Coaching & Mentoring For Dummies, 2nd Edition - Leo McLeod, (2023)

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Getting Started with Coaching and Mentoring
Chapter 1 Understanding Coaching and Mentoring: Just the Basics
Getting the Lowdown on Business Coaching
Sneaking a quick look at the tools of coaching
Getting on board with coaching
Differentiating between Coaching and Mentoring
Chapter 2 Switching from Doer to Coach
Managing as a Coach versus as a Doer
Planning
Goal setting
Giving performance feedback
Dealing with performance issues
Delegating
Mentoring and developing staff
De-coding the Doer Culture
Identifying why more managers are doers
Who gets promoted?
Who are your role models?
What do managers work to develop?
Doing the work to make the switch
Appreciating Your New Role as a Coach and not a Doer
Calculating the cost of letting go
Solving problems is natural
Letting people down
Missing the work
Going back to the beginning
Recognizing that what got you here won’t get you there
Chapter 3 Finding the Time to Stay Connected
Using Your Time — Coaches versus Doers
Time and the doer
Interruption-driven manager
The multitasking manager
Isolated manager
Time and the coach
Recognizing What’s Important and Urgent
Delegate, Ignore, Shrink (DIS)
Scheduling in Blocks and Sticking to Your Calendar
Breaking it down in four blocks
Guarding your calendar in six steps
Focusing on One-on-One Meetings
Understanding the basics of a one-on-one
Organizing a one-on-one meeting
Looking at some examples
Sample #1
Sample #2
Sample #3
Building Connections — The How-To
Management by walking around
Working remotely
Coaching remotely
Mixing it up — both live and remote
Staying in touch
Being friendly versus being a friend
Chapter 4 Laying a Foundation That Builds Commitment
Distinguishing between Personal versus Positional Influence
Managing by positional power
Managing by personal influence
Seeking Commitment versus Compliance in Today’s Workforce
Managing as a Tone Setter
Understanding what tone setting is
Assessing your performance
Examining the Collaborative and Assertive Nature of Coaching
Engage in two-way conversations
Remind yourself that you’re all adults
Assert yourself
Be assertive not aggressive
Don’t be passive or passive aggressive
Looking at an Example of Leave ’Em Alone
Analyzing the manager’s coaching efforts
Analyzing the manager’s efforts to affect their employee’s level of commitment
Ascertaining how to handle corrections for this project
Introducing the Five Pillars for Building Commitment
Chapter 5 Leveraging Emotional Intelligence
Understanding What EQ Is
Differentiating between EQ and IQ
Rating your EQ skills
Developing Self-Awareness
Connecting self-awareness and coaching
Seeing yourself clearly
Valuing your values
Identifying your personality
Understanding Your Emotions
Managing your emotions
Seeking feedback
Handling Situations — Self-Management
Connecting self-management and coaching
Implementing self-management strategies
Relating Well to Others — Social-Awareness
Linking social awareness and coaching
Encouraging two-way conversations — Active listening
Listening with your eyes
Listening with your heart
Leveraging Relationship Management
Connecting coaching and relationship management
Keeping track of your interactions
Case study #1: Terry
EQ and the Five Pillars of Commitment
Part 2 Facing the Changing Workplace
Chapter 6 Accepting Change
Understanding What Has Changed and What Will Change
Looking back 20 years
Fast forwarding 20 years: What the future holds
Recognizing How Covid-19 Changed the Way People Work
Embracing Change
Designing for a Changing Workplace
Looking at Change and the Pillars of Commitment
Chapter 7 Coaching for Diversity
Defining Diversity
Seeing the entire iceberg
Leaving your judgments at the door
Inviting Others to the Party
Letting go of unconscious bias
Bringing home bias
Understanding what DEI is
Being Aware of Assumptions — Trouble Ahead
Assumption one: Stereotyping
Assumption two: Setting low expectations
Assumption three: Believing that differences are negative
Assumption four: Equating sameness with equality
Focusing on Performance and Behaviors
Emphasizing performance
Attendance
The work and tasks people do
Focusing on job-related behaviors
Stamping out insensitive behavior
Leading by example
Chapter 8 Bridging Generational Differences
Defining Generational Differences
Breaking down the birth years
Connecting generations to events
Example of a Baby Boomer
Example of a Gen X
Example of a Millennial
Example of Gen Z
Identifying the trends
Avoiding the Trap of Generation-Casting
Figuring Out How to Connect Generational Differences
Know yourself
Pay attention to other people’s stories
View it as just one lens
Understanding the Role of Values
Part 3 Motivating and Empowering Your Staff
Chapter 9 Fueling Employee Motivation
Calling for Action: Understanding Motivation
Withdrawals erode motivation
Deposits build motivation
Show Me the Money: Pay as a Motivator
Looking at the pros and cons of money as a motivator
Motivating through pay — Yes or no?
