Leadership Coaching Challenge:
In a leadership coaching meeting with an experienced CEO, I was asked,
“How do I bring up a sensitive challenge with my board chair?”
This question surprised me because they haven’t shared any challenges in confronting people.
Following our meeting, I emailed the following questions and asked him to be prepared to share what difference he found useful when we meet again next week.
Here are some questions to think about:
- What is it that you want to have happen?
- When this challenge is absent, what are you doing instead, or what are you doing instead of worrying about this challenge?
- Odd question Pretend you end your day as normal. Go home, eat, relax, then go to sleep. While you are asleep, a miracle happens, and the challenge you are having is removed. But you do not know it is gone because you are sleeping. You awake the following day, prepare and go to the office. What is the 1st concrete – tangible – evidence-based thing you notice that makes you know something is better?
- On a scale of 0 – 10, with 10 being this miracle happened and 0 being the opposite, where are you on that scale?
- What are you doing (your effort) to keep you where you are on that scale?
- When you are at a 9 on that scale, what’s different better?
- How have you already identified what’s working?
- What is 1 small step you can take to make things better? What do you expect to have happen by taking that step?
OR
For the next 10 workdays in the morning, before work, flip a coin.
- Heads = you identify 1 concern and determine how to best share that with the board chair. Take note of what useful difference the conversation has.
- Tails = you do nothing different AND take note of what’s working that you want to have increase or happen more.
When we met in two weeks, the CEO was able to share how he made progress and bring up the challenge, find common ground and develop a resolution.
The coaching questions were enough to make progress.