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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


I’ve gotten coaching on things that had obvious solutions. For example, I’ve gotten coaching on how avoid getting overloaded at a conference, when the (obvious) solution was to schedule down time. I’ve gotten coaching on which new goals to pursue, when the (obvious) solution was not to pursue any—my schedule was already full.
 
I’m glad that my coaches empowered me to discover effective action steps. I’m glad they didn’t say things like, “It’s a conference—you shouldn’t be focused on avoiding overload” or “Look, your schedule is already full, so thinking about which new goals to pursue is a bad idea.” I’m glad that coaches refrained from criticizing me.
 
Question: How often do you refrain from criticizing your client?

• Consistently?
• Usually?
• Sometimes?
• Rarely?

Make sure you consistently refrain from criticizing your client. Things that help me do this include the following:

1. Remembering how criticism shuts down my thinking—and the thinking of my clients.
2. Focusing on helping my client discover action steps that will help him reach his goals.

Question: What will you do to ensure that you consistently refrain from criticizing your client?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How often do you refrain from criticizing your client?
2. Design meetings to target results

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. Help your students connect God's world and Word
2. Do your assessments require students to connect their lives and what the Bible teaches?
3. How will you meet your students’ learning needs?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How often do you refrain from criticizing your client?
2. Design meetings to target results
3. Help your students connect God's world and Word
4. Do your assessments require students to connect their lives and what the Bible teaches?
5. How will you meet your students’ learning needs?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


My client wants to prioritize her tasks. So, I start by asking questions like “What tasks need to get done?” and “What else?” My client mentions a variety of tasks, including updating materials for a workshop on personal productivity, finalizing a presentation on planning tools for the leadership team, and attending a network meeting of church planters. Then she pauses and says, “I really need to get after my workshop materials.”

I notice her emphasis on workshop materials. Instead of asking a question, I make an inviting statement: “You mentioned that you need to update workshop materials and then you came back to that again. Tell me more about that.” She shares that she’s concerned about the workshop materials and that she’s been wondering if she should expand the number of workshops she’s doing.

My point: Make inviting statements.
 
Question: How often do you make inviting statements?
 
Things that help me make inviting statements include the following:

1. Recognizing that inviting statements help me reflect.
2. Remembering that inviting statements are an effective alternative to questions.

Question: What will you do to ensure that you make inviting statements?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How often do you make inviting statements?
2. What’s it take to achieve your organization’s God-given mission?
3. Schedule your action steps

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How can you more effectively target Biblical perspective?
2. How often do you ask your Biblical perspective questions?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How often do you make inviting statements?
2. What’s it take to achieve your organization’s God-given mission?
3. Schedule your action steps
4. How can you more effectively target Biblical perspective?
5. How often do you ask your Biblical perspective questions?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


Your mind is starting to wander. Your responses lack your usual focus and enthusiasm. When your calendar alarm goes off, you focus on it and miss a key thought your client has shared. And you’re concerned because you know these things indicate that you’re not really interested in what your client is saying.
 
Question: How often are you interested in what others say?

• Consistently?
• Usually?
• Sometimes?
• Rarely?

Make sure you’re consistently interested in what others say. Things that help me do this include the following:

1. Focusing on my client as a fellow Christian who is working to pursue his calling.
2. Making appropriate eye contact.
3. Removing distractions before I start coaching. For example, if I’m using videoconferencing to coach, I turn off all other software applications.

