Coaching is about connecting with people, inspiring them to do their best, and helping them to grow… (and) challenging people to come up with the answers they require on their own.
Ed Batista, executive coach & instructor, Stanford Graduate School of Business
takeaways of note:
3 most important practices:
1- Ask… (1) create space for team members to fill (i.e. open-ended questions); (2) spend time in pure inquiry to challenge team to come up with creative solutions & to surface their unique knowledge gained from proximity to the issue
2- Listen… requires significant eye contact & focused attention
3- Empathize… ability to comprehend another person’s point of view AND to vicariously experience their emotions (**empathy need not prevent high standards – rather it’s an important step to help team build resilience & learn from setbacks)
bonus nugget:
When you coach as a leader you don’t need to be the expert. You don’t need to be the smartest or most experienced person in the room. And you don’t need to have all the solutions… But you do need to be able to connect with people, to inspire them to do their best, and to help them search inside and discover their own answers.