Career Coaching

This module gives managers a structured way to prepare for and hold career development conversations with their direct reports, using a framework called the "Five A's": Appreciate Individual Uniqueness, Assess Current Capabilities, Anticipate Future Industry Needs, Align Aspirations to Company Mission, and Accelerate Individual Learning. Participants practice by generating and reviewing sample coaching questions for each category, then complete a self-reflection exercise where they apply the Five A's to their own career before sharing insights in small groups. The module also connects this framework to the GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward), mapping each Five A's category onto a GROW stage, and to Discovery Insights color styles, where participants reflect on how to adapt their coaching approach to a direct report's communication style.

This pre-work module prepares participants for a career coaching session by having them reflect individually before the workshop. Participants answer two focused questions ??? one about an area of their career where they feel confident in their self-awareness, and one where they have more questions than answers. For those who want to go deeper, an optional "Five A's" question bank is provided, covering Appreciate Individual Uniqueness, Assess Current Capabilities, Anticipate Future Needs, Align Aspirations to Company Mission, and Accelerate Individual Learning. This generalizes to any career development conversation where self-reflection ahead of time leads to a more focused discussion.

This introductory module frames career coaching as a skill anyone can use ??? not just people managers ??? building on techniques from the GROW coaching workshop. Participants get oriented to the situational leadership model, a three-step framework for employee development (determining team skill needs, unearthing individual goals, and creating individual development plans), and the concept of "drift modes" that derail coaching conversations. Through a partner check-in on their own career self-awareness and open questions, participants surface a real topic they want to be coached on, which anchors the practice rounds later in the workshop.

This module builds the foundation for coaching career conversations using the GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Will), including the guideline of spending roughly 10% of a conversation on Goal, 80% on Reality and Options, and 10% on Will. Participants learn what separates effective coaching from advice-giving ??? curiosity, active listening, and open questions that start with "What" or "How" rather than "Why," "Did," "Could," or "Should" ??? and practice writing open coaching questions in a live exercise. The module also covers four common coaching "drift" modes (the Advice-Giver, the Problem-Solver, the "What I Would Do," and the Fixer) and the recovery questions used to catch and correct each one. Content is framed around career coaching conversations between managers and direct reports, and the skills generalize to any coaching or development conversation.

This module makes the case for career coaching and reframes how managers should think about career growth. Participants discuss why coaching matters, learn the "climbing wall" metaphor (replacing the old ladder model) for thinking about individual career paths, and review Gallup research linking employee engagement to development conversations. The module closes with a three-step framework ??? Determine Team Needs, Identify Individual Goals, Create a Plan ??? using tools like the Capability Map, GROW-based career coaching questions, and Individual Development Plans to guide the coaching conversations practiced later in the workshop.

This module is the first of three steps in a career coaching framework for managers: Determine Team Needs, Identify Individual Goals, and Create an Individual Development Plan. It teaches managers to start development conversations by mapping business needs before individual goals, using the Capability Map tool to identify current-state skills (needed right now) and future-state skills (needed in 12-18 months). Participants build their own team's Capability Map individually, then share and discuss in small breakout groups to identify their most critical skill need, surfacing a "menu" of high-leverage skills to draw on later in the coaching process.

This module teaches the GROW coaching framework (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward) as a structure for career development conversations, whether coaching yourself, a peer, or a direct report. Participants learn the full conversation arc: sending pre-work reflection questions from the "Five A's" a week ahead, using GROW-aligned Career Coaching Questions (covering priorities, goals, loves & loathes, strengths, energizers, no-go lists, role models, and mastery) during the conversation, and capturing outcomes in a shared, regularly reviewed Individual Development Plan. Participants also practice a personal Loves & Loathes Inventory, identifying energizing and draining work and spotting the underlying pattern, as a way to surface their own coaching topics before applying the framework to others.

This module teaches managers how to build an Individual Development Plan (IDP) that connects team and business needs with an individual's own career goals ??? the overlap in a simple Venn diagram. Using the GROW model and the "Three E's of Adult Learning" (Education, Experience, Exposure), participants learn to turn a vague development wish into a specific, actionable plan. Participants watch a demo of a completed IDP, then practice in pairs ??? taking turns as coach and coachee ??? to run a GROW-based coaching conversation and fill out a real IDP for a development area of their own choosing.

This module gives participants two rounds of paired coaching practice using the GROW model. In Round 1, partners practice general career coaching, asking open questions from a provided question set while watching for four common coaching drift modes (Advice-Giver, Problem-Solver, What-I-Would-Do, Fixer). In Round 2, roles swap and pairs work through a structured Individual Development Plan (IDP) template, using a Capability Map and Loves & Loathes input to pick a specific skill and draft a 3-E development commitment. A closing debrief has participants reflect on what they learned about themselves as coach and coachee.

This closing module wraps up the Career Coaching program by turning the three-step framework ??? Determine Team Needs (Capability Map), Identify Individual Goals (GROW career coaching questions), and Create an Individual Development Plan (the Three E's) ??? into specific, shared commitments. Participants reflect on whether they met their session goal, make a public commitment in chat with a next step, deadline, and accountability partner, and self-select a peer coaching partner for ongoing practice. Homework has participants choose one of three follow-up paths: coach a direct report or peer using the Five A's questions and GROW, use a Manager Conversation Script to get coached themselves, or run a first peer coaching session ??? documenting what happens in each case.