Identifying What Really Motivates People
Having a purpose
Supporting their autonomy
Recognizing mastery of skills
Understanding Yourself as a Manager
Chapter 10 Implementing Key Strategies to Motivate Your Employees
Focusing on Performance
Encouraging the right behaviors
Rewarding the right behaviors
Rewarding in a timely manner
Matching Business Needs to Employee Needs
Discovering your employees’ needs
Asking what they need — the motivation questionnaire
Setting yourself up for success
Creating a motivation plan
Encouraging initiative
Understanding What’s Unique about People
Treating your employees the way they want to be treated
Introducing the Platinum Rule
Applying the Platinum Rule
Building Pillars of Commitment
Chapter 11 Teaching by Asking Questions
Tapping the Power of Asking
Understanding why questions are so powerful
Knowing what happens when you don’t use questions
Using Questions: When and When Not To
When questions don’t work
Playing 20-questions
Telling employees how they’re performing
Providing necessary information
Giving direction
Asking questions when employees lack the background
When questions work
Analyzing and problem-solving
Evaluating options and making decisions
Doing things better or differently
Developing plans
Asking Coaching Questions: The How-To
Comparing close-ended and open-ended questions
Focusing on space and time
Facilitate and Listen (Don’t Dominate or Vacillate)
Seek positive outcomes
Go in a logical flow
Tune in and listen
Handling Challenging Bumps along the Road
The “I-don’t-know” employee
When you don’t like their ideas
The Case of Coaching with Questions
Impacting the Pillars of Commitment
Chapter 12 Building Career Self-Reliance
Planning for Changes — Everything from Rightsizing to Downsizing
Being an Advocate to Build Self-Reliance
Focusing on career self-reliance
Considering other trends
Counteracting resistance
Recognizing those resistant employees
Steering clear of potential traps
Setting a Vision
Designing the mountain
Letting your employees self-reflect
Creating their mountains
Examples of mountains
Coaching for Progress
Focusing on professionals
Spotting 12 behaviors of professionalism
Exhibiting a can-do manner
Showing a willingness to learn
Having flexibility
Being a team player
Taking initiative
Being creative
Producing reliably
Communicating constructively
Solving problems
Being service-oriented
Doing what you say
Fitting into the culture
Aligning with company goals
Mentoring and advocating
Identifying opportunities
Provide the needed support
Sharpening Your Employees’ Skills
Focusing on both technical and EQ skills
Mentorships
Influencing the Pillars of Commitment
Part 4 Coaching for Performance and Growth
Chapter 13 Delegating and Empowering
Delegating 101 — Just the Basics
Defining delegating
Understanding delegating pitfalls
Knowing what you gain when delegating
Knowing What to Delegate
Matching Employees to Tasks
Putting the Delegating Tool into Action
Step 1: Describe the assignment
Step 2: Define parameters
Step 3: Provide resources for support
Step 4: Check for understanding
Ask open-ended questions
Tracking how they respond
Step 5: Establish checkpoint meetings
Step 6: Provide feedback and positive reinforcement
Putting delegation in action: Case study
Handling Employee Resistance
Recognizing what causes resistance
Overcoming that resistance
Using Delegating to Build the Pillars of Commitment
Chapter 14 Giving Constructive Feedback
Using Constructive Feedback versus Praise and Criticism
Providing Constructive Feedback: A Step-by-Step Guide
Content
Manner
Timing
Frequency
Using a significant-events list
Focusing on the Discussion after Giving Feedback
Keeping a positive outcome in mind
Dealing with defensive reactions
Building the Pillars of Commitment through Feedback
Chapter 15 Setting Performance and Development Goals
Understanding the Importance of Planning for Everyone
Defining the Three Types of Goals
Strategic goals — Where the organization is going
