Management and Leadership

Manager as Coach: Activating Peak Performance

• Traditional Classroom: 1-day
• Virtual Instructor-led: Two 3-3.5 hour sessions; Three 2-hour sessions

Great managers unlock potential and elevate performance. They build authentic relationships and empower others to grow, contribute, and learn. In the world of work, great managers are coaches who equip their people with the mindsets and skill sets they need to achieve peak performance.

In this highly interactive workshop we will explore coaching not as an occasional, formal event but as a daily, informal practice that is integral to the manager/employee relationship. We’ll investigate how conversations focused on giving advice or providing solutions can be short-sighted in terms of developing other people. In real-life scenarios, participants will practice key skills including active listening and guided inquiry to help employees build their own critical thinking and problem solving capabilities. Using seven thoughtful questions as a pathway to discovery, they will experiment with flexing their style and approach based on the situational needs of others.

Target Audience

While this course is targeted toward new and experienced managers, executive leaders, department leaders, and project managers, it can be beneficial for all employees.

Learning Objectives

• Describe an effective coaching relationship.
• Distinguish between coaching for development and coaching for performance.
• Demonstrate verbal and nonverbal active listening techniques.
• Explain how focused inquiry can stimulate critical thinking and insight.
• Utilize seven key questions as a pathway to collaborative discovery and growth.
• Create a personal action plan targeted to grow coaching capabilities and productive relationships.

Course Outline

Getting Started

• Opening Activity: What’s in Your Toolbox?
• The Coaching Relationship
• Group Activity: Most and Least Effective Coaches
• Coaching for Development Versus Performance

Manager as Coach

• Communication Goals
• Requirements of Effective Communication
• Group Discussion: Communication Filters

Productive Conversation Mindset

• Coaching as a Daily Act
• Cultivating a Coaching Mindset (and Why It Might Be Hard)
• WIIFM? How Coaching Others Helps You
• Critical Behaviors
  • Listening Actively
  • Asking Powerful Questions
  • Guiding and Respecting
  • Communicating Directly
• Individual Activity: Critical Behaviors Self-Assessment

Listening Actively

• Activity: Listening Spectrogram
• Three Levels of Listening
• Nonverbal Components of Active Listening
  • S.O.L.E.R. Skills
  • Demonstrating Presence Virtually
• Verbal Active Listening Techniques
• Trio Activity: Active Listening Practice

Asking Powerful Questions

• What Makes a Question Powerful?
• Types of Question
  • Closed Versus Open
  • “What” Versus “Why”
• Seven Essential Questions: Part 1
  • Kickstart, “AWE,” and Focus Questions
  • Homing in on the Three Ps
• Pair or Trio Activity: Conversation Practice (Part 1)
• Seven Essential Questions: Part 2
  • Foundation, “Lazy,” Strategic, and Learning Questions
  • Situational Factors: Direction and Support
• Pair or Trio Activity: Conversation Practice (Part 2)

Going Deeper

• Avoiding Common Pitfalls with Coaching
• Tailoring Your Approach
• Flexing Your Style Based on:
  • Personality Type (Insights Discovery)
  • Learning Styles and Preferences (VAK)
  • Cultural Nuances

From Insights to Action

• Summary and Next Steps
• Creating Your Personal Action Plan

MDV4009 Course Code

For more information on this topic, as well as how Corporate Education Group can help power your organization’s performance, contact us via email or call 1.800.288.7246 (US only) or +1.978.649.8200. You can also use our Information Request Form!