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The Coaching Blueprint: 7 Simple Questions to Drive Outsized Performance
Use my free "Keep Stop Start" template to engineer the productive feedback you need to win.
Dave Kline
September 14, 2023
U.S. Open Winner Novak Djokovic, with a nod to the late Kobe Bryant
Read Time: 4 minutes 11 seconds.
Study high performers, and you’ll notice they all have one thing in common:
A coach.
Some have several.
Take US Open Champ Novak Djokovic.
He had a player’s box full of them. Including an acting coach (hint: Greenlight).
Some are coaches you hire. Some coaches seem to find you. They tell you what you need to hear, even if it’s not what you want to hear.
Djokovic paid tribute to the late Kobe Bryant after winning his 24th Major title.
“Kobe was a close friend. We chatted a lot about the winner’s mentality when I was struggling with injury and trying to make my comeback, work my way back to the top of the game,” Djokovic said. “He was one of the people that I relied on the most.”
If one of the winningest players in tennis history needs regular coaching, you can rest assured that your team does, too. We all do.
This leaves us with three options:
Hope they figure things out
Hire a coach for them to work with
Learn how to be a better coach ourselves
Today’s playbook is all about number three.
How To Coach Your Team Effectively
Google, “Employee Coaching Models.”
GROW
OSKAR
FUEL
ACHIEVE
CLEAR
Apparently, the prerequisite to helping people become more effective is a memorable acronym.
Many of these share elements I agree with, but they’re most focused on you as the coach, not the people they’re designed to help.
They’re good in theory but can be hard to put into practice.
For example, nearly everyone starts by asking people about their goals.
Makes sense. Except this tends to be about as easy for them to answer as “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
75% of them will look at you unblinkingly. Now what?
And some people don’t work backward from crystal clear goals. Iterative and emergent is a viable development path.
So here’s my “minimum viable” approach to coaching. 7 questions focused on them to help you get the most from each team member.
The High Cost of Low Development
If you recruit A-players, two things are true:
You invest a lot of time and money
They want to grow fast and make an impact
But I watch countless leaders make massive investments to get the best people and then underutilize them once they join. What if you had a system to keep your best people engaged, motivated, and growing?
That’s just one pillar of the system we build together in the MGMT Accelerator. Join 50 leaders and set your team up for a high-impact 2024.
PS - Because we include 1-on-1 coaching for each leader, we cap our enrollment. We’re currently at 65% capacity, so grab your spot soon.
Do they want to grow and develop?
If not, that needs to be ok within your culture. And you shouldn’t pour yourself into a cup with a hole in the bottom.
More importantly, they have to be 100% at peace with the implications of that choice. They shouldn’t be surprised when their peers outpace them with faster promotions and higher compensation.
As I mentioned in this post, “I can’t want it for you.”
Assuming they are looking to grow…
Do they have a clear direction?
Notice I said direction and not “target.” Anyone with kids knows that development is not a straight line, so the perfect goal isn’t required.
But we need to aim ourselves at something to figure out the right coaching mix to accelerate their effort.
Sometimes, their direction will connect to a long-term career arc that might outlive your company. Other times, it might be as simple as becoming proficient in the function they’re in.
But we’re at work. So, it needs to connect to your team’s goals as well.