Coaching & Mentoring

The Lesson Pack

Everything in the Coaching & Mentoring topic, ready to print, share, or pin to your fridge between meetings.

1. 1

   The Socratic Method: Asking Instead of Telling

   ⏱ 15 min

   Help people find answers by asking questions. It's exhausting but effective.

   Yes, it's faster to just tell them. No, it doesn't work as well.

2. 2

   The GROW Model: A Coaching Template That Doesn't Judge

   ⏱ 16 min

   Goal, Reality, Options, Will. A structure for conversations that help.

   The 'Will' step is where people actually commit. Don't skip it.

3. 3

   Mentoring vs Coaching: Knowing Which One You’re Doing

   ⏱ 14 min

   Mentors share experience. Coaches ask questions. Most people need both.

   Most managers think they're coaching. They're mostly telling.

4. 4

   The First Conversation

   ⏱ 15 min

   Start mentoring relationships without the awkwardness.

   Asking 'what do you want to learn?' is a surprisingly good start.

5. 5

   Giving Advice Without Creating Dependency

   ⏱ 16 min

   Help people think for themselves. They're going to anyway.

   The goal is independent thinkers. Not disciples.

6. 6

   Handling Questions You Don't Have Answers To

   ⏱ 14 min

   'I don't know' is fine. 'I'll find out' is better.

   Modeling curiosity is underrated. It teaches that learning never stops.

7. 7

   The Mentoring Stumbling Block: Advice Giving

   ⏱ 15 min

   When to give advice versus when to ask questions.

   Ask until you can't. Then advise.

8. 8

   Measuring Mentoring Success

   ⏱ 12 min

   How to know if your mentoring is helping. Spoiler: Just ask.

   Simple feedback beats elaborate metrics every time.