Coaching is one of the most important tools a leader can use to make his team more efficient, productive, and interested in achieving the common goal. However, knowing this fact, we typically struggle to ask the right question to coach one. Some time, coaching becomes mentoring and loses its focus. The focus of Coaching is to make one more productive and help him achieve his short-term goals. It’s significant to note that coaching is a collaborative process, where the coach and coachee work together towards the cochiee’s goals. The coach provides guidance, support, and expertise, while the coachee actively participates, takes ownership of their development, and implements the recommended strategies.
The process necessitates a focus on short-term objectives, thereby necessitating the coachee’s efficacy in assisting the coachee in attaining their desired outcomes and enhancing their effectiveness. This goal makes this book a useful guidebook for a leader to be a better mentor.
The book is about seven questions, which a leader can ask to be a more effective coach. These questions are:
- Whats on your mind?
- It is a question that says, ‘let’s talk about the thing that matters most., it is a kick-start question.
- And What Else?
- You create more opportunity to create more insight on the topic.
- What is the real challenge here for you?
- This makes you pay attention to the things that immediately need scrutiny.
- What do you want?
- Is the listener aligned to coachee? This helps bring the trust between coach and coachee.
- What was most useful for you?
- People don’t learn while seeing or doing things, but rather when they recall and reflect on something
- If You Are Saying ‘Yes’ To This, What Are You Saying No to?
- It’s a strategic question. It asks people to be clear and committed.
- How Can I Help?
- It’s a lazy question, this is a clear and direct question.
Each question, is an open-ended question, few are enticing to give an alternate to the proposed solution, few are challenging one to explore further, few are helping in finding the other side of the story.
Each question is powerful, but they need additional information to be more effective. Based on situation, requires, these questions can be tweaked and sequence can be changed, or a few questions out of seven can be asked.
Our job as manager/ leader is to help create the space for people to have those learning moments. And to achieve that, we need to ask questions which will make them die deeper to find solution and learn in the process.
Get this #goodreads as one tool in your toolbox. And following mind map for more insights.
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