Welcome to the second episode of Coaching Skills for Leaders! Special guest this week: Matt Ross from Liberty Mutual

How did things go with the listening assessment from the first episode? If you missed it, download the PDF here.

For questions, comments, or suggestions visit coachingforleaders.com/feedback

How to start coaching someone:

This is a huge missed opportunity for a lot of leaders.
Leaders start teaching a new skill, and that's it…before getting to know someone and without connecting it to the other person's goals/desires.

The model for how to start coaching someone:

F - Future
R - Reality
O - Obstacles
M - Meaning

What to listen for in the interview with Matt Ross:

1) FROM model
2) This shouldn't be an interrogation...you can jump around
3) The importance of silence

Interview with Matt Ross
Contact Matt Ross at this link or:
matt.ross@libertymutual.com / @MattRossLM

What I would do if I was Matt's manager?

I'd want to talk in terms of how the tasks he's working on connect with his goals.
If those opportunities weren't there, I'd do my best to create those opportunities for Matt.
This doesn't take long...the entire interview was 14 minutes and could have been shorter.

Three reasons leaders skip doing this:

They don't know they should do it (but hopefully you see how helpful this can be)
They don't know how to do it (but now you do!)
It takes too long (not really, per our example)

And a final reason right now, they don't have to do it because of the economy. However, at some point better times for employees are coming and those that aren't led well will move on.

In 2010, Harvard Business Review reported on statistics for high potential employees. They reported that:

1 in 3 high potential employees admit to not putting all their effort into their job
1 in 4 believes they will be working for another employer in a year

Here's a brief article I mentioned at the end of the episode on why leaders need to be salespeople too.
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I'd love your feedback on this show as well as any questions or topics you'd like me to address in future shows:

If you have comments, questions, or feedback, visit coachingforleaders.com/feedback

Another episode coming your way next week!