Don't forget to coach for growth!

Effective Leaders Coach in 2 Ways, Consistently!

today's newsletter shares something basic and very important. As Leaders, we essentially coach team members for two purposes: (1) Performance and (2) Growth.

What this means is that in the end, we will often have two types of Coaching Conversations that are quite different in character. One fits quite naturally in our days and the other is less frequent and easily overlooked when in the hamster wheel!

Coaching for immediate PERFORMANCE

What does it mean to Coach for PERFORMANCE?

We address and try to help our team member ‘fix’ a specific problem or challenge.We want to help put out a fire.

We hold our breath first, when someone asks us for help. We switch ON our coaching mindset and stay curious longer than we normally would.

It’s everyday stuff, and it’s important and necessary.

Through our coaching approach, our team member gets a chance to develop a solution to an immediate problem and can bounce if off with us.

We approach our team member with a coaching mindset: We switch on the belief that they are resourceful and yes, they can figure a lot of things out if we give them a chance.

We at least hear them out first on their current thinking, before we might switch into coaching, mentoring or advising.

The reward of coaching here is that team members overcome challenges with a high degree of autonomy. The chance is much higher that they make progress without relying too much on their leader subsequently. They build confidence and competence in their own way. As a side effect, they may also develop their own resources for future similar cases.

How might it sound to coach for Performance?

"What's your recommendation, given the facts that you have?"

“In your best judgment, what are the options on the table and which one do you suggest?"

“What’s the ideal outcome here from your point of view?”

“What do you think should we address to make immediate progress here?”

All these statements are delivered in a way that they carry a sense of 'partnership'.

Coaching for future GROWTH

What does it mean to Coach for GROWTH?

Coaching for development is about turning the focus away from the problem/issue/challenge. Instead, we zoom in to the person dealing with the issue, the person who’s managing the fire, the person right in front of us.

This type of coaching builds own awareness and capacity to deal with the future.

This conversation is typically not as frequent, but significantly more powerful. It is often neglected. It's the exact case of something that is highly important to do, yet rarely urgent.

If I ask you to think back to a time when someone coached YOU in a way that made a long-term difference, I’ll bet that it was a coaching-for-development conversation.

The focus in on calling the team member forward to learn, improve and grow, rather than on just getting something sorted out. The focus is about how they RELATE to their problem, not about the problem itself.

How might it sound to coach for GROWTH?

“What have you learned about yourself in this project?”

"These struggles that you had over the past few weeks, what do they help you notice?"

“How would other people recognise that you made progress on this personal development goal?”

“If you had the chance to do it all over again, what would you do differently?”

“You looked puzzled during the session. What was on your mind?”

"You have shown very resourceful in similar challenges before. What makes this problem here particularly challenging for you right now?"

"How would you need to be different to show up confident in this negotiation?"

The focus of the questions is entirely on how the person relates to themselves and to the problem they face. Our goal is to create awareness, a sense of learning that can lead to growth. Again, while we could easily share with our team member what growth or learning we noticed with them, it is significantly more powerful if they recognise it for themselves.

Summary

Leaders typically coach their team members in two distinct ways: for current performance and for growth. Make sure you deliberately make space in your busy schedule for both types of coaching conversations regularly. They are distinctively different: Coaching for Performance empowers and supports for today's challenges. Coaching for Growth (i.e. Development) builds capacity for future performance.

Skilled Coaching Leaders typically find it easier to engage in performance coaching, as you can often simply 'plug' your coaching skills into regular day-by-day conversations. Growth conversations are different. They require us to take a breath, step out of day-to-day issues and look at the person and their challenges, rather than problems. These conversation require intention and focus. The reward? They are distinctly more powerful in the long run. They are simply: a great investment!

Have a great week ahead!

p.s. Hope you enjoyed this. As a newsletter subscriber, you get our articles 1-4 weeks before we publish them publicly, likely on LinkedIn. Please use your power wisely:)

An Inspiring Thought!

"The way someone else perceives what you do is a result of their own experiences (which you can’t control), their own preferences (which you can’t predict), and their own expectations (which you don’t set). If your choices don’t match their expectations that is their concern, not yours." James Clear

Have a great week ahead and stay focused!

Maik

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