How to Coach an Underperformer Without Scaring Them to Death
| 25 | Jul |
| 2013 |
Christine Comaford
When employees are struggling, chances are they’re scared. And when they’re
scared, their critical thinking tends to suffer, making it even harder for them
to get out of the weeds. They’re in what Christine Comaford, author of
SmartTribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together,calls their reptilian
“critter state.” Berating them will only make the problem worse.
Your job as a leader, then, is to move them to a place of safety where they can problem-solve more effectively. Here’s Christine’s simple technique for rescuing an employee from fight-flight-freeze mode:
Your job as a leader, then, is to move them to a place of safety where they can problem-solve more effectively. Here’s Christine’s simple technique for rescuing an employee from fight-flight-freeze mode:
We need to actually take their head and move them
to look at the outcome they want to create. In Smart Tribes, we go very
deeply into what’s called an “outcome frame.” An outcome frame is where you take
somebody’s head – seriously – and you “move them” out of their amygdala and into
their prefrontal cortex. The easiest way to do it is by asking three
questions:
- What would you like?
- What would having that do to for you?
- How will you know when you have it?
Here’s an example:
“What would you like?”
“Well, I need more strategic time. I’m freaked out. I’m in the weeds.”
“Well, I need more strategic time. I’m freaked out. I’m in the weeds.”
“OK, so you would like to be out of the weeds.
What would having that do for you?”
“Well, I’d feel more powerful. I’d feel more energized. I’d feel like I was being more creative, more valuable to the organization.”
“Well, I’d feel more powerful. I’d feel more energized. I’d feel like I was being more creative, more valuable to the organization.”
“Cool. How will you know when you have more
strategic time?”
“Oh, well, I don’t know.”
“Oh, well, I don’t know.”
“Well, what proof will show up in the external
world?”
“Oh, I’d have three hours, you know, five hours a week of strategic time where I could shut my door and plan the future.”
“Oh, I’d have three hours, you know, five hours a week of strategic time where I could shut my door and plan the future.”
“Ah, good. Ok, so now we know what you want.
Great.”
So when anybody is coming from a behavior of
fight-flight-freeze, when they’re running safety patterns, we have to find out
what they want so we can get out of this “victim/everything is being done to me”
mindset and shift them to creating the outcome that they want.
How do you help employees feel confident and proactive, able to bring their
best?
Share
Add new comment