Conversations That Matter – Video Series
Better Conversations, Better Outcomes.
Here you’ll find short videos going over the key ideas covered in the workshops. Use these to bring yourself (back) up to speed in your coaching conversations.
There’s also a range of templates and tools for you to use.
Click the links below to be taken to the video:
Five Principles
The five principles that underpin any good coaching conversation.
If you diligently apply these simple principles, and do nothing else, you are already doing good coaching. Make these the foundation of your coaching practice.
The Learning Cycle
How people learn, and your role in helping learning happen.
When you understand the basic process for how people learn, you can help them learn faster. This video shows you the four key steps to learn anything, and explains the role you play in facilitating that.
Click here to download The Learning Cycle.
Using Silence
The power of letting the silence do the work.
Often, we’re tempted to talk more than we actually need to. When you deliberately use silence in a coaching or mentoring conversation, you create a powerful way for the other person to explore their thinking, and surface with their own ideas. Two ears, one mouth: use them in that proportion.
Levels of Listening
The better your listening, the better the conversation.
Listening is not the same as hearing. When you deliberately make the effort to be present and listen, you’re creating a stronger connection with the other person, which leads to greater engagement and higher quality outcomes. This video shows you the different levels of listening and how to be a better listener.
Click here to download the Listening Skills Assessment.
Five Levels of Intention
Different ways of helping, each one more powerful than the last.
We often think that by giving someone advice, we’re helping them. That might be true in the short term. However, a large part of your job as a coach or mentor is to enable the other person to think for themselves, not to tell them what to do. This model describes five levels at which you can work with someone as a coach or mentor. It’s a useful tool to help you both determine what the most appropriate way of working together might be.
Click here to download Five Level of Intention.
The Power of Questions
How to ask powerful questions.
The use of questions is one of the most powerful ways you can add value as a coach or mentor. The more powerful your questions, the more insights you can generate together, and the more real progress you will make. There is an art and a science to asking great questions – this video shows you how.
Click here to download some Question Options.
IGROW
A simple, useful coaching conversation model.
Coaching conversations are easier and more effective if you have a structure to follow. The IGROW coaching model is one of the most used coaching models in the world, and for good reason: it’s simple, easy to remember, and it’s based on the five principles of good coaching. Use this to make your coaching conversations work every time.
Click here to download the IGROW Worksheet.
Deepening Your Inquiry
How to get beneath the surface by asking more powerful questions.
Most of our day-to-day conversations stay at a ‘surface’ level, where we simply pay attention to the words and thoughts that people share. Powerful coaching goes beneath the surface to identify the assumptions, beliefs and values that drive our behaviours. When we inquire with humility and curiosity to what’s beneath the surface, we can help to create much deeper and more permanent change. This tool shows you how.
Click here to download the Inquiry Model With Example
Performance Potential
A smart way of thinking about how to help people remove what’s holding them back.
Michelangelo said he looked for the statue within the uncarved block of stone. He believed his job was to remove the unneeded parts of the block to reveal the statue within. Similarly, your job as a coach or mentor is to help someone to identify and remove the ‘interference’ that is getting in the way of them thriving. Interference generally comes in the form of self-limiting assumptions and beliefs that keep them playing smaller than they can be. This video explores that concept and provides an exercise you can use with your people.
Click here to download Shifting Self-Limiting Beliefs Exercise.
What Is Feedback?
The power and importance of good feedback.
Feedback is simply information about how you’re going in relation to where you’re going. The more accurate, frequent and relevant the feedback is, the better. This video talks you through the fundamentals of giving effective feedback.
SBIQ
A simple tool for giving feedback effectively.
Giving feedback is easier and more effective when you follow some simple steps. The SBIQ model gives you an easy template to use when planning to give feedback.
Difficult Conversations
Some tips for navigating uncomfortable conversations.
Some conversations are more difficult and uncomfortable than others, and we still need to have them. Often, the challenge is knowing how to begin such a conversation, and how to keep it on track. Here are some tips to help you have a conversation when things might be tricky.
Coaching Conversations Roadmap
A framework for planning, having and following up coaching conversations.
If you like structure, then you will love this tool! It provides a nine-step process for planning, having and following up your coaching conversations, including prompts and questions to help you focus on the right things at the right time.
Click here to download Coaching Conversations Roadmap.
Surface Piercing Question
We know the power of good questions. Here are four categories of questions that when used in sequence can be really helpful. The categories are:
What? Questions to get you focused
What is…? Questions to discern the current reality
What if…? Questions to ignite possibility
What now…? Questions to generate commitment and momentum.
Grab this template here to capture some good questions of your own for each category.
A Map To Change
A tool for making behaviour change stick.
Most people find changing behaviours hard work. Our brain wiring is often set to drive a default pattern of behaviour, and unless we can get a good look at the wiring diagram, we’re going to be playing around in the dark. Here’s a useful tool that helps people change to become more of the person they want to be. If you’re trying to change, or your trying to help others change, and are making less progress than you’d like, try this on for size. I call it the ‘Bigger Me’ tool.
Click here for the Bigger Me Template and Example. For more detailed written instructions, click here.