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On the Leader Fluent Podcast, we’re in a series on my book, Insanely Practical Leadership: 12 No-Nonsense Keys to Master the Art of Leading Yourself and Others. The book addresses a host of insanely practical skills, and it provides you and your team with the tools to apply the insights to your life and leadership. The book is now available on Amazon, Kindle, and other retailers. On today’s episode, you’ll get a taste of my chapter on, “How to Coach Others.” Be sure to order Insanely Practical Leadership today, and check out the Masterclass as well as the bonus content that goes with the book HERE.

In his book, Aspire, Kevin Hall provides some insightful backstory on the origin of the word coach. A village named “Kocs” in old Hungary produced horse drawn vehicles used to comfortably transport royalty between Budapest and Vienna. These carriages became known as “coaches,” borrowing their name from the township where they were designed. And their comfortable design made travel across the bumpy roads in fifteenth century Europe more bearable.

Over time, the term “coach” was applied to other modes of transportation such as the stagecoach, railway coach, and motorcoach. But I love something Kevin Hall observed about the word coach. He said “However far-reaching and prevalent the word has become since the first coach rolled out of production in Kocs, the meaning has not changed. A ‘coach’ remains something, or someone, who carries a valued person from where they are to where they want to be.” 

We’re used to seeing coaches in the arena of sports. But the truth is, leaders need coaches too. And not only do we need coaches, but we need to practice the skill of coaching when we’re investing in others. 

So, what does a leadership coach do? At the risk of sounding simplistic, I want to provide an insanely practical framework to help you develop your coaching skills. I call it AIM…A-I-M. Good leadership coaches take AIM at the potential in people. Simply put, they coach leaders toward Assessment, Insight, and Movement. 

“A” – “Assessment”

You can’t help someone remove barriers, increase their leadership capacity, or grow their organizational effectiveness unless you first assess where they are and what they need. After all, without assessment, you’ll risk prescribing solutions to problems that don’t exist.

First, Ask Questions. Coaching usually begins with some casual conversation. A simple question like, “How’s it going?” or “What’s new since we last talked?” is a great way to start. Your goal is to build rapport and express a genuine interest in them. Then, once you connect, shift the conversation by saying, “What do you hope to gain from our time together?” In other words, you want to identify their goal for the coaching conversation. 

The second way to practice Assessment is to Administer an Assessment Tool. For example, if the person you’re coaching wants to leverage their strengths for greater organizational impact, administer a tool like CliftonStrengths. If they want to improve their leadership skills, you might administer the Leadership Practices Inventory by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. Good assessment tools provide a base line for the coaching conversation.

As you practice assessment, your goal is two-fold: you want to connect with the individual, and you want to clarify their needs, struggles, and goals. 

“I” – “Insight”

Insight is where the person you’re coaching discovers perspective, wisdom, and ideas to take measurable steps forward in their leadership journey. This is where the majority of your coaching conversation will happen. And it’s where the person you’re coaching will discover answers to their biggest challenges. As a coach, you can facilitate this discovery process with two strategies.

First, pull the insight out of the person you’re coaching by asking good questions. For example, if a team member shares a specific struggle with you, you might ask, “How have you dealt with this struggle in the past?” or “What options do you have to move forward?” If they’re trying to get clear about a vision for the future, you might ask, “What have you been dreaming about lately?” or “What do you think is possible in the next 12 months?” And if they’re frustrated with a co-worker, ask, “Can you boil this frustration down to one or two sentences?” or “Have you talked to them about it?” or “What have you found to be the best way to approach them?”

As they answer your questions, dig deeper by asking them to tell you more. Every question puts you one step closer to pulling the solution out of the person you’re coaching. This is important because if they come up with the solution, they’re much more likely to own it.

The second way to gain insight is to pour into the person you’re coaching. Now, in these moments, you’ll temporarily remove your coaching hat and put on a mentoring hat. Coaches pull out, but mentors pour in. When you put the mentoring hat on, you’ll share a thought, an insight, an idea, or a perspective to help them get unstuck and move forward. 

Author and coaching expert Terry Walling refers to this method as “Breakthru Coaching.” He says, “Breakthrough results from the timely combination of coaching and mentoring.” He goes on to say, “The coach’s role is to facilitate discovery in the leader’s life. At strategic moments in the conversation, coaches need to dispense key leadership development insights to help facilitate the breakthrough that a leader is seeking.” 

This mixture of pulling out and pouring in will help the people you’re coaching discover the insights to improve and advance. And that brings us to the final coaching key. 

“M” – “Movement”

Your goal isn’t just to help the person you’re coaching come up with great ideas or fresh insights. You want them to chart a pathway to progress and take their first steps. Movement happens with two keys.

First, Identify Action Steps. You can do this by asking, “What do you think is the first step you should take between now and the next time we meet?” Or you might say, “You’ve offered some great insights in our time together. What action step do you want to tackle first?” The key is to ensure the action step is achievable before your next meeting. And if it’s not, help them break their goal into bite-sized steps that can be reached in a reasonable amount of time.

The second way to create movement is to Give Permission and Encouragement. A common roadblock people experience in the coaching process is a lack of confidence. That’s why good coaches give them permission to act. To be clear, they don’t technically need your permission to move forward. However, when they’re struggling with self-doubt, uncertainty, or imposter syndrome, a permission-giving statement can make all the difference. 

For example, you’ll bolster their confidence when you say, “You’ve got this inside of you. You can do this. I believe in you.” When they know you believe in them, it helps them believe in themselves. You can also speak words of encouragement by affirming their efforts, celebrating their progress, and encouraging them to keep going. 

As Mother Teresa once said, “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are endless.” Your words of encouragement are the endless echoes that keep people moving after they leave the coaching session. 

So, there you have it—a simple way to develop coaching skills to help others succeed. Take AIM at a leader’s potential by coaching them toward Assessment, Insight, and Movement. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT INSANELY PRACTICAL LEADERSHIP:

The teaching in this podcast series comes from my book, Insanely Practical Leadership: 12 No-Nonsense Keys to Master the Art of Leading Yourself and Others. Get your copy of the book, masterclass, and study guide to maximize your leadership and to invest in the growth of your team. You can learn more about Insanely Practical Leadership and the bonus content that goes with the book HERE. You can also order the book on Amazon, Kindle, and other retailers.

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