Great Coaching Conversations: The Five C’s

In my 20 years of managing people, there have been some good coaching conversations, some not-so-good, and some that didn’t happen at all, so I stepped back to distill what worked well and also what I learned from the ones that I failed on pretty badly. Here are five C’s of great coaching conversations whether we are giving the feedback or receiving it.

Here’s a situation. A direct report of yours just gave a presentation to senior management.

The presentation went okay but frankly could have gone a lot better. The direct report knew her material but didn’t demonstrate self-confidence in her body language, didn’t dress appropriately, and didn’t think fast on her feet in addressing some of the questions. You noticed your boss start to lose confidence in your direct report in the meeting. You secretly wonder if she’s losing confidence in your judgment to have the direct report present in the first place. What do you do?

Well, if you’re like most managers, you do nothing. That’s right. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Feedback, particularly developmental feedback, is often hard to give, so most of us avoid giving it. Here are some good excuses I’ve used: “Gosh, I’ve got five other things I’ve got to do immediately.”  “I’ll find a more appropriate time, ummm…in six months when the mid-year review comes around.” “Well, it wasn’t that bad.” “I’m sure she knew she didn’t do her best. She’s a grown-up, she’ll figure it out.”

Sometimes even if we give feedback, we deliver it in such a “sugar-coated way” that the coachee misses it altogether. It’s like exchanging pleasantries at a tea party. Everyone feels good but no one can quite recall what was discussed. Or, we race through feedback like we’re going for a root canal, wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible, without any consideration for the pain or numbness of the person on the receiving end.

Here are the five C’s:

1. Clarity.

Before you have the conversation, get clear and specific on what you want to communicate. Make sure that you start with acknowledging to yourself what worked well as it creates a positive environment where the employee can be more open to listening.  Get clear on the following questions. If necessary, write them out.

• What worked well in the situation? What employee strengths created that?
• What are the specific behavior changes I am looking for in the future?
• What specific words will I use to describe the positive and derailing behaviors?

Specificity is really important when giving feedback. And specificity is hard when we’re giving feedback on “softer” behaviors like a person’s self-confidence or the way they dress.

“You need to have more self-confidence” is not exactly helpful as I’m not sure what behavior change is required. On the other hand, you can be more specific by saying “your posture and the intonation of your sentences reflected that you didn’t have complete confidence in your own expertise.”

2. Compassion.

It’s hard to give feedback. We often tie ourselves up in knots because we make giving the feedback about us as coaches versus just a behavior change that needs to happen. Some of us are averse to conflict or we have a desire to be liked so we avoid giving feedback.  To be an effective coach we need to be clear and compassionate toward ourselves first so we get our own beliefs out of the way.  Practicing self-compassion allows us to acknowledge that giving feedback is hard and helps us get ourselves out of the way.

Compassion for the person receiving the feedback is also important and helps us create an environment of caring. How we say something is much more important than what we say. Creating an environment of caring concern also allows us to be more direct in our feedback. Some ways to do that:

• Start your conversation with the mindset that all feedback is a gift.
• Imagine as you give the feedback that you are talking to a dear, close friend for whom you want nothing but the best.
• Let the employee know that you’re both working toward the same goal of helping the employee reach their potential.
• If giving the feedback is still a bit uncomfortable for you, experiment with being vulnerable and simply stating “I wish I was more practiced at giving feedback” creates an environment of greater trust and authenticity for the conversation. They can probably read your discomfort anyway!
• After giving the employee the feedback ask them “What support do you need from me in order to help you reach this goal?”

3. Curiosity.

Coaching conversations are more about listening than talking. The rule I like to follow as the coach is 90/10. Do 90% of the listening and 10% of the talking. Ideally, the talking happens in the form of questions that help the coachee discover the answers within themselves. If you happen to be the coachee the 90/10 rule applies as well. Do 90% of the listening and 10% of the talking. Two people doing 90% of the listening makes for a great coaching conversation!

When we come from a place of curiosity rather than judgment or attachment to our own point of view, new insights can appear and solutions can be co-created that will help us capture stronger commitment (see below). It helps if you invite the coachee to give you their point of view first.  The questions that invite curiosity are:

• “What did you do well? What strengths did you use to achieve that?”
• “What were things you could have done better? What strengths can you use to achieve that?”
• “Here’s what I observed in terms of other opportunities for development (be specific). How do these resonate for you?”
• “If you were able to master these developmental behaviors how would this help you?” (this is a great question to understand what motivates your coachee).

4. Confirmation.

Feedback conversations are difficult because our own emotions are often caught up in them (both on the side of the coach and the coachee). When emotions get involved it’s hard to really listen clearly. So seek confirmation that you’re both on the same page.  Pay attention to not just what’s said but also what you observe in the body language. Here are some good ways to do that:

• Start by restating your understanding of what the other person said. Then seek confirmation by asking “Did I understand you correctly?”
• “I can see that you’re surprised by the feedback. Am I reading that correctly?” Acknowledging emotion is a great way to have a more authentic conversation.

5. Commitment.

The end result of any great coaching conversation is a clear commitment to results and a strengthened trust in the relationship. Ways to capture commitment is to be specific in the list of agreements. Here are some good questions to ask:

• “What are the most important takeaways for you from this conversation?”
• “What are the new behaviors that you will practice?”
• “What are follow-up action items that are important and by when?”
• “What will success look like when these actions are taken?”
• “How would this success help you?”
• “What are some ways we will want to keep track of progress?”

I hope this has allowed you some thought starters for your next coaching conversation. One last coaching question to ask if you’re looking to grow in your own ability to coach is to ask your coachee “How was this coaching conversation for you? What did we do well, what can be improved for the future?”

I look forward to your comments about what resonated most with you and where you experience your biggest challenges and as always welcome your feedback on this blog post.

Contributed by CEO Coach Henna Inam

Henna Inam is a CEO Coach focused helping women become transformational leaders. A Wharton MBA, and former C-Suite executive with Novartis and P&G, her passion is to engage, empower, and energize women leaders to transform themselves and their businesses. Sign up for her blog at www.transformleaders.tv.