Businesses are run by human-beings. Human-beings make them run smoothly; human-beings create value for the company and its stakeholders; human-beings make or break a business. It’s odd then, that although so many companies talk about their people being their greatest asset, their actions don’t always align to that statement. It’s time we embraced more human-centred
Tag: asking questions
Why Human-Centred Leadership matters
The golden rule – do as you would be done by – is not correct. Just because you would like to be treated in a certain way does not mean that everyone else would welcome the same approach. That’s why asking -vs- assuming is so important when it comes to our team members. When we
Coaching, training or mentoring?
I often have to explain that coaching is not the same as mentoring, training or counselling. I thought it might be useful to take a step back and reflect on the differences between various forms of capability development options, and their different uses.
Letter to new managers
I got this idea from a couple of books I read this year – Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan; and Fierce Leadership by Susan Scott. Both great books if you like to learn by reading. Here’s my own version of a letter to new managers (also relevant for experienced managers, so keep reading).
Great questions
One of the major elements of coaching is asking questions, such that the other person can come to their own conclusions. I found some interesting quotes about questions this week that I’d like to share with you: Neil Postman “Everything we know has its origins in questions. Questions, we might say, are the principal intellectual
What’s the difference between good coaching and GREAT coaching
I went to a presentation by the Center for Creative Leadership about creating coaching cultures recently. I came away with a great 2 x 2 grid that explains the difference between good and great coaching. Some people’s coaching focuses on the problem and the “coach” telling the individual what to do about it – and
Busting the myths about coaching
I am often asked to recommend a coach to help someone to “fix” a weakness, such as not working constructively with other people. This is one way to think about coaching…that is, that it is remedial. I much prefer to think of it as releasing someone’s potential – focusing on their strengths and how they
Unleash the independent critical thinking of your team members through coaching
John Whitmore, in his book Coaching for Performance, said that he had been told what to do as a small boy, then at school, then in the army. “So when I reached a position of authority, what did I do? I told people what to do, because that is what all my role models had
My coaching story
I thought I might take a step back today and share my coaching story, so that you get a feel for why I rate coaching so highly above other learning options. It was 12 years ago that I started to read about the power of coaching compared to training. Research shows that
