August 2004 2004 Leadership Coaching Newsletter
This Month's Topic: Creating a Shift in Performance
Most leaders agree that it's important to develop, coach and mentor their people, but they also report that it can be difficult to find the necessary time. Did you know that the performance of every one of your people is a direct reflection on you and your ability to manage and lead? The stakes are higher than you might think.
This month we will look at two coaching techniques you can use to help the people working for you identify and meet their goals, and thereby increase both their performance and your standing as a leader.
Discovery Questioning - Discovery Questioning is a systematic process that involves asking sharply focused questions that help people become aware of their feelings and thoughts. Because emotions and thoughts are what motivate people's actions, it's important for both of you to understand what they are. When you, as leader, are good at promoting discovery, asking questions that create or enhance possibility, new learning or clearer vision, your staff will not only discover powerful self-knowledge more quickly, but will also take action with greater commitment.
How can you develop this skill? Creating effective discovery questions is done on a situation-by-situation basis. Using an exploratory approach, the leader asks multiple questions that guide the individual toward self-discovery.
The following sample questions illustrate this approach: “Why did you choose to do this project this way?” “What were you thinking when you made that decision?” "How will you determine if you have been successful?” “What did you learn from this experience that you can apply to your xyz project?”
Informing and Feedback - A skilled coach, mentor, and leader learns how to deliver key information in a way that fosters shifts in perception and commitment to action. In this context, informing is a way of communicating a truthful message in a timely, personally relevant succinct way.
For example, suppose you are coaching someone in your organization that wants to learn how to delegate more responsibility. Over several weeks, this person reports to you her frustrations at other people's inability to take responsibility. Your response could be: “The actions you are taking are not producing the results you want. It’s time to look at other approaches. Let’s brainstorm a list together and determine which ones make the most sense.”
The objective of both of these coaching and mentoring approaches is to help others see and act differently, to create a shift in behavior, thereby producing more effective results. As the saying goes, “If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve got.” Using these two techniques will help others break out of their patterns and significantly benefit both of you!
Leadership Coaching Newsletter is written and produced by Wendy Capland. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to: wcapland@visionquestconsulting.com. We'd love to hear from you.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit our website: Click Here. Feel free to forward this newsletter. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy, or distribute as long as copyright and full author contact information is included. Thank you.
Copyright Wendy Capland 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004. All rights reserved.