
3 Tricks That Will Help You Help People
Insights on coaching for higher performance
They have a problem and you have the answer. If they would just listen to you, their live would be better and they (and everyone else) would know how wise and kind (and humble) you are.
But, is that what happens? Of course not.
So, how can we contribute to the lives of those we care about when they aren’t willing to take our advice?
Here are a few tricks that have helped me as a performance coach:
1) Don’t tell people what they should or should not do
Ask questions instead of giving direct orders. — Dale Carnegie
Dale Carnegie believed that every person possessed innate greatness.
Every person (without exception) has a depository of wisdom just waiting to be uncovered.
Instead of sharing our wisdom with other people, perhaps, we should be more focused on discovering the wisdom inside us and helping others uncover the wisdom that already exists inside them.
I was reading a Medium article the other day by Kyle Seagraves titled, 8 Powerfully Potent Communication Techniques. This quote caught my attention:
Influence is found in the questions you ask rather than the knowledge you speak. — Kyle Seagraves
Here are some questions you might ask to help someone uncover an answer that’s already inside them:
- What do you already know to be true about this situation?
- What would a wise person do in this situation?
- What do you make of that?
- What could you do to improve this situation?
- If you were asked to give advice to a friend in this exact situation, what would you tell them?
2) Help them have a conversation
My buddy Jason (who is also an outstanding coach and my non-religious Jewish Rabbi) thought me that great coaching doesn’t happen when I facilitate a conversation between myself and the other person.
Great coaching happens when I help the other person have a conversation with themself. -JG
I am not there to be the guru, the sage, or Yoda. My responsibility is to simply hold space for them, be present, and help them access the answers that are already inside of them.
3) Detach from the outcome.
It can be really easy to get so tied up in the outcome that we lose sight of the most important part of helping people, the action.
As my friend Mark says,
Action reveals answers. — Mark Kinsley
As a coach what they know is not nearly as important as the action they take. The best way to be helpful, is to encourage people to take action. Even the smallest steps matter.
Whether you’re a coach, parent, friend, or family member, these three tips will help you as you help people go further, faster.
Thanks for reading! More at DougStewart919.com
*Misspellings & grammatical errors complements of dyslexia 😜