Question: What will you do to ensure that you consistently are interested in what others say?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How often are you interested in what others say?
2. Leaders, empower others by asking questions
3. Use assessment to improve team meetings

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. Do your assessments require students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches?
2. What are your students’ learning needs?
3. What 3 things will you do to help your students?
4. Help your students connect God's world and Word

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How often are you interested in what others say?
2. Leaders, empower others by asking questions
3. Use assessment to improve team meetings
4. Do your assessments require students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches?
5. What are your students’ learning needs?
6. What 3 things will you do to help your students?
7. Help your students connect God's world and Word

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


Your client has explored what’s happening with her goal to make a career transition. You ask, “What can you do to move forward?” You wait about 15 seconds—your client doesn’t say anything. You rephrase the question and ask, “What are your options?’’ And you wait for about 10 seconds—your client doesn’t say anything. Then you say, “Here are 3 things you could do.…”
 
Not good. Why? Because by suggesting options you did the work your client is supposed to do. Because your suggestions interrupted some really good ideas your client was having—she wasn’t sitting there doing nothing. Because you hear your client say, “I appreciate your willingness to help. I was coming up with some good ideas, and when you gave your suggestions, I focused on listening to you. Now I’m having trouble remembering what I was thinking.” Ouch.
 
Question: How often to you refrain from suggesting options?

• Consistently?
• Usually?
• Sometimes?
• Rarely?

Make sure you consistently refrain from suggesting options. Things that help me do this include the following:

1. Remembering that silence indicates reflection, not the absence of reflection.
2. Remembering that brainstorming options helps my client get motivated for action. And I want my client motivated for action.

Question: What will you do to ensure that you consistently refrain from suggesting options?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How often do you refrain from suggesting options?
2. What’s your organization’s God-given mission?
3. Think outside the box

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. What 3 classroom guidelines will you use?
2. How effective are your Biblical perspective questions?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How often do you refrain from suggesting options?
2. What’s your organization’s God-given mission?
3. Think outside the box
4. What 3 classroom guidelines will you use?
5. How effective are your Biblical perspective questions?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


Your client is talking about what’s happening with his goal to plan more effectively. You easily relate to this—a few years back you had a similar goal. Since then, you’ve done research on planning, coached 27 clients who are working on planning, and developed a 5-phase planning framework.
 
As you listen to your client, you think, “He’s at phase 2.” Your client pauses, and you hear yourself say, “As best I can tell, you’re in phase 2—you’re working and you have a plan. Since you don’t yet have a good documented plan, you follow your gut more than your plan.”
 
Then you recognize that you just described your client’s reality—something you don’t want to do. Because you want your client thinking, and when you describe your client’s reality, he’s not thinking.
 
Question: How often do you refrain from describing your client’s reality?

• Consistently?
• Usually?
• Sometimes?
• Rarely?

Make sure you consistently refrain from describing your client’s reality. Two things that help me do this are:

1. Remembering that my client is the expert in his life—not me. He knows his reality.
2. Remembering that my goal is to get my client thinking about his reality.

Question: What will you do to ensure that you consistently refrain from describing your client’s reality?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How often do you refrain from describing your client’s reality?
2. Leaders, pursue excellence
3. Clarify team purpose

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How can you more effectively use assessment?
2. How can you more effectively meet student learning needs?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How often do you refrain from describing your client’s reality?
2. Leaders, pursue excellence
3. Clarify team purpose
4. How can you more effectively use assessment?
5. How can you more effectively meet student learning needs?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


By asking questions like:

1. What’s excellence?
2. What’s satisfying/unsatisfying about pursuing organizational excellence?
3. For your ministry, what does organizational excellence look like?
4. What can you do to pursue organizational excellence?
5. What will you do?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How can you help others pursue excellence? 
2. Want to serve more effectively? Get focused!
3. Think clearly

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. What 3 questions will you ask them?
2. How can you more effectively use questions to help your students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How can you help others pursue excellence? 
2. Want to serve more effectively? Get focused!
3. Think clearly
4. What 3 questions will you ask them?
5. How can you more effectively use questions to help your students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


By asking questions like:

1. What’s your mission statement?
2. What excites/concerns you about the mission?
3. How does your work help achieve the mission?
4. What helps you achieve the mission? What gets in your way?
5. On a scale of 1-5 (5 being high), how focused are you on your mission statement?
6. What can you do to increase your focus?
7. What will you do?

