Naked On The Ledge ... Ready to Coach?

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So, what's coming in the coaching field? What are our challenges as leaders in the workplace? You know, we talk about training, we talk about AI, we talk about all these things, and I think about something called conversational readiness. Let me challenge you right out of the gate. An employee comes up to you and says, Boss, is AI going to replace my job? You are on. You cannot hide. You certainly cannot say, I don't have time to talk about this, because they might read into that message. Are you ready? Do you feel like your fellow

The Coaching Challenge Ahead

SPEAKER_00 0:36

leaders are ready? Now, I don't want to make this all about AI, but often leaders will get a knock on the door and say, boss, you got a second? And it's going to be roughly 22 minutes, but it's going to be probably one of five people who have already done that. And it stretches our day. We're on. We can't hide.

AI Fears Hit The Manager’s Desk

SPEAKER_00 0:54

I call it being naked on the ledge, and someone shut the window behind you. And someone says, you know, I'm getting a little stale. I really think I need a promotion, or I'm probably going to start looking for a job. Or I just started last Friday and I really think I should be promoted. It's already Wednesday. And then you have that employee who comes in and says, I'm just lacking motivation. I don't know if this is what I want to do anymore. And then you've got a high potential who you can't even promote because there's not jobs. How do you have that conversation? You know, I think one of the best things that we can do if you think about coaching in three stages, is you think about the

High-Stakes Drop‑In Conversations

SPEAKER_00 1:30

first stage, prepare. Number two, deliver. Number three, maintain continuity. We often show up and throw up. I know that's crass. So often we will just say what we want to say in the moment, not realizing what we say matters, that there was impact. It's going to stay with somebody. I'll give you an example. Recently I had a client say to one of his employees, no, no, no, no, don't let it bother

Three Stages Of Coaching

SPEAKER_00 1:59

you. AI is here to partner with us. So in a breakout room, I asked him, I said, is that true? Before you answer, is AI being discussed to replace some job functions? He said, Well, sure. I go, can I share with you what I heard you say to your employee? He said, sure. I go, that AI is not going to touch my job. He goes, that's not what I meant. Is that how it came out? I said, I think so. And so leaders have it tough today. What we say matters, how we say it matters. So often it's taken out

Words, Impact, And Misinterpretation

SPEAKER_00 2:30

of context. Let me give you another example. When we're having a conversation and someone knocks on the door and you say politely, I'm sorry, I'm on my way to another meeting. I don't have time now. Could we reschedule? And you're polite and you're friendly. Do you know how often, as an outsider, I hear employees walk out of those interactions saying, he never has time for me. He never gives me the time of day. He never or she never listens to me. What do we do? We've sent a message. And it's unfair to us as leaders. It's not what happened. People are emotional. AI

Reschedules And Perceived Dismissal

SPEAKER_00 3:07

is not, if it scares people, calming people down. Some people are excited about it. I'm excited about it. Does it make me have trepidation of how it's going to affect my business? Sure, it does. So what do we do? We have to not only, number one, prepare for conversations, number two, when we're doing our conversations, having our conversations, is do a reflection. Think about to ourselves, you know what? How did that go? I wonder what impression I created. Maybe I should follow up. Then number three, create continuity. Please

Reflection And Follow‑Up Matter

SPEAKER_00 3:43

don't for a second think your leaders are having awesome conversations in the moment. And attitudes and motivation and collaborations and teamwork and ability to have conflict is all solved because our leaders had one-time conversations. Oh my God, am I over the top? But that's what happens. Well, I coached this guy last week. I said, What'd you coach him on? Attitude. He's got a negative attitude. I said, When are you meeting with him next? Well, no, I'm not meeting with him again. I think I corrected it. Really? It doesn't happen like that. So when you think about progress or improvement, I go back to the numbers. 76%

Progress Over One‑Off Fixes

SPEAKER_00 4:21

of people are at their most motivated state when they're progressing. Call people into the office for the good stuff. Schedule time on a weekly, bi-weekly basis. I think because of AI, I really do. It's created this incredibly exciting, scary disruption. We got to get back to the basics. Prepare for your conversations. Schedule time. Schedule 10 minutes a week. You don't have to spend 30 minutes. Don't spend an hour with your employees. I can save you the time. They don't want to spend an hour with you. And the reason you keep it short and sweet, you create consistency. You maintain a focus on a specific area. A specific area creates progress. When we're specific in an area, we create traction.

Short, Consistent Check‑Ins

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Their association with the conversations gets to become, wow, I'm improving, I'm progressing. Their association with those conversations increases in terms of trust and transparency and feeling like those conversations are worthwhile. So let me ask you, are you ready? Are your fellow leaders ready? See, conversations make up cultures. We do all the surveys and all these employee engagement studies, and I think those are valuable. So let me ask you something. If you spend a lot of time and money on that, how much time do you spend on preparing for conversations by practicing? And if you can't answer that, you've lost an opportunity to improve your workplace culture.