“Sometimes what people really need is a damn good listening to!”
For a lot of people at work, there’s pressure to have the answers. Who really does all the time?
When people feel the pressure to perform, to get things ‘right’ they often only bring a small amount of who they really are to the table. It means they don’t feel safe to learn, to take risks, to be creative and to excel.
Perhaps you’ve had experiences in your working life where you were unsure – of your knowledge or ability, and it left you questioning if you would ‘get it right’.
You can have coaching conversations to enable people to learn for themselves, to help them see their abilities, their problem solving skills, and that their unique perspective is important and valuable.
It can be useful to use coaching with people:
- at a crossroads in their career
- having issues at work
- looking to develop their strengths
What’s in a coaching conversation?
● Listening – lot’s of it!
This is listening to hear, not to form your own perspective on the situation, or to form a judgement on what is ‘right’.
Listening is to notice. The small cues we give about what’s really going on, how we’re feeling, what we really think, what we say and more importantly what we don’t say.
What’s really being said?
We have a natural ability to read body language. Lean into it – what else does it tell you?
● Questions
Asking questions to help the person get clear on the why/what/where/how/when’s…
It will help the person if you ask questions that focus on the desired outcomes rather than the problem being presented
Avoid giving advice
Where to have coaching conversations?
The opportunities are limitless!
You can have productive coaching conversations at work (including ‘managing up’), at home, with friends, in your community.
It’s amazing how valuable a short conversation, even a couple of minutes can be for both parties.
Are you ready to give it a try?
We can have coaching conversations in everyday life, and there are times we can benefit from accessing a trained coach for specific coaching sessions.
If you’d like to find out more about how we can support you/your team with coaching, please get in touch.