March 26th Coaching Tip: Find The Yes.
Too many of my coaching conversations revolve around people’s frustration from being told “no” or “nope, can’t do that” or “no way”. For example, today I had two different leaders being told that they can NOT hire additional employees. Instead of being told “no”, I coached them to figure out how can they get a “yes, you can hire”. As we looked thru their business, it was evident that their competitive metrics as compared to others were quite average, i.e. 40-50% on a 1-100% scale vs. competition. And then we dug deeper, and their development of a current newer hire has not gone as expected, and that individual is failing. My coaching question was pointed: “what do you own in getting the answer, “no”?” After some silence, the leader admitted that he hadn’t run his business like he was intending. And after some more intentional questions from me and answers from him, we developed a monthly accountability plan for him to run his business better and to more intentionally develop his teammates. Time will tell, but figure out how to find the yes.
March 27th Coaching Tip: Don’t Rain…
Don’t rain on other people’s parade. When someone is really excited about something that they deeply care about and are telling you all about it, listen, smile, and celebrate with them. Whether you like it or not, it is important to THEM. Be curious, ask questions, learn more about them and their “parade”, and they will think you are a rockstar. Why? Because you listened to them and didn’t rain on their parade. For example, my oldest brother and mother own harness horses together and love to talk and share about their horses, race results, and the new baby foals. All I have to do is listen, ask questions, and then celebrate their successes…or be empathetic when things don’t go well. For example, recently one of their favorite mares died as it was having a baby foal, and the foal died, too. They were grieving, and so we all started sharing photos of this super special, winning racehorse when it was winning, training, and enjoying it’s pasture. Don’t Rain on other people’s parades. Just don’t.
March 28th Coaching Tip: End of Quarter.
How did your quarter go? This was a question that was asked every single 90 days when I worked as a leader at Caterpillar. Same thing now happens at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. Let me ask you: How was your quarter? What did you intentionally get accomplished? What slid and didn’t get executed to meet your expectation? What are you most proud of? What is the biggest disappointment? How did your personal goals progress? How did you celebrate others’ goals?
We just intentionally had dinner outside and talked about what we are proud of since the beginning of the year. We started with personal priorities, then pivoted to professional and work priorities. Overall, even though we both battled bronchitis and Covid, we beat it and remain standing strong. I also made substantial progress on my real estate businesses, with getting one home under contract (to close in mid May), another home will be listed in mid May, and the remodel project is right on track for completion in late summer. Regarding my coaching work, today I summarized all the coaching engagements that I started in 1Q2025. The impact that I’ve already noticed with these leaders and advisors is off to a great start, and by YE2025, results will be substantial. Look at your results, at the end of every quarter.