Coaching your
Photo by Ashraful Kadir [link]
employees
Ed Batista
March 20, 2014
An HBR Exchange Webinar
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Who am I?
Executive coach
Instructor @ Stanford GSB
www.edbatista.com
HBR Guide to Coaching Your Employees
Photo: Seth Anderson
Why coachingmatters to me
Started as a client
Changed my view of leadership
Impact on my clients & MBA students
AgendaThe headline
Leadership roles
When coaching works (& when it
doesn’t)
Coaching tools
Coaching traps
Putting it into practice
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The headlineCoaching is an essential leadership
role…
…that can result in huge benefits
…but it’s not an all-purpose tool
…& it requires specific skills
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Leadership rolesHeroic
leader
Expert
Trainer
Evangelist
Post-heroic
Coach
Mentor
Motivator
Leadership rolesExpert
Provides answers
Domain knowledge is basis for
authority
Leadership rolesExpert
Trainer
Focused on the task at hand
Shows what is to be done (& how to do
it better)
Leadership rolesExpert
Trainer
Evangelist
Spreads a message
Rallys others to the cause
Leadership rolesHeroic
leader
Expert
Trainer
Evangelist
Post-
heroic
Coach
Mentor
Motivator
Leadership rolesCoach
Offers questions
Helps others discover their own
answers
Leadership rolesCoach
Mentor
Focused on others’ development
Long-term growth > immediate
performance
Leadership rolesCoach
Mentor
Motivator
Message-agnostic
Helps others’ identify their goals
Leadership rolesIncreasing emphasis on post-heroic
But highly contextual
Coaching ≠ all-purpose tool
Must fit your needs as a leader
When does
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coaching work?
When does coaching work?
High-potentials
(Long-term development)
When does coaching work?
High-potentials
Knowledge workers
(They’re the experts, not you)
When does coaching work?
High-potentials
Knowledge workers
Commitment > control
(Intrinsic motivation is key)
When does
Photo by Ed Yourdon [link]
coaching not work?
When does coaching not
work?Serious underperformers
(Coaching ≠ a performance plan)
When does coaching not
work?Serious underperformers
When you have the answers
(Asking leading questions ≠ coaching)
When does coaching not
work?Serious underperformers
When you have the answers
Control > commitment
(Heroic leadership isn’t obsolete)
But ask yourself…Are they really underperformers?
It may be an attribution error
But ask yourself…Are they really underperformers?
Do I really have the answers?
It may be comforting to think so
But ask yourself…Are they really underperformers?
Do I really have the answers?
Is control really more important?
Perhaps I need to let go
But ask yourself…Are they really underperformers?
Do I really have the answers?
Is control really more important?
If the answer is No, coaching may work
Coaching toolsCoaching mindset
Listening skills
Powerful questions
Modes of inquiry
Emotion management
Effective feedback
Carol Dweck
Perceptions shape reality
How do we perceive our abilities?
How do we perceive our mistakes?
Mindset
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Talent & intelligence are inherent traits
Mistakes are failures or character flaws
Negative emotional response to mistakes
Talent & intelligence can be developed
Mistakes are learning opportunities
Pay close attention to mistakes & learn more
Fixed Growth
Mindset
Adapted from Carol Dweck [link]
A coachingmindset
Growth mindset applied to employees
Emphasis on learning
Support + challenge
Empathy + accountability
Not trying to “fix”
Adapted from Hunt & Weintraub [link]
Listening skills
Photo by Ed Yourdon [link]
Listening skillsFocused attention > time
Make the other feel heard
How they feel > what you hear
Eliminate distractions
Cultivate presence
Powerful
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questions
Powerful
Getting beyond Yes or No
What…? & How…? > Why…?
Maximize openness & reflection
Minimize defensiveness
Ask once & stop
questions
Leadership rolesExpert
Trainer
Evangelist
Coach
Mentor
Motivator
Leadership rolesAdvocacy Inquiry
Leadership rolesCoaching is inquiry
Leadership also requires advocacy
Finding the right balance is the key
Modes of inquiryPure inquiry
Starts with receptivity (even
silence)
Key is avoiding presumptive
questions
Adapted from Edgar Schein [link]
Modes of inquiryPure inquiry
Diagnostic inquiry
Focus & redirect
Feelings, motives, actions
Adapted from Edgar Schein [link]
Modes of inquiryPure inquiry
Diagnostic inquiry
Confrontational inquiry
Introduces new ideas &
hypotheses
Substitutes the coach’s narrative
Adapted from Edgar Schein [link]
Modes of inquiryPure inquiry
Diagnostic inquiry
Confrontational inquiry
Process inquiry
Focus on the coaching relationship
Infrequent but essential
Adapted from Edgar Schein [link]
Emotionmanagement
Emotion awareness
Sensing
Understanding
Emotion regulation
Verbalizing
Expressing
Emotionmanagement
Reasoning = just the tip of the iceberg
Emotions = vaster, faster, more
powerful
Work in concert, not in opposition
(Not always)
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Emotionmanagement
Regulation ≠ suppression
Emotions convey emphasis
Emotional experiences stick
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Emotionmanagement
Critical for coaching managers
You will have strong feelings
And we’re leaky
Investment > attachment
Effective
Essential to managerial coaching
(But it is a form of advocacy)
feedback
Effective
Social threat
Feedback is stressful
Minimize threat response
feedback
Effective
Social threat
Cultivate the relationship
Make the other feel known
Respond to bids
Regularly express appreciation
feedback
Effective
Social threat
Cultivate the relationship
Avoid defensive triggers
The net (David Bradford)
feedback
My behavior… Actions Statements Non-Verbals
Needs Motives
Intentions
Feelings Reactions
Responses
The netMe and
my…
You and your…
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The netStay on our side of the net
Focus on observed behavior
Disclose our response
When you do [X], I feel [Y].
Minimize defensive triggers
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Traps for the coaching manager
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Traps for the coaching manager
Giving advice prematurely
Overpowering resistance
Creating dependence
Excessive support
Insufficient support
Adapted from Edgar Schein [link]
Putting it intopractice
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Putting it intopractice
Coaching moments (Attention > time)
But gauge readiness
Make coaching normal
Not a “performance review”
Celebrate small victories
Experientiallearning
Act
Reflect
Conceptualize
ApplyWhat will I do
more of, less of, start or stop the next time?
What do these results imply?
What conclusions can I draw?
What happened?
What resultedfrom my actions?
Experientiallearning
Act
What?
So What?
Now What?
Experientiallearning
Wash, rinse, repeat
(Over and over again)
ResourcesFor more on post-heroic leadership…
David Bradford & Allen Cohen,
Power Up
ResourcesFor more on leadership roles…
Pierluigi Pugliese,
Scrum Master as Team Coach
& Ed Batista,
Leading in Four Dimensions
ResourcesFor more on mindset in general…
Carol Dweck, Mindset
& Ed Batista,
The Meaning of Mindset
ResourcesFor more on a coaching mindset…
James Hunt & Joseph Weintraub,
The Coaching Manager
ResourcesFor more on inquiry & coaching traps…
Edgar Schein, Helping
ResourcesFor more on inquiry…
Edgar Schein, Humble Inquiry
ResourcesFor more on emotion…
Antonio Damasio, Descartes’ Error
ResourcesFor more on emotion in
organizations…
Vanessa Druskat & Steven Wolff,
Building the Emotional Intelligence of
Groups
ResourcesFor more on feedback & all of the
above…
HBR Guide to Coaching Your Employees
Thank you
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Follow me @edbatista
Read more at www.edbatista.com
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