Coaching is a way of communicating, connecting and engaging with someone in an empowering way that:

1. Co-creates new possibilities to bring out a person’s best through deeper, open-ended questions and sharing the right observations at the right time.

2. Challenges current thinking to stimulate greater awareness, accountability or problem-solving skills

3. Guides the person to set and/or reinforce best practice or a new direction in behavior, skill, attitude or strategy around their goals. (How do you coach and celebrate wins?)\

   
   

   This is achieved through a process of ongoing, consistent interaction, observation and unconditional support in a safe and trusting environment that focuses on the unique and specific needs and talents of each individual in a way that facilitates long-term, positive change.
   

Other ways to describe coaching include…

1. Is based on the belief that the question is the answer. The coach is responsible for people finding the answers themselves and developing their own problem-solving skills.

2. Is a process of inquiry to help others tap into their previously unused strengths and talents to advance personal growth, self-awareness and learning.

3. Builds further accountability and ownership around their goals and career, while encouraging independence and self-motivation.

4. Provides a safe forum for people to process and explore new possibilities and solutions based on how they learn and solve problems.

5. Is like a poorly choreographed dance, it has a framework or certain steps it may include, but it’s organic as well and evolves based on each participant and their goals, needs, skills and individuality. No dance is identical to any other. While the framework may be consistent, the coaching conversations may not.

We’re always being encouraged not to quit. But not today. There’s one role I’d encourage you to walk away from right now. Your role as Chief Problem Solver and Decision Maker.

Enhanced Video Transcript: This is a video clip from a keynote Keith Rosen delivered in March of 2014 to an audience of approximately 700 sales managers from around the world.

It’s time to abandon toxic thinking. It’s time to look at the inner game of coaching. Not just what we do when we’re engaging with a customer or one of our direct reports, but how we need to think. Holistically, this is what creates a true champion. Because if you’re only focusing on developing the skills needed to become a champion and you aren’t focusing on the inner game; that is, how you think, your mindset, then you’re only developing half of the champion you can be.

So, to coach effectively, there is one thing, there is one role that every leader truly needs to abandon. And that is the role of Chief Problem Solver.

I don’t suppose there are any Chief Problem Solvers here today? Is my sarcasm translating?

Why do we as leaders and salespeople feel that we must have all the answers? That we must solve all of the problems coming at us?

For one thing, the majority of people leaders, regardless of geographic location or industry, would agree that the value they feel they bring to their team and to the company is being the Subject Matter Expert. After all, that’s why you were hired to be a manager in the first place, right?

Let’s explore this at a deeper level and walk through this line of thinking in order to identify the greater cost here. For example, if I was your manager and you came to me looking for help and every time you come to me, I provide you with the answers or solutions or share with you all of my worldly experience and expertise; and you get that solution from me. What are you thinking?

“Wow boss, you’re so awesome! That’s so great! Thank you so much for helping me! And thanks for continuing to solve all of my problems for me so that I don’t have to think on my own or be accountable for the solution!”

We feel the love! We feel included. We feel special. We also believe that it’s expected of us. “Well, I’m a leader. I’m a salesperson. My customers, my direct reports they expect me to have the solutions.” But clearly, this comes at a great cost.

We learn the wrong lesson here. We learn that my value is being a subject matter expert. That’s part of your value. That is not all your value.

After all, is it truly empowering to give the answer or provide solutions to someone? No. Here’s the definition of empowerment. To give strength or power to. When you’re giving the answers, you’re not empowering someone. You’re dis-empowering them.

Another coaching paradox exists here. We create what we want to avoid. We create the very problems and challenges that we want to avoid.

I have yet to meet a manager who doesn’t want a team of highly independent, accountable salespeople. But think about this. If I’m a manager and every time to come to me with a problem I give you the answer, what message am I sending? That every time you have a problem, come to me, I’ll fix it for you.

And here’s the real irony, if the answer or solution I give you doesn’t work, whose fault is it? It comes back to me. And now my salespeople get to come back and say, “Hey boss. You know that solution you shared with me? Well, it didn’t work. It’s not my fault. I was just doing what you told me to do. My hands? They’re clean on this one.”

