Leading, coaching and providing feedback

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The process of talking with employees is the best opportunity to listen to their voices. If you sense that something is off, that they are no longer engaged, or that they are behaving in a way that doesn’t mesh with the rest of the team, it’s your job as a leader to stay curious and dig deeper to understand the situation.

The best way to ensure people know how to demonstrate their involvement and commitment to the team culture is to lead by example. If our behavior matches what our team members expect, they will imitate what leaders do. They have always benin mobile database done this. When you have a coaching session or a one-on-one, you can hear what people are really like. Listen actively and watch for words or phrases that indicate something is not right.

Here are some things to listen for:

When referring to team work, repeatedly use "I" instead of "we."
Unwilling to expand your thinking. Even if you ask open-ended questions, they may seem reluctant to speak up or give detailed answers.
Negative coping language, such as "whatever" or "I don't care," and especially watch out for safe-seeming but misleading phrases like "it's OK."
When leading a coaching conversation, it is more important to listen rather than speak. As we’ve said many times in previous books, give team members the chance to speak first; they should account for at least 51 percent of all the speeches.

Listen carefully, and don't be afraid to ask follow-up questions. One of the most powerful questions you can ask is, “Why do you say that?” You’ll be surprised at what you hear, and you might not like some of it. Even so, this may be exactly what you need to know, and it may give you an opportunity to encourage and help team members choose to re-engage.