Recommended activity:

Two things. First, over the next week, notice how you see people. Are they full of potential though currently held back?

Or, are they fixed in their performance?

This is about you and your seeing, rather than about them.

Second, notice how you get things done through people. Are you telling them what to do, or are you enabling them to think for themselves?

Workbook:

Try out the activity and record your experience and learning as you go in this (MS Word) workbook. Make some notes after each lecture/ activity and this becomes your learning journal.

Download the Word document and save it on your computer, or print off the PDF

Recommended activity:

Teams can respond to the unexpected more effectively if they are energised, unified in purpose and safe places for plain, honest speaking.

Think of two behaviours you’d like to see in your team that would make it more VUCA-resilient, and tell us how you could begin modelling those behaviours.

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

Reflect on the coaching conversation you had.

Was it awkward? If so, how?

Was it a successful exchange? If so, in what way?

Why do you think it worked, or didn’t?

What would you do differently next time?

We’re looking for observations, insights, tips and stories that we can all learn from.

Good luck!

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

As we’ll explore later, the foundations of results are relationships.

So think of a work challenge you face.

Now think of a person in your organisation who might be able to help you deal with that challenge.

It should be someone you don’t interact with a lot, and who wouldn’t expect an approach from you.

Tell us your initial thoughts on how you might strike up a high-quality conversation with that person, with a view to enlisting their help.

Good luck!

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

Notice your next three working conversations, whether they’re with a client, a supplier or a colleague.

Are you moving together from tee to green, or are you playing tennis?

Notice these conversations, and reflect on how you can modify your approach so the two of you can start moving forward together.

Identify one thing you can start doing, and two things you could stop doing, so that your conversations become more effective.

Remember, we’re learning a coaching style of management here, not turning you into professional coaches.

Apply these ideas in your work, and relax – you don’t have to get it perfect. See what works, and do more of that.

Reflect on what didn’t work, yet, and why it didn’t.

So this is the coaching process. Have a go. See you next time

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

We all take refuge in old thinking, but sometimes it’s necessary to challenge it if we’re to get to somewhere new.

A confrontational approach – saying “you’re wrong!” – can lead to the other person becoming more entrenched.

Suggest a way of challenging old thinking that invites new thinking and does not provoke entrenchment.

Reflect on an experience you’ve had where a burst of new thinking led to a good result.

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

For the next few conversations with colleagues, try rightsizing.

Work out what you’d like to achieve in the time available for each. Come up with specific outcomes.

Then compare that with what you actually achieved. Did you overshoot? Did you undershoot? What did you learn about yourself?

Remember, you’re learning a coaching style here, not how to be a professional coach, so relax and have a go.

If you don’t get something exactly right, nothing bad will happen. See what works and what doesn’t, and reflect on why.

Next lesson, we’ll talk about the middle of the coaching conversation. Good luck!

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

What things do you do that work for you that protect your confidence? Capture what they are, and suggest one or more other things you might try.

And as a manager what can you do to help protect the confidence of your people? If their confidence is down, chances are they are procrastinating and not much is getting done.

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

Check out our Coach4Results blog on Lecture 9 for a deeper discussion of questioning, listening, goals and feedback.

Reflect and share some of your insights on below.

Good luck!

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

If we’re not in the habit of appreciating progress, the progress we’re making may not be apparent to us.

So take some time to think about the progress your team has made on a project or initiative.

Be specific. Compose a statement that quantifies the progress and acknowledges the people and actions that enabled it.

Then, the next time you’re speaking to a colleague, weave it into the conversation.

How did you feel doing it? What response did you get?

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

Try some coaching conversations in work or life.

Think of two, one that landed really well, and one that finished with a jarring bump.

In the first, what can you do more of to make sure you have more smooth landings.

And then, from the crash landing, think of what you would do differently next time.

Reflect on your learning and then try again.

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

Revisit the work you did for the concept “Life is a Conversation”, when you thought of a person in your organisation who might be able to help you with a challenge.

Now take the plunge and strike up a conversation with that person.

Don’t ask for help yet, necessarily; instead, you’re starting a relationship by introducing yourself, by letting them know who you are.

You could say you’ve been meaning to get to know what they do better, and to learn what the business looks like from their perspective, and what their challenges are. (People always like talking about this.)

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

Think of a situation at work that is crying out for a coaching conversation.

Do you see plenty of opportunities to issue the invitation: “Would you like to think this through together?”

If not, what sorts of things might you try to prepare the ground?

Remember, coaching is about exploring new thinking. It doesn’t have to be Albert Einstein-level thinking, it just needs to be thinking that is new to you.

That’s more likely to happen when you involve other people in your thinking.

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

Step back, think about the outside forces acting on your endeavour that might bend you and your team out of shape in the next few months.

Then think about who can help you proactively ready yourself and your team rather than being caught out and reacting later.

Think about one of those outside systems forces and the new relationships you could initiate.

Good luck!

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

Over the next day or so, try getting grounded and centred before each new interaction – even if it seems exaggerated or excessive.

(That’s how you form new habits.)

Also, revisit Lecture 9 and reflect on the core skill of active listening.

What do you notice about the quality of your listening when you’re grounded, and centred, and present in the moment?

And what do you notice about how the interactions went?

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

On a scale of nought to ten, rate your team on its psychological safety.

Think of some recent meetings. Were there high levels of interaction, candour and collective deliberation in them, or not?

Don’t share your score, but reflect on what barriers or behaviours you believe can inhibit psychological safety in a team or organisation.

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

Prepare a short presentation to interested colleagues on what you’ve learned so far on the Coach4Results programme.

Share it with them.

Remember, you’re learning about a coaching style rather than training to be a professional coach.

So relax and have a go. If you don’t get something exactly right, nothing bad will happen.

More likely, you’ll open a secret door onto a new level of productive interaction that neither of you knew was there.

If you are interested in more formal coaching training, check out Lecture 19.

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

There are three parts to this recommended activity.

1) Spend some time reflecting on why your work is meaningful to you, and make notes.

2) Recall a recent instance of progress in your work that gave you a hit of satisfaction.

3) Tell a colleague about this progress, explaining that it’s part of what makes your work meaningful, and invite your colleague to share progress they’ve enjoyed recently.

Number three is to encourage you to get into the habit of spreading meaning around.

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

What’s your current thinking towards becoming a coach?

Is it something you’re interested in, or are you looking to use coaching as your conversational style to get things done and further your career as a construction professional?

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).

Recommended activity:

Inspiration is contagious, so think about progress your team is making toward an important goal and tell a colleague, someone who shares that goal, why you’re glad about that progress.

Be specific. Itemise how the team is now closer to its objective.

How did that conversation go? How did your colleague respond? How did it feel?

Remember to update your workbook (the file is available to download in Lecture 1).