---

Take a tutorial

• To learn more about enhancing organizational improvement, explore these 6 questions
• How focused are you on your God-given mission?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How can you focus others?
2. Take a tutorial
3. To what extent are staff held accountable for improvement plans?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. Take a tutorial
2. 9th graders apply creation-fall-redemption-restoration
3. Empower teachers to help students understand how teachers teach from a Biblical perspective

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. How can you focus others?
2. Take a tutorial
3. To what extent are staff held accountable for improvement plans?
4. 9th graders apply creation-fall-redemption-restoration
5. Empower teachers to help students understand how teachers teach from a Biblical perspective

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


Check out the new videos

1. Use coaching to empower others
2. The coach's heart
3. Use LIFE skills
4. Use the GROW process

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How often do you refrain from giving advice/suggestions?
You want to help people. I do, too. One way to help people is by giving advice. But there are some definite downsides to giving advice:

• You might irritate someone by giving unsolicited advice.
• Your advice might work for you and not for the person you’re talking to.
• If someone takes your advice and it doesn’t work, that might harm your relationship.
• Giving advice doesn’t target developing the person into a better problem solver—it targets solving the immediate problem.

I don't want to irritate people, give advice that doesn’t work, put my relationships at risk, or only solve the immediate problem. I want people to solve their own problems by developing as problem solvers. So, I strive to refrain from giving advice.
 
Question: How often do you refrain from giving advice?

• Consistently?
• Usually?
• Sometimes?
• Rarely?

Strive to consistently refrain from giving advice. Strive to consistently focus on what others think in order to help them become better problem solvers. When you are tempted to give advice or when you find yourself focusing on what you are thinking, ask an open-ended question instead:

• What’s your goal?
• What’s going on?
• What are your options?
• What will you do?

Question: What action steps will you take to ensure that you consistently refrain from giving advice?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. Check out the new videos
2. How often do you refrain from giving advice/suggestions?
3. How focused are you on your God-given mission?
4. Encourage others to connect their proposals to the mission
5. What are your action steps?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. Check out the new videos
2. What 3 things will you do to stay focused?
3. How can you use questions to help your students apply a Biblical perspective to issues?
4. How can peer coaching help your students apply a Biblical perspective?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. Check out the new videos
2. How often do you refrain from giving advice/suggestions?
3. How focused are you on your God-given mission?
4. Encourage others to connect their proposals to the mission
5. What are your action steps?
6. What 3 things will you do to stay focused?
7. How can you use questions to help your students apply a Biblical perspective to issues?
8. How can peer coaching help your students apply a Biblical perspective?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


I like getting encouragement. I like it more than getting critiques. Encouragement feels better and actually results in me working more effectively.
 
I believe in the power of encouragement, so I want to encourage others. One way I encourage others is by listening to what they say. And one way I demonstrate that I’m listening is by restating what the other person has been saying. Through restatement I show I’ve been listening and that I want to understand. For example, I might say, “If I understand correctly, you’re saying that ___. Is that right?”
 
Question: How often do you use restatement to encourage others?

• Consistently?
• Usually?
• Sometimes?
• Rarely?

Strive to consistently use restatement to encourage others. To encourage others, say things like: So what I think I hear you saying is ___. Is that right?
 
Question: What action steps will you take to ensure that you consistently encourage others through restatement?
 
*To learn more about encouraging others, click here.

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

• How often do you use restatement to encourage others?
• To what extent do improvement plans guide staff work?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

• Students connect memoir, life, and Bibllical teaching
• Empower others to help students understand what effective application of a Biblical perspective looks like

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

• How often do you use restatement to encourage others?
• To what extent do improvement plans guide staff work?
• Students connect memoir, life, and Bibllical teaching
• Empower others to help students understand what effective application of a Biblical perspective looks like

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


What helps me get my goals accomplished? Developing my own action steps, action steps that I’m motivated to take and that are SMART. I don't have the same success rate when someone else develops the action steps and when the action steps are not SMART.
 
