In my conversations with leaders in various contexts, it is clear that coaching is used as a ‘buzz’ word to describe many behaviors: continuous ‘checking in’ on a person’s progress; giving recommendations and advice; and sharing wisdom from experience.

Perhaps you also view coaching as a fuzzy and hard-to-define concept. How do you differentiate coaching from other similar functions such as consulting or mentoring?

Asking questions is a seemingly simple part of our everyday conversations. However, the types of questions we ask can make a big impact in shaping our perceptions, experiences, and relationships. The topic, type, tone, and timing of our questions definitely matter.

So, what makes some questions better than others?

Self-assessments play an important role in helping us understand and articulate our uniqueness, gain empathy for our colleagues, family, and friends, and speak a common vocabulary with teammates. The variety of options can be energizing, but it can also be confusing to understand the distinctions, and to know which assessment will help meet your specific needs.

If you are pursuing personal or professional development — for yourself or your team — consult this quick guide to maximize your return on investment.

According to recent research conducted by Google, employees desire managers who can skillfully coach them— and this desire ranks as a top rated (no. 1) manager behavior.

What is your capacity for coaching others to greater growth and discovery?

Despite how valuable it is, we can be easily deceived into thinking our self-awareness is higher than it is. Without pausing for honest, thoughtful self-reflection, we may hold onto a fuzzy, idealistic self-assessment that is either unclear, inaccurate, or both.

How would you rate your self-awareness?

Being forced to innovate can be arduous and stressful in the moment. With the realization that former approaches to our work are no longer sustainable, panic and chaos can ensue.

As leaders, how can we establish consistent practices that support ongoing inspiration for creativity and innovation?

As you kick off a New Year, what resolutions have you resolved to pursue? What new intentions are you trying to implement? How committed are you to kicking old habits and forming new ones?

In this blog, I will explore five stages of change to give you a roadmap to support you in your change-making journey.

How can you inspire long-lasting change?

Thoughtful, well-timed questions offer us an invitation to rich reflection and insightful discussion. Strategic, intentional questions can create new insight and opportunity for growth.

When derailers and distractors threaten my resolve, I have to intentionally remember the importance of creating consistent habits, that this is the stage in which something you do with devotion literally becomes a part of who you are.

What barriers keep you from building sustainable habits?

What if experimentation — to find the right combination of strategies — is an essential part of growth and change in our personal and professional lives? What if one reason we often get derailed is because we are stuck on a strategy that isn’t working?

Which combination of strategies will empower you to successfully achieve your growth goals?

If you are eager for progress, it may seem natural to launch into a specific action plan directly after you have identified your growth gaps and goals. However, realize that there may be multiple strategies that would lead to the fulfillment of your vision.

What new perspective could empower your plan for growth?

I usually know when I need to grow or change in a specific area. The signs are typically clear: I’m continually stressed out, or causing someone else to be stressed out. Or, I am deeply dissatisfied, frustrated, or not seeing progress. For me, recognizing the need for change is the easy part. The harder part is to get really clear about exactly what my specific growth gaps are.

How do you get clarity about the gaps between where you are now and where you want to be?

In your community of friends, family, and colleagues, who inspires you to develop into the best version of yourself?  Who is willing to give you honest feedback, support your growth, and keep you motivated? 

When I think back on the most profound growth I have experienced, I simultaneously recall the community that surrounded me in those critical moments – friends, family, classmates, or colleagues who invested in my development.

I can recall countless visions that I have had for personal or professional growth, yet at some point my follow-through faltered. Consider, for example, the classic New Year’s resolutions that many of us set faithfully every year. Perhaps you start out with a new yoga mat, water bottle and running shoes. But three weeks later you're back to the old routines, tethered to your desk, and hunched over a keyboard, while your yoga mat gets buried in a corner of your office…

What personal change initiative is your current priority? Perhaps you find yourself in the midst of a major change related to a career or life transition. Or, you may have in mind some important growth opportunities related to your everyday habits, relationships, and work.

What’s your process for creating a vision for the growth and change you want to see?

Think of your most recent experience building a new habit. How did it go? What was most difficult about it making a new change successful? Was it the inertia of old routines? The impossibility of imagining something new for yourself? Or the terror of possible failure?