let’s have a chat. Calendly link here.
   

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

4. 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.