Coaches Corner 1: Say Less, Ask More

Becoming a master coach in business mean's setting the ego aside. Master coaches don't tell others what to do. Instead, the master coach focus on asking questions that lead others to see what is in front of them. Below are three simple tips to implement into your coaching practice:

• Pause the Ego: When tempted to "fix" a problem hit the ego pause and try the following.
• Observe: Point out an observation: 
• "Jim, I'm seeing that we are trending 10% behind MTD in our YOY revenue." 
• "Jane, I see that we have not improved our customer satisfaction metrics over the past two months."
• Ask: Ask a question to start the process others to think:
• "Jim, how do you see this?"
• "Jane, what thoughts do you have regarding our engagement metric performance?"
• See Together: Asking questions to get on the same page is a beneficial tool to ensure you start from the same perspective.
• "John, have you noticed that we are trending 5% down in our average ticket sales?"
• "Jack, have you seen the most recent year on year reports? Are you seeing the 12% drop in sales in your product sales?"
• Ask for Solutions: Challenge your leaders toward solutions. 
• "Jerry, now that we are seeing the same thing. What initial ideas do you have regarding a solution to our current challenge?
• "Janice, thanks for looking at the reports with me. What is the most important thing we need to tackle first in order to move quickly in the right direction?"

A master coach is a master of questions that lead toward solutions. Start here, practice often and you will be well on your way to improving your coaching prowess.