Assessing success
Focusing on shared values
Performance goals — How well the employee is doing
Recognizing the best performance goals
An example — Performance goals in action
Development goals — What skills, knowledge, and abilities are key
Creating SMART Goals
Examining what SMART stands for
Connecting SMART goals
Sampling SMART performance plans
Sample #1
Sample #2
Mutually Setting Goals
Planning Goals — The Keys to Success
Helping Build the Pillars of Commitment
Chapter 16 Taking the Pain Out of Employee Reviews
Relaxing about Performance Reviews
Looking at the process of reviews
Understanding why you’re anxious
Starting with Status-Review Meetings
Running a status-review meeting
Realizing the benefits of the status-review meeting
Following up with Checkups
Managing a checkup meeting
Understanding the benefits of the checkup
Conducting a Project Postmortem
“Operating” a postmortem meeting
Adding up the benefits of the postmortem
Building the Pillars of Commitment
Chapter 17 Coaching for Development and Improvement
Knowing What to Develop
Focusing on growth
Starting the process — Five steps to follow
Step 1: Assess competencies and explore needs and interests
Step 2: Clarify the organizational needs and competencies required
Step 3: Analyze and prioritize career issues and needs
Step 4: Mutually construct a development plan
Step 5: Follow up to review progress and offer support
Crafting the plan
Case study: Development plan in action
Coaching for Development
Encouraging progress
Measuring progress
Don’t promote promotions in your development efforts
Coaching Underperformance
Approaching it the right way
Having the hard conversation
Following up with your employee in four easy steps
Case study: A development plan focused on improvement
Dealing with difficult obstacles in getting improvement
Hold onto the wheel — time to change behavior
The problem outside of work is affecting performance at work
Realizing when the exit door is needed
Building on the Pillars of Commitment
Part 5 Mentoring for Life
Chapter 18 Mastering Mentoring
Understanding How Coaching Differs from Mentoring
Distinguishing between mentoring and coaching — An example
Coaching for performance
Mentoring for life
Recognizing what coaching and mentoring share
Putting the two together — A powerful combination
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Mentoring
Taking the Right Steps
Lead by example
Revisit their mountains
Do what you can
Prioritize it
Using the Two Tools of Mentoring
Sharing
Sharing knowledge and experience
Sharing observations
Providing suggestions and advice
Giving the big picture
Mentoring by sharing messages
Challenging
Using questions
Asking for plans
Asking for decisions and recommendations
Giving challenging assignments
Building the Pillars of Commitment
Chapter 19 Building a Support Team
Encouraging Them to Look Elsewhere to Meet Their Needs
Identifying What Employees Need
Differentiating between Allies, Advocates, and Optimists
Understanding what you’re going through — Allies
Having your back — Advocates
Cheering you on — Optimists
Finding Support
Identifying Keys to Successful Mentoring
Part 6 The Part of Tens
Chapter 20 Ten (or So) Surprises for You
Change in Behavior Takes Time
You’ll Grow as a Coach over Time
You Can Do Only So Much
You May Like It
Your Friends and Partners Will Appreciate You More
Your Employees Become Coaches
You’ll Discover Something New
Everything Changes
You May Find a Second Career
Chapter 21 Ten (or So) Coaching Myths Debunked
You Can’t Afford the Time to Coach
Coaching Is Only about Being Nice to Employees
Everyone Needs to Support Coaching
Coaching Means Seeking Consensus on Every Decision You Make
If You Hire Good People, Coaching Isn’t Really Necessary
Employees Have to Ask for Coaching in Order to Be Receptive to It
Coaching Collaboratively Doesn’t Work When You Have a Disagreement
Coaching Involves Being Direct — People Don’t Like That
You Have to Be a Psychologist to Coach Employees
Index
EULA