So, you want to increase the amount of coaching you do as a leader? Perhaps you’ve set yourself the goal of adopting a more coaching-oriented leadership style.

Whatever has brought you here, you’re in the right place. At Coachable, we’re strong advocates of using coaching to unlock the potential of the people you lead. Coaching not only empowers others to take action but also reduces the workload that ends up back on your plate. If you need further persuasion, the classic HBR article ‘Management time: Who's got the monkey?’ remains highly relevant today.

Your regular 1-1 session with a team member is your top coachable moment - don’t waste it by only covering status updates. That’s managing, not coaching.

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Adopting a Coaching Mindset

Coaching requires a shift in how you approach 1-1 meetings. To start, consider separating coaching-focused sessions from regular status check-ins so both parties understand that these meetings have a distinct purpose: working on their development goals, not project updates. For example you might create one longer 1-1 session every month where your focus is on development.

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Key Coaching 1-1 Practices

1. Goal Setting: Clarify the goals you are working on together—both long-term development goals and the specific objective for the meeting. Ensure there is a clear focus before jumping into the conversation.
2. Deep Listening: The meeting should focus on their agenda, not yours. You should be doing most of the listening rather than talking.
3. Reflection and Challenge: Reflect back what you’ve heard to ensure understanding. Challenge assumptions and offer different perspectives to broaden their thinking.
4. Ask Insightful Questions: Be curious about their thoughts and experiences. Issues often appear as the "tip of the iceberg"; delve deeper to understand the root cause. Explore underlying concerns for richer, more meaningful conversations.
5. Explore Options: Guide them in considering various solutions. Resist the urge to provide your own ideas—people are more committed to actions they develop themselves.
6. Define Actions: Reserve 10 minutes at the end for them to reflect on takeaways and actions they will pursue. They should be responsible for the actions, not you.
7. Accountability: Follow up on agreed actions in the next session. What progress was made? What obstacles arose? Offer support where needed, and make this a standing agenda item.

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Structuring a Coaching 1-1

Now you know how you should be showing up as a coach, let’s look at an example 1 hour structure for that session using the GROW model as your structure for the conversation:

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And here's a reminder of the GROW model questions in case you're in need of a refresher:

Refining Your Coaching Approach

While this framework provides a solid starting point, adapt your questions to suit each individual’s goals and challenges. If you need further inspiration, explore our very own Little Book of Coaching Questions for a wide range of conversation-starters. 

Go forth and coach

Using coaching techniques in your 1-1s transforms routine check-ins into powerful development conversations. With practice, you’ll foster greater autonomy, creativity, and accountability in your team. And you'll get that monkey off your back.

We hope this post has given you more confidence to coach with intention in your next 1-1.

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