Top 10 Lists for Great Coaching- List #2

This week, List #2 in the series is entitled: The Top 10 Coaching Mistakes

We all make mistakes. Even the very best coaches make mistakes. However what distinguishes these coaches is that they readily recognize these mistakes and take immediate corrective action. Additionally, they minimize the impact of any coaching mistakes by having noble intention (i.e. always doing what is best for the person being coached and being their fiercest advocate).
Here are the Top Ten Coaching Mistakes:

#1. Trying to be a great coach – instead, put your energy into helping the person being coached become great.

#2. Working too hard – it’s your job to challenge the person being coached to do the hard work.

#3. Not saying what needs to be said – always walk away empty knowing that nothing important was left unsaid.

#4. Neglecting to ask the person being coached how you can be most helpful – you do not own the agenda, the person being coached does.

#5. Assuming the person being coached is a challenge to overcome or a problem to be fixed – coaching is not a project but rather a special relationship and conversation.

#6. Talking too much – silence and attentive listening are some of the most powerful coaching tools.

#7. Owning the outcome – the person being coached owns both the success and the failures; you don’t.

#8. Giving well-meaning advice – this is a very weak form of coaching that makes the coach feel good but does little for the person being coached.

#9. Steering the conversation towards the path you know is best – the person being coached is resourceful, creative and perfectly capable of finding their own best path forward.

#10. Finishing without a commitment – insist that the person being coached promises to advance their cause in some way.

This is the second in the series of six “Top 10 Lists for Great Coaching” that include:

1. The Top 10 Outcomes of Great Coaching
2. The Top 10 Coaching Mistakes
3. The 10 Step Framework for Effective Coaching Sessions
4. The Top 10 Qualities of Great Coaches
5. The Top 10 Ways to Build a Long-Term Coaching Relationship
6. The Top 10 Principles of Learning, Change and Development

About Bluepoint: Bluepoint Leadership Development designs and facilitates workshops and coaching programs that graduate leaders who have the head to think for themselves, the voice to inspire their organization, the heart to serve others and the courage to act when others will not.

For further information you can contact us at [email protected] or visit our website at www.bluepointleadership.com