We’re actually robbing our people of the very accountability we want to instill while making them more dependent on us.

Remember, what people hear, they resist but what they tell themselves they believe.

If you want people to take greater ownership of their roles and the daily objectives and challenges they face, let your question be the answer they need to further develop and refine their skills. Otherwise, if you continually solve all of your direct reports problems, their problem now becomes YOUR problem, and you just made yourself accountable for the outcome!

The most effective managers, coaches and leaders realize the importance and advantages of taking a stand for their team. In my world, in the spirit of simplicity, these words are synonymous to me. After all, if you want to build a team of champions, it begins by making your people leaders world-class coaches.

So, it’s not that your job description as a people manager has changed. What has changed is the way you engage, communicate, coach, empower and support your people.

That’s the language of coaching. It’s the language that creates the impact every leader wants. After all, when you change the conversation, you change the outcome.

To best coach and support you around your transformation into a world-class leader and coach, I've created this leadership coaching resource center to support, guide, and reinforce what you're learning. In addition, here's where you'll find your main Coaching Playbook, as well as all of the coaching talk tracks, the Five Steps to Enrollment, coaching questions, coaching templates and talk tracks, and the L.E.A.D.S. Framework to refer to when coaching.  Send me a message and let me know what you think!  In this resource center you'll also find the following downloadable resources:

1. My latest book, The 60 Second Sales Coach

2. The Transformational Leadership Coach Training Playbook

3. The Coaching Prep Form for each coachee to complete prior to every coaching session

4. Two-Part Motivation Exercise Template - How to uncover people's goals, values, priorities, motivations, and individual gifts and strengths

5. How to Coach Anyone in 60 Seconds Coaching Strategy

6. How to enroll people and then set expectations around individual coaching

7. Proper questions to conduct an effective pipeline/forecast review.

8. Coaching Pre-call Form for the coachee to send to the coach prior to each scheduled coaching sessions

Coaching:

• Empowers your team to solve their own problems.

• Empowers your team members to generate their own solutions.

• Empower your team to build ownership and accountability.

• Empowers your team members to tap into their individuality and build their confidence.

• Empowers your team to become critical thinkers, questioners and communicators.

• Builds impenetrable trust and more engaging, honest, enjoyable and collaborative relationships.

• Empowers you people to achieve things they never thought were even possible.

Many leadership programs train in ideology rather than in developing a core competency or skill. Nothing more gets accomplished other than identifying another great concept in leadership, an overanalyzed theory, or an attribute the greatest leaders possess. Although they are sound principles, they're devoid of a specific, measurable process and a practical application that generates the results you seek. With a team of salespeople to manage, objectives to reach, and expectations to meet, you need measurable results fast! This module converts proven leadership coaching principles into actionable, measurable steps and a coaching framework that you can use consistently – starting today.

I have more to say here maybe a couple of bullets regarding the content that we can pull out of the longer course description I sent you. but I see you have some below.

I think we can use Keith’s video to welcome learners and introduce the course (description and benefits). We can summarize the key elements of description and benefits on screen to fit the course template. (Could be an auto-play video so that when the page opens, learners are welcomed with the video without having to click it.)

Once you complete this module, you’ll be ready to begin coaching your sales team with proven methods and tools.

Specifically, you’ll be able to:

• Leverage the L.E.A.D.S. Coaching Framework that drives every coaching conversation

• Facilitate an enrollment conversation that creates more buy in around change, while creating the opportunity for coaching to occur in practically every situation Effectively prepare for every coaching session Create a coaching culture within your team that fosters more collaboration, accountability and self motivation

  
  

What if you can create universal and individual alignment towards shard goals,business objectives and a vision? Even with what you may consider difficult conversations, using the 6 steps of Enrollment, you'll never have a difficult conversation again, while creating alignment, and buy in around your ideas, changes and requests. Sound too good? Listen in and you tell me.

Managers complain about the coaching conversations going way too long, especially when they go sideways and uncover more than one Gap and area to work on. If you emphasize everything, you emphasize nothing. COACH ONE GAP AT A TIME.  As much as I'd love it to be true, we can't solve world hunger or world peace in one hour. You're not addressing every gap or coaching opportunity in a one-hour coaching session.