The best coaches have exceptional active listening skills, and they give their trainees their full attention and empathy. Powerful trainers have the ability to put themselves in the shoes of their trainees. One of the most important coaching skills a leader can develop are inclusive leadership skills. A good leader makes all employees feel a deep sense of belonging.
An inclusive leader develops a level of self-awareness to help address their own biases, both unconscious and implicit. In the end, inclusive leadership skills help the coach to take advantage of their abilities and strengths. Fostering a sense of belonging in the workplace isn't just good for your employees. BetterUp Labs found that employees are 50% more productive, 90% more innovative and 150% more engaged.
Inclusive leadership also translates into a 54% reduction in employee turnover. One of the most necessary and effective coaching skills is communication. A great coach has great communication skills. They have invested in establishing a good relationship with their coaches as part of their training approach. They have found a way to use effective communication as part of their training technique.
This is the power of deep listening in action. The first thing you should know about deep listening is that it comes from a place of inner calm. Deep listening isn't just about listening to what's being said, it's about listening to what isn't being said. Listening to the silence, the pauses, the feelings behind the words. If you're going to meet with your client in person or via a video call, deep listening also includes reading and understanding your client's body language.
Read their facial expressions, what they say with their bodies (see Chapter 4 for more information on this). Let's start with the first element of deep listening: the safe space. Non-judging opens the door to a level of deep listening that allows the customer to trust you and feel completely comfortable and safe. This will give them permission to open up and share, to be vulnerable and, ultimately, it will be where the magic of transformation happens. The next element of deep listening is the authentic response, and it's about showing that you're really listening to your customer. There are several ways to communicate, listen deeply, and it includes maintaining eye contact and nodding slightly from time to time when your customer is speaking. The following questions will help you practice deep listening during your coaching session.
Use these questions as your personal checklist and work through them until deep listening feels natural. What this means is that sooner or later, you'll have to share your ideas and offer supportive feedback so that you can help your customers get back on the fastest path to their most important goals and dreams. Supportive feedback is a great way to help your client understand that they are straying and that they are no longer on the path that leads to their goals. Supportive feedback can help your client feel empowered and motivated, while negative feedback can make them feel discouraged or discouraged. When it comes to offering supportive feedback, you should stick to what we like to call the “Goldilocks Rule”. Supportive comments also highlight your client's behaviors and actions, not their innate personality.
Another crucial point to remember about supportive comments is that they're not an opportunity to tell your customer what to do. Supportive feedback consists of sharing your ideas and reflections on your client's situation or challenge and then offering your suggestions or recommendations. The following are “supportive comments” to start working with this important basic training skill. These suggestions are a powerful and effective way to state your purpose before you start offering feedback, so that your customer feels more relaxed and open to hearing what you have to say. If you're ready to start implementing coaching skills in your workplace, here's a six-step guide to help you get started. However, at Evercoach, we've worked closely with some of the best coaches in the industry, and what we've noticed is that there are a handful of basic training skills and competencies that all world-class coaches share. Coaching skills can be used in a mentoring relationship, but coaching and mentoring are not the same thing. Whether you're training a team or an individual, good training skills can make the difference between thriving and languishing.
For organizations, coaching skills are the secret ingredient to unleashing the full potential of their team members. With good training skills, employees develop a mental aptitude that provides a range of benefits for both the employee and the organization. On a personal level, the skills acquired in the role of coach help maintain relationships at home, in the community, and when working as a volunteer. Companies are now developing a “coaching culture”, and leaders are using a “coaching management style” to improve their effectiveness and leadership skills. And, ultimately, you'll get a framework for implementing coaching skills in your workplace. Set your vision, objective and outcome for each training session and use your training skills to achieve them. NetApp, a BetterUp customer, explains how implementing coaching skills in their organization helped develop a thriving workforce. If you're looking for ways to develop your coaching skills so that you can become an effective leader or mentor in any setting - whether it's at work or at home - this comprehensive guide will provide you with all the information you need. We'll start by exploring why coaching skills are so important for leaders today - from fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels like they belong - all the way through developing effective communication techniques so that you can get through even difficult conversations with ease. We'll then move on to discuss how best to practice deep listening so that you can really understand what's going on beneath the surface with each individual trainee or team member - as well as how best to offer supportive feedback so that everyone feels heard while still staying on track towards achieving their goals. Finally, we'll provide an actionable six-step guide for implementing coaching skills into any workplace setting - so that everyone can benefit from having access to these powerful tools.
