Do you feel like you are constantly teaching? Telling people what to do? Repeating the same message over and over again?
If this is the case, you might have people who don’t think for themselves.
Here are some reasons why people don’t think for themselves:
They are not accustomed to thinking for themselves.
They don’t trust themselves or their ideas.
They’re afraid of making a mistake.
They don’t want to look stupid.
It is easier to have someone else tell them what to do.
No one has believed in them before.
They don’t want to be held accountable.
At first, it feels good when people come to you to solve their problems, but eventually it gets exhausting.
Get off this hamster wheel of telling.
If you are a leader right now, your job is to create more leaders.
Everyone has a brain and it’s darn time they start using it. Get people thinking for themselves.
If you don’t tell people what to do, how do you move people into action?
Great question.
You reach into your Leadership Toolkit and pull out the Coach-Approach to employ.
Situation: A team member comes to you expressing a block with a project that is slowly getting behind.
Strategy: 1. Refrain from jumping into rescuer/ solver mode. 2. Start asking questions from different perspectives to help them unpack the situation.
So, what do you ask?
I have a LEADERSHIP CHEATSHEET that gives you 10 different questions to move people into action without telling them what to do.
(Psst.... you could also use these questions to coach yourself into action.)
Imagine 10 action-oriented perspectives from which to examine a problem.
Start feeling impactful as a leader.
Get your LEADERSHIP CHEATSHEET.
When you start asking powerful questions, do you know what you are becoming?
A Coach-Leader. (Cue the confetti!🎊)
Coaching is a leadership style and a skill that is one of the most effective, yet still the least used (even though the term is becoming more mainstream).
Every time you decide to help someone with their problem by employing a coach-approach, you’re taking the burden off you as the leader and helping the other person become more empowered.
As a leader, you become very valuable because you truly know how to help people.
Here’s the powerful impact you will have when you help people think for themselves:
Empowerment
People feel good when they are a part of the solution.
Problem Solving
Gradually people shift from relying on you to solve their problems.
Self-Awareness
When people are asked to go inward to consider options and actions, they are learning about themselves.
Action-oriented
You create team members that stay in action.
Positive Organizational culture
You shift the culture to one where everyone is action-oriented, responsible and accountable.
Resourceful
Coaching people helps them see more solutions where previously they came from one source, the leader.
Accountability
When team members partake in coming up with the solutions, they become responsible for their actions.
Go ahead. Try this. Just start. Don’t worry about if you’re getting it right. (Remember this works with work team members, peers and family members.)
Start building your leadership toolkit by practicing this approach and see the difference it makes.
Grab the LEADERSHIP CHEATSHEET to jumpstart your coach-approach.
Coaching Question: What impact would having more people think for themselves have on you as a leader?
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