The Coaching Habit
by Michael Stanier
– Coaching should be a daily, informal event not a rare, formal event that is announced.
– Coaching lies within building and helping others.
– Theory is no good if you do not know how to put it into practice.
– Ask just one question and then keep quiet and listen so they can respond.
– Small talk might be a way to start up, but it rarely leads to a good conversation piece.
– Be careful not to coach for performance but for development.
– If you know what questions to ask, get straight to the point.
– Instead of warming up or waiting around hoping to get to the point, just ask the question and then shut up and listen to what the person has to say.
– Tell less and ask more.
– Ask one more time. We tend to not ask enough, so for clarity sake, make sure to ask one more time.
– Learn to say “and what else”.
– Do not ask a rhetorical question, ask a real question.
– Begin with “what’s on your mind?”
– The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable man tries to adapt the world to himself. Therefore it is the unreasonable man that makes the progress.
– Commit more slowly by not saying yes or no so quickly. Listen and ask questions.
– When you have to say no, make sure it is clear that you’re saying no to the task and not note to the person.
– There are book ends to a good conversation when coaching someone: “what’s on your mind” to start and “what was most helpful to you” to finish.
– Add more curiosity. A little less advice and a lot more of curiosity will get you further.