Often when we are coaching people we lose sight of our core objective. Recently I had a conversation with a manager who wanted a person to go back to their old ways of being a positive teammate and possessing a great attitude. I asked the manager how many times he had met with this employee on this topic and he said only once up to this point. I asked what was your overall objective and he said for this person to get back to their old ways of being a great teammate with a positive attitude who went above and beyond the call of duty to help their teammates. I asked what was your objective of this upcoming conversation and he said "The Same Thing". RED FLAG: there is no way one conversation is going to lead to this misguided yet positive objective.
As the conversation progressed the manager began to tell me of his frustrations and angst with this person. So often we can get caught up in our own emotions which can undermine the needed objective. I asked more questions and found out that the manager possess the following:
- no planned questions
- no planned activities
- he did not have a clear expectation of the conversation
In essence, he was not prepared! His emotions and objective were at odds with reality. Before coaching sessions managers and leaders should complete 120 second task that helps them prepare for their coaching conversations. Its called The Coaching Conversation Starter: To receive a copy & lesson how to use: click here
