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- The Parliament Vol. 2, No. 19
The Parliament Vol. 2, No. 19
What's Your Role in This?
Thomas Greek
May 30, 2025
COACHING PROMPT OF THE WEEK
“What’s Your Role in This?”
This is a powerful and versatile coaching prompt that falls into the category of accountability, self-awareness, and ownership. It's designed to shift the team member’s perspective from a passive observer or victim of circumstances to an active participant with agency.
This is a terrific question to ask when a team member might be complaining or blaming others for their circumstances or when they’re feeling stuck and powerless.
Consider asking this question to help your team members recognize their own agency and responsibility in their experiences. Here are a few additional questions you might ask:
What new understanding do you have about your role now?
What's the impact of your role on others involved?
Knowing your role, what are you willing to commit to doing next?
Remember that coaching isn’t telling! Coaching is about staying curious and making space for those in our care to become confident authors of their own stories.
Think of your current HR priorities: employee engagement, retention, talent development, fostering a positive culture. Coaching touches them all, profoundly:
Boosts Employee Engagement & Performance: A coaching culture empowers employees to take ownership of their development and performance. This intrinsic motivation leads to higher engagement and demonstrably better results.
Supercharges Retention: In a world where employees crave growth, a coaching-rich environment signals a genuine investment in their future. When individuals feel supported, they are far more likely to stay and thrive within your organization.
Enhances Leadership Effectiveness: Coaching isn't just for employees; it's a fundamental leadership skill. When managers are trained as coaches, they transform from task-givers into developers of talent, leading to stronger teams and more effective succession planning.
So, how can HR, as the architect of the people strategy, effectively champion this transformative shift?
Define "Coaching": Clearly articulate what coaching means within your organization. Distinguish it from mentoring, managing, or training. Emphasize its focus on self-discovery and empowerment.
Invest in Leader-as-Coach Training: This is perhaps the most critical step. Provide robust, practical training for all managers on fundamental coaching skills: active listening, powerful questioning, providing effective feedback, and holding employees accountable.
Integrate Coaching into Existing HR Processes: Shift from traditional performance reviews to performance conversations rooted in coaching principles.
For HR professionals, the call to action is clear: embrace coaching not as a program, but as a fundamental operating philosophy. By strategically embedding coaching into your organizational DNA, you empower individuals, cultivate a culture of continuous growth, and build a workforce that is not only highly engaged and productive but also resilient and prepared for whatever the future holds.
This isn't just about managing talent; it's about unleashing it.
Want to sharpen your coaching skills, join us in the Leaders as Coaches Online program and watch your team – and your leadership – transform. www.ThomasGreekCoaching.com
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"To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone." – Reba McEntire
True success isn't just about achieving goals or having a strong will, but also about maintaining a positive outlook and a sense of humor throughout the journey. It encourages a balanced approach to life, combining ambition with resilience and joy.
You’ve got to be able to laugh a lot to get through life, especially at yourself!
What’s tickling your funny bone these days?
For a limited time, I’m offering a complimentary lesson -
Check it out below!
