A leader who cares could be the problem itself.
I really enjoy this article from 2015 on “Three Ways to Coach the Person, Not the Problem” and found one quote telling “… a leader who cares about growing and developing your people, has to coach them, not their problems” until the moment I realized that for some, the leader is the problem itself… as has so well documented in the last several weeks nationally, but also in many local and city programs, we still have an institutional breakdown on how to fix leadership from the bottom up.
With so many leaders moving and pushing towards Sigma Six and Lean processes for efficiency and looking at these as a way to improve patient care (in the likes of public health, which these trending methods have become the “in” fix for the last several years) – I find that many of those same senior leaders avoid asking the hard evaluative questions about the leadership they themselves are representing. Yet they are all about making it crucial that they put this on the Directors that report to them.
This distance and lack of “real” honesty about self-awareness and critical feedback to all levels is where I see the big fail is on these new “lean” systems.
Taken from the article and how I would so love to see more answer…
Ask Questions with the Word “You” in Them: Questions that have “you” in them put the focus on the person, not the problem. They cause people to think and reflect. Examples include:
- What are you trying to accomplish?
- What’s important about that to you?
- What have you tried so far?
- What’s got you stuck?
- What else could you do?
- What would you need to do that?
- What are the next few steps you could take to move things forward?
For the full story visit “Three Ways to Coach the Person, Not the Problem“
About Frank Strona
As a nationally known writer, educator, advisor, technology, coach, strategic engagement and content specialist, I have been active in the pursuit to improve, educate and promote opportunities that support the engaged learner and business while also preparing the workforce with the tools and skills necessary to stay competitive in a rapidly expanding technology-based world.