Coaching / Questioning Models
Why Models? Models provide a framework to approach coaching. It keeps things simple for leaders to apply and remember. Below are various models and suggestions of when they can be applied depending on the situation high-level. Again, this is not an exact science, yet it’s a series of coaching conversational strategies you can utilize as you see fit.
Models: 1. What + Drill Down Questions of How and Why This strategy simply starts with asking a ‘what’ question such as:
“What are you going to do to be a great teammate?”
Based on the response, you can ask a drill down question like,
“How will you do that or why do you feel like that’s important.” It is our strong recommendation to never start coaching conversations especially with questions starting with the word ‘why.’ 2. What + Self-Actualized Question This strategy uses a very simple technique called framing. When you ask somebody how things are going or generically give me some feedback, sadly most people will gravitate to the negative. This is why this question model is so vital. In addition, we can often rhetorically tell people what to do and it can really fall short in terms of people’s open reception. Think about kids. When you tell your son or daughter to study because they have a test next week, what response do we typically get? We typically see eyes rolling or “yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.” A self- actualized question would be something such as: “What are you going to do to successfully prepare for next week’s test, and what could I do to help you?” This questioning model will garner a more positive and action-based response. Think about someone who’s exhibiting negative tendencies toward a teammate. Most managers will call somebody into the office and simply tell them to cut it out, as if that has long term lasting results. The question could be as simple as: “What are you going to do to positively engage with your teammates in the next week, and what do you think is the value to you personally and to them?”
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease