A recent interview with Patrick Lencioni about his new book Motive, clearly articulated a wondering that has been on our minds for the last eight weeks; what is going to be our “next normal”? Our new normal needs to be better than the “old normal”.
Having identified what we want to keep, adapt, stop could be the the easy part. Enabling this to happen could be the challenge!
What’s the answer? Coaching.
Here’s our coaching 3 - 2 - 1
3 Tips
Stick to questions starting with 'what' or ‘how'. Avoid the ‘why’. It looks backwards.
Get to the specifics; 'What’s the real challenge for you?' 'What’s holding you back?' 'What’s getting in the way?'
Question so that the conversation moves forward towards action. This could sound like:
'Now that we’ve established that X is the main thing, what might you do first?'
'You’ve identified a range of options, which is going to be the most useful for us to take further?'
2 Quotes
Coach the person, not the problem
Stay curious but get out of the details & focus on the person.
For example: 'What support do you need to make this happen?'
Tell less, ask more
People don’t learn from us telling them, learning happens when they figure it out for themselves.
1 Question
If you could focus on only one of the ideas above, which would have the most impact for you?
Lets remind ourselves that:
“The power of the status quo is strong”
Michael Bungay-Stanier author of The Coaching habit & The Advice Trap