Coaching

This pre-work module introduces Situational Leadership, the framework developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, which holds that effective management style depends on the competence and motivation of the individual for a specific task rather than a single approach applied to everyone. Participants watch a short video overview of the theory and then read through three preferred management styles ??? "The Teacher," "The Coach," and "The Mentor" ??? each tied to a different level of direction and support. The module builds the foundation for live coaching sessions by giving participants a shared vocabulary for recognizing and adapting their management style.

This module teaches Level Three Listening ??? deep, values-focused listening that goes beyond downloading and factual listening ??? using the "Platinum Rule" of reflecting back what matters most to a speaker. Participants first check their own level of presence, then learn the three levels of listening (Downloading, Factual Listening, Deep Listening) and the behaviors that signal Level Three. They practice through paired exercises: a Two Minute Reflection, where one partner shares a recent challenge and the other reflects back a summary, what mattered most, and the values it revealed; and a Peak Experience exercise, where partners share a proud or fulfilling work moment and the listener identifies the values it illustrates. Discussion afterward connects this reflective listening technique to giving feedback and holding themselves and direct reports accountable.

This module opens the Coaching deliverable by grounding coaching in the situational leadership model, which helps people managers match their approach ??? teaching, coaching, mentoring, or delegating ??? to what each team member actually needs. Participants recap their pre-work on situational leadership and, in small groups, discuss their preferred management style and identify a real, current challenge they want to be coached on. That challenge becomes the working material for later exercises using the GROW coaching framework.

This module teaches coaching as a distinct workplace skill: a confidential process where colleagues help each other reflect and solve their own problems, as opposed to therapy, advice-giving, or teaching. Participants distinguish coaching from other roles (team leader, career coach, life coach), learn when coaching is the right tool versus when direct feedback or instruction is needed, and practice the "being vs. doing" split of coaching???presence, curiosity, and deep listening paired with reflecting, open-ended questions, and the GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Way forward). Practice includes a paired live-coaching exercise where participants take turns coaching a real workplace challenge and being coached, followed by discussion of what makes a coach effective.

This module covers the "being" side of coaching: the mindset and listening skills that let a coach guide someone without solving their problems for them. Participants examine what curiosity looks like in a coaching conversation and why it builds resourcefulness and ownership in the person being coached, then practice active listening in pairs ??? one partner describes a recent challenge they overcame while the other listens silently and reflects back the summary, what mattered most, and how the approach reflected the person's values.

This module teaches how to ask better coaching questions using a "food pyramid" model of question types. Participants learn to favor open-ended "what" and "how" questions as the bulk of their coaching conversations, use "who/when/where" questions sparingly to get context, and avoid or reframe "why" questions???which can sound judgmental???into "what" or "how" questions that draw out the other person's thinking instead of putting them on the defensive.

This module teaches the GROW coaching model ??? Goal, Reality, Options, Will ??? as a structured way to ask questions rather than give advice. Participants first watch a live coaching demo built around a volunteer's real personal or professional challenge, observing how a coach moves through the four stages using open questions, active listening, and curiosity instead of unsolicited opinions. They then pair up to run their own eight-minute mini-coaching sessions, taking turns as coach and coachee on a personal challenge of the coachee's choosing, using an observer checklist to track open questions, reflective summaries, and adherence to the GROW stages. The demo scenario is specific to one volunteer's issue, but the GROW structure and questioning techniques generalize to any coaching conversation.

This closing module helps participants consolidate and commit to practicing the coaching skills covered across the Coaching deliverable: Situational Leadership, Being vs. Doing, Curiosity, Active Listening to Reflect, Open Question Asking, and GROW Coaching. Participants reflect on whether they achieved their personal goal for the sessions, identify which of these skills they'll take away to practice, and name when and with whom they'll practice it. Homework has them find a partner to run a full GROW coaching conversation (aiming for at least 15 minutes) followed by a feedback debrief, then reflect on what came naturally versus what was difficult.

This module introduces coaching as a distinct workplace skill???different from consulting, teaching, or giving feedback. Participants learn a definition of coaching as a confidential process for helping colleagues reflect, solve problems, and build skills through guided questions rather than direction, and they discuss when coaching is useful (development conversations, brainstorming, relationship or burnout issues) versus when a more direct feedback or teaching approach is needed. Participants practice by coaching someone outside the session using open questions, and prepare to apply the GROW coaching framework in a follow-up career-coaching conversation???both for their own career and for a direct report.