Marianne was working on an opportunity which she desperately needed to close in-quarter in order to hit her goal.

 

That’s when you discovered a load of holes, assumptions and information gaps and decided to intervene. 

 

You could have approached this in one of two ways:

 

Hey, Maria. Got 10 minutes? I’ve been reviewing your opportunity. There are whole bunch of things we’re missing if this is to close. Here’s what I need you to do. Grab a pen. 

 

OR 

 

Hey, Maria. I’m glad you asked for 10 minutes of my time to help you with your opportunity. Let’s start with your assessment. Where do you need a different perspective so that you can advance this and hit your goal?

 

What did you do?

 

Which approach did you take? Did you direct Maria and tell her what to do or did you invite her to ask for your contribution to her opportunity?

 

Was this a dialogue? Or was it more of a monologue? Were you doing all the talking or were you helping Marianne to find her own answers?

 

Be honest. You were tempted to tell her exactly how to open her next follow-up call with her prospect. And you nearly did, right?

 

A lot of Managers default to directing people rather than developing people. 

 

They a mental block when it comes to coaching. Is this true for you?

 

Maybe. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

 

In today’s episode: How do I get over my mental block about coaching?