Guiding Challenging Employees: Ten Inquiries for Enhanced Efficiency
Guiding is the new leading.
Although "leadership abilities" have moved down to the bottom 20 soft skills listed on resumes, guiding is one method to help employees feel self-reliant, appreciated, and observed. A recent blog post on our platform emphasizes how guiding is tailored for the future of work - and its challenges. Working with numerous guiding clients throughout the past decade, I've discovered what can spark leadership discussions during challenging times. Moreover, the insights I've acquired from my coaches have assisted me in collaborating on nine books since the pandemic, thereby transforming my relationship with productivity. When working with challenging team members and productivity lacks, these 10 guiding questions can shift your outcomes.
In my book, Straighter, I focus on the guiding conversation - revealing how difficult employees allow unnecessary sensitivities and drama to obstruct their judgment. Troubled team members are often consumed by conflict, rather than collaboration. Difficult employees fail to internalize clear guidance and apply it, due to their inability to overcome their own limitations (or distractions). Does this sound familiar? To clarify, these challenges are universal human traits that we all share, as sometimes we are the difficult employee ourselves! Harvard Business Review states that guiding can "foster problem-solving and motivate employees' growth by asking questions and offering support and guidance instead of issuing orders and making judgments." Is it time to move away from control and command, and explore a new dialogue?
If empowerment, ownership, and innovation matter to you, consider how these 10 questions can incorporate guiding into your productivity:
- What other meanings could this have? When someone interprets behavior or circumstances in a non-productive manner, requesting a fresh perspective is the first step towards a new potential. A different version of this question is, "What other explanations could this be?"
- What positives can you find in this? Have you ever found yourself immersed in a disheartening one-on-one session where a team member uses the time to vent about complaints and difficulties, rather than solutions? Reorient the conversation towards discovery and avoid indulging in the idea that "the world is collapsing." Every company wrestles with difficulties and challenges - viewing obstacles as opportunities is essential. Don't disregard a predicament - reconsider it.
- What falsehoods are you telling yourselves, right now? When interpersonal disagreements surface, or dissatisfaction emerges regarding work, people generally weave narratives to process circumstances. The phrasing of the question is just as critical as the question itself - we all have various interpretations of the world around us. The question is, are those interpretations grounded in reality....or are they mere fabrications? Since guiding is concerned with reality, not illusions developed in our brains, ask yourself if those illusions are actually useful.
- What are you neglecting to remember? My former coach, Wyn Morgan, introduced the concept of our common forgetfulness that we all share - along with this question. Often, we overlook the fact that we are competent, resourceful, and tenacious, requiring a reminder of these realities! Instead of fault-finding, remind your team that they have the ability to conquer the challenge. In my experience, a situation is never as tough as it appears in your mind. Don't forget this!
- How many other scenarios are possible right now? The guiding conversation shifts from limitation to potential. Inside your organization, which boundaries need to be transcended, which preconceptions need to be challenged, which policies need to be revised? Effective guiding emphasizes potential, rather than limitations.
- What does this situation seem like if viewed from a distance? Consider the broader picture. What modifications?
- What could make this more manageable? "Tough" is a habit, but it doesn't have to be. Applying a fresh approach to the same old issues, without the same nagging difficulties, is at the heart of this guiding question. As Nelson Mandela once said, "It seems unattainable...until it's achieved."
- What beliefs do you own, which are shaping your perception? Incorporating the powerful coaching techniques of Byron Katie: we all build narratives around our experiences, and underneath those narratives, we often uncover underlying truths. Discarding the narrative, and everything changes, if you are open to alternative possibilities.
- What identities do you associate with, which are preventing you from progressing? If you are performing the right actions, yet your behavior is insensitive, passive-aggressive, or over-sharing, guess what? It's not working. Coaches understand that our approach creates our reality. To perceive an important shift, focus on how individuals are behaving (embodying) instead of what they are doing.
- What actions need to be taken? This question comes last for a reason. Have you taken the time to address the personal barriers and mental narratives that are hindering your team member's progress (and maybe even your own)? Guiding focuses on internal motivation, rather than merely offering direction and instruction. Jumping straight into what actions need to be taken, before considering the individual behind the action, is control and command - not guiding. To be fair, sometimes individuals require clear direction. But is that an enduring strategy? Empower people to navigate their own path and take initiative, and your world will become simpler.
In "The Great Game of Business," Jack Stack notably stated, "Individuals are more likely to back something they've contributed to building." Coaching presents a chance to collaborate with your team to establish fresh outcomes. The commitment to coaching brings returns in the form of ingenuity, even when dealing with challenging employees. Every now and then, we get trapped in narratives that keep us stagnant. We get caught in a loop where we believe that progress is impossible or that there's only one path to victory. The coach recognizes that opportunities are always available - it's their role to uncover every possible route to success. Transitioning from constraints to potential: that's the power of the coaching discussion. Uncover new potential in leadership and witness how coaching can aid in shaping the evolution of work.
- To improve as a coach and help your career, you might want to explore the concept of 'how to be a better coach at work'.
- Executive coaching has been identified as 'coaching is the new leadership' in many organizations, which can significantly enhance your leadership skills.
- Career guidance is essential, especially during challenging times. Seeking guidance from a coach can help you 'deal with difficult employees' more effectively.
- Team coaching can be beneficial, especially when working with 'difficult people'. By learning 'how to work with difficult people', you can foster a more collaborative work environment.
- 'Career guidance' and coaching can also help you in 'fostering problem-solving' and motivating your team's growth, as emphasized by Harvard Business Review.
