Convinced that participants need to engage in order to learn, a leader is discouraged after the cheerless rollout of her online learning program. She turns to her coach for help facilitating virtual groups.

Tools in this episode:

Tone-setting at the opening:

1. Get people engaged by using the chat to think together;
2. Get people engaged by thinking about how they will show up (ground rules);
3. Ask: “How engaged do you want to be?” Rank 1 – 7 in chat.

(#3 came from Michael Bungay Stanier who wrote The Coaching Habit and hosts the Change Signal podcast. Much gratitude!)

Three facilitation skills:

1. Use learning questions;
2. Redirect; don’t be the hub;
3. Activate your deadpan.

All our infographics are available for free in our Tools Bin. Help yourself.

Tom’s most recent conversation with Dave Stachowiak on Coaching for Leaders explored How to Take Initiative. A lively, thought-provoking episode.

Coaches! Join us at ICF Los Angeles’s Executive Coaching Special Interest Group. Check us out on the ICF-LA website, then come join us!

Categories in the archive to explore for more ideas about deepening relationships:

Communication Skills

Leading Teams

Episodes with more tools for engagement:

141 - High-Stakes Meetings

253 - How to Answer Questions Powerfully

213 - How to Re-engage a Team

34 - Keeping Repeated Material Fresh

175 - Leading Offsites

143 