This document discusses coaching and what makes a good coach. It explains that coaching focuses on helping coachees set self-driven goals and empowering them to achieve those goals through deep listening and powerful questions rather than advice-giving. A good coach has a growth mindset, is fully present, and uses a model where they help the coachee identify their goal, current reality, options for moving forward, and concrete plan of action. Coaching is best used for developing high-potential employees and knowledge workers and situations where commitment is key rather than direct task control.

1. Coaching
Joe Greenstein & Semira Rahemtulla
May 2, 2016

2. What is coaching?

3. Benefits of Coaching
1. Give-a-Fish vs Teach-to-Fish
2. Coachee feels valued and believed in
3. Self-driven goals are more motivating
4. Manager gets valuable info

4. A Thought Experiment…
On a quiet Sunday afternoon, when your partner says:
“I hate Sundays! I get so stressed on Sundays because Monday
comes next! I hate my job! I wish I could figure out how I could not
have to work there ever again.”
What do you say back?

5. 3 Levels of Listening
1. Listening to win
• Rejecting / tell her she’s wrong
(often nicely)
2. Listening to fix
• Adding new info, asking a question
3. Listening to understand
• Content
• Emotion
• Meaning
So work is so bad you’d rather not
even go? And you’re frustrated
because you can’t figure out how to
get around a thing you hate?
That’s not true! Sundays are so
much fun around here! We love
Sundays.
- You know, Sundays used to be
like that for me, too. You just have
to get over it.
- What’s going on at work?

6. What makes a good coach?
• Deep Listening
• Presence & Mindset
• Powerful Questions

7. Growth Mindset
“I don’t know how to do that, but I can
figure it out.”

8. What makes a good coach?
• Deep Listening
• Presence & Mindset
• Powerful Questions

9. Ask powerful questions
Avoid advice hidden as a question – “have you
considered….”

10. Grow Model
• Goal = What do you want?
• Reality = What’s happening now?
• Options = What can you do?
• Will = What will you do?

11. When to use / not use coaching
DO Use:
• Working with high-potentials
• Working with knowledge
workers
• When commitment trumps
control
• When issue is about managing
relationships
Don’t use:
• With chronic underperformers
• When you DO have the
answers
• When task control more
important than commitment
• When you don’t believe
coachee can’t achieve goal