Coaching for Leaders

A brief overview of how teaching fits into coaching. We’re going to examine a few lessons from The Adult Learner* by Malcolm Knowles. Pedagogy vs. Andragogy (art of teaching kids vs. self concept of being responsible for ourselves) (Greek: child-leading, man-leading). You can’t teach adults the way you teach kids. Why talk about kids? As coaches, there’s the tendency to fall back on what we’ve seen all our lives and what we remember from school – unfortunately, those same skills don’t work with adults. 6 assumptions about andragogy: The Need to Know (adults need to know why something is important before learning it) The leaner’s self concept (they want to be responsible for the progression of their own lives). The role of learner’s experiences (adults have a lot more of them) Readiness to learn (adults need timing that corresponds with developmental tasks) Orientation to learning (adults will learn to support what they think will help them in real-life tasks) Motivation (adults want job satisfaction, self-esteem, quality of life) Book recommendation: Drive* by Daniel Pink Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Matt Ross: Liberty Mutual How did things go with the listening assessment from the first episode? If you missed it, download the PDF here. How to start coaching someone: This is a huge missed opportunity for a lot of leaders. Leaders start teaching a new skill, and that’s it…before getting to know someone and without connecting it to the other person’s goals/desires. The model for how to start coaching someone: F – Future R – Reality O – Obstacles M – Meaning What to listen for in the interview with Matt Ross: 1) FROM model 2) This shouldn’t be an interrogation…you can jump around 3) The importance of silence Interview with Matt Ross Contact Matt Ross at this link What I would do if I was Matt’s manager? I’d want to talk in terms of how the tasks he’s working on connect with his goals. If those opportunities weren’t there, I’d do my best to create those opportunities for Matt. This doesn’t take long…the entire interview was 14 minutes and could have been shorter. Three reasons leaders skip doing this: They don’t know they should do it (but hopefully you see how helpful this can be) They don’t know how to do it (but now you do!) It takes too long (not really, per our example) And a final reason right now, they don’t have to do it because of the economy. However, at some point better times for employees are coming and those that aren’t led well will move on. In 2010, Harvard Business Review reported on statistics for high potential employees. They reported that: 1 in 3 high potential employees admit to not putting all their effort into their job 1 in 4 believes they will be working for another employer in a year Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Welcome to the first episode of Coaching for Leaders. Why I’m starting this show: A bit of background about me How my doctoral dissertation got me thinking about the importance for leaders to focus on themselves One thing I’ve learned for sure: leaders can make a big difference in the lives of others if they take a little time to make a difference in themselves Why I care about this Lots of resources coming – articles/blogs/Q&A/guests/authors/books/my own perspective Powerful Listening Audio exercise – part 1 What did you hear? It sounds a lot like a lot of our work lives. Audio exercise – part 2 Four Listening Levels: Pretend Partial Present Powerful You can’t listen powerfully all the time – but you need to at least some of the time. Good listening is important work for a leader…just an important (if not more so) than “normal work” Download the Listening Skills Assessment Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.