Coaching the team leader

Coaching the Team Leader

The most critical skill in the role of a Team Coach is coaching. This Deep Dive provides some basic insights into coaching, which is a lifelong learning journey. Professional coaches require certification. We are using the term lightly here: supporting team leaders with a coaching mindset .

At the end of this Deep Dive, you will find a diagnostic tool that you can use to discuss the Team’s Performance with the team leader.

The curious coach

Coaching comes in different forms. We will focus on a type of coaching best characterised by curiosity and humility. The framework for this was developed by a friend of 30-Day Project work and best-selling author, Michael Bungay Stanier. The aim of the approach is to enable coaches to bring out the full potential in the individuals they work with through one-on-one conversations. Team Leaders and Sponsors would benefit greatly from this type of support during their 30-Day Project journeys. Naturally, you can use the skills you gain in other contexts as well.

Magical tool of curious coaches: asking questions!

The fundamental tool of the Curious Coach is questions: curiously posing questions that inspire the client (or “coachee”) to think more clearly and creatively about their situation, and to come up with their own ideas and solutions.

Here are the types of questions that a Curious Coach can use in almost every conversation with their coachee:

Issues questions

Questions that elicit the issues that would be helpful to talk about and to reflect on.

“What’s on your mind?”; “And what else?”; “So what’s the real challenge here for YOU?”

Note that these questions come in a natural sequence. The first question opens the conversation. The second question invites the coachee to dig a little deeper and to share issues they may be less comfortable talking about. The third question invites the coachee to reflect on how they are dealing (or not dealing) with one or more of these issues – it is more personal.

Below is an example of how the conversation might go. When you hover over a question, the card will flip and show you an example of an answer you may get.

Coach:

What's on your mind?

Coachee:

I am worried we are not making enough progress towards the goal. We seem to be trying hard, but the numbers are not moving.

Coach:

And what else?

Coachee:

I am not sure the team is coming up with new ideas. It feels like we are simply doing the same things, just a little more quickly.

Coach:

So what's the real challenge here for YOU?

Coachee:

I am not sure. I think I need to push the team a little more. To challenge them. But I do not want to come across like a dictator or someone who knows or cares about ending GBVF more than they do. So I feel a little stuck.

Note how, with each question, we are getting deeper and closer to an actionable solution.

Ideas questions

Questions that elicit ideas for action.

What can YOU do about this?; What do YOU want?; How can I help?

The conversation example continues…

Coach:

What can YOU do about this?

Coachee:

I can try to be more forceful. I can throw some new ideas in the mix and see how they react. I can talk with some of them one on one about this.

Coach:

What do YOU want?

Coachee:

I'd like to see the team come up with their own new ideas and try them out. And I'd like to do this in a way that does not come across as condescending or dictatorial. After all, we are all peers, and they elected me as a team leader.

Coach:

How can I help?

Coachee:

How about we strategise together on the questions I might ask at the next meeting that would elicit new ideas from team members? It would be helpful to me if we also role play these questions to see how I would handle the push back I might get.

Exercise

Pick a partner from your learning group. Practice asking these questions. Get comfortable asking and pausing. Then debrief and ask your partner how this felt. What was most helpful to them?

Tip: Using trust-building modes of conversation

During these coaching conversations, it is helpful to signal to the coachee that you are genuinely curious to understand the things they are talking about. One way to do this is to use modes of conversations that are designed to show respect and to build trust. These include:

Reflecting back on what you heard: “Let me make sure I understand what you are telling me. You are worried that if you suggest fresh ideas to the team, they will think you are bossing them around or acting like a “know-it-all” manager or team leader”

Imagining the future with the coachee: “It seems to me that you’d like the team to become an engine of innovation? You’d like them to feel motivated and empowered to come up with new ideas?”

Holding the space with silence for a minute: Sometimes, the most powerful show of respect is to be silent, indicating that you are thinking and reflecting on what you heard and inviting the coachee to elaborate further on what they said.

Exercise

Practise these modes of conversation with your learning partner. Debrief about the feeling it inspires between the two of you.

Beware the "advice monster!"

In your role as coach, you will be tempted to give advice and to offer up solutions. Whether you are asked for this or not. It will be a strong temptation. The more successful you are in your career, the more tempted you will be to succumb to what Michael Bungay Stanier refers to as the “Advice Monster”. Please resist the temptation. Instead of offering advice, ask a question that inspires the coachee to think for themselves and to find their own solutions.

Even when the advice is solicited, it can set up an unhealthy power disparity between two colleagues. Both sides subconsciously feel it. And it can become toxic to the relationship.

Giving Advice – if you have no choice….

If you are compelled to give advice – when for example you observe a team leader saying something counterproductive to the team, here are two tips that can mitigate the negative impact of offering unsolicited advice:

Ask for permission first, and give your coachee an easy way out: e.g. “I have some observations about the way you spoke at the team meeting. I’d be happy to share them if you have a few minutes, but if you prefer we can do this at another time.”

Share a personal experience. E.g., “The team meeting brought back a memory of a time when I reprimanded a colleague in public – embarrassing him in front of other colleagues. He clammed up and became risk-averse from that point onward. I have learned since to always give negative feedback in private.”

Here’s an insightful LinkedIn article on the downside of giving advice: The Best Advice is Not to Give Advice

Exercise

Try spending a whole day without giving any advice (at work and at home). If tempted, think of the Advice Monster and count to ten. And if asked for advice, ask a question instead of giving advice. See if you can last a day without offering advice!

Diagnostic tool

EFRT (think Effort) is a 4-part diagnostic that you can use to engage with the Team Leader about how well the team is doing.

Energy

Conversation starters

How is the team doing?

How is the team feeling?

A great 30-Day team

Maintains spirit of the challenge; remains motivated; team members have fun

Warning signs

Team spirit lags; team loses its spark; attendance at meetings drops off; fear; anxiety

Focus

Conversation starters

What can we celebrate this week?

What are the numbers telling us?

A great 30-Day team

Stays focused on the goal; addresses obstacles to achieving goals; uses data to track progress

Warning signs

Non-essential activities consume time and energy of the team; no new ideas; feeling overwhelmed

Roles

Conversation starters

What is the level of contribution of each team member to the plan?

How clear are people about your role? How clear are you about it?

What is challenging for you as a team leader? And what else? And what is the real challenge for YOU?

A great 30-Day team

Each team member has a clear role, and they are clear about this and about the roles of others on the team

The Sponsor and Team Leaders are especially clear about their respective roles

Warning signs

Role confusion; team members don’t have clear tasks; members don’t meet deadlines; people feel left out

Team

Dynamics

Conversation starters

How are team members communicating?

What are the tensions that are coming up? Which ones would be useful to talk about in team meetings, versus with the concerned members of the team?

A great 30-Day team

Team members remind each other about their Team Agreement

Meetings are action-oriented and productive

There are strong relationships between team members

Team members talk about their disagreements without being disrespectful of each other

Warning signs

Recurrent conflicts between team members

Dominating behaviours

Team members avoid conflict

Team members feel like they are walking on egg shells when they are talking with one another

Download the diagnostic tool notes and print as handy reference during discussions with a team leader.

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