I’m sold on developing my own SMART action steps. And when I work with others, I work to focus them on developing their own SMART action steps.
 
Question: How often do you focus others on developing SMART action steps?

• Consistently?
• Usually?
• Sometimes?
• Rarely?

Make sure you consistently focus others on developing SMART action steps. What helps me do this consistently is asking questions like:

• Specific: What do you mean by ___?
• Measurable: How will you know when you’ve achieved your action step?
• Attainable: How doable is this?
• Relevant: How will this action step help you achieve your goal?
• Timebound: When will you do this?

Question: What action steps will you take to ensure that you consistently focus others on developing SMART action steps?
 
*To learn more about focusing others, click here.

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

• How often do you focus others on developing SMART action steps?
• How focused are you on achieving your mission?
• What are your goals?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

• What 3 things do you want from your principal or colleagues?
• How can peer coaching help your students apply a Biblical perspective throughout their essays?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

• How often do you focus others on developing SMART action steps?
• How focused are you on achieving your mission?
• What are your goals?
• What 3 things do you want from your principal or colleagues?
• How can peer coaching help your students apply a Biblical perspective throughout their essays?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


Want to encourage coaching in your organization? One way I encourage coaching is by developing sets of questions to be used in meetings and workshops. As a result of using sets of questions in meetings and workshops, staff have shifted toward asking questions and away from giving advice.

In the planning sessions I'm facilitating today, participants are using the following sets of questions to help others reflect:

Set 1

1. What’s your mission?
2. What’s it take to carry out your mission?
3. What’s already been accomplished?
4. What helps you?
5. What hinders you?
6. What are your options?
7. What will you do to achieve your goals?

Set 2

1. What is your mission? What are your goals?
2. How would you categorize progress on your goals? Why?
3. To what extent do your current action steps help you address your goals?

Set 3

1. What topics did you talk about in your tactical meeting?
2. What action steps are you going to take before your next meeting?
3. What did you learn by trying out different roles?
4. What will help your team work together better?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

• To encourage coaching, get staff to ask questions
• What drives your organization’s improvement?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

• Empower others to use assessment to help students apply creation-fall-redemption-restoration
• Empower others to consider how to get students to understand that there’s a Biblical perspective of course content

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

• To encourage coaching, get staff to ask questions
• What drives your organization’s improvement?
• Empower others to use assessment to help students apply creation-fall-redemption-restoration
• Empower others to consider how to get students to understand that there’s a Biblical perspective of course content

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013


Want to empower people? Want to develop leaders? Want to help others become better problem solvers and solve their problems? If so, try this one thing. It’s free. You can do it anywhere. And those you talk with like it.
 
What is it? It’s the 80/20 Rule. The 80/20 Rule says that in each conversation, you should listen 80% of the time and talk 20% of the time.
 
Question: How often do you talk 20% of the time?

• Consistently?
• Usually?
• Sometimes?
• Rarely?

Make sure you consistently follow the 80/20 Rule. To do this, you’re going to have to keep the other person talking. What I do to keep others talking (so I can listen) is make inviting statements (Tell me more about that.) and ask open-ended questions like “What’s a key challenge you’re facing?”
 
Question: What action steps will you take to ensure that you consistently talk a maximum of 20% of the time?
 
*To learn more about listening, click here.

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. These 6 videos can help you close the gap
2. How often do you follow the 80/20 Rule?
3. How are proposals related to your mission?
4. Can God help?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. What 3 ways will you involve parents?
2. How can peer coaching help your students include Biblical perspective in their thesis statements?

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1-2-14 Shinkawa Cho, Higashi Kurume Shi, Tokyo 203-0013

1. These 6 videos can help you close the gap
2. How often do you follow the 80/20 Rule?
3. How are proposals related to your mission?
4. Can God help?
5. What 3 ways will you involve parents?
6. How can peer coaching help your students include Biblical perspective in their thesis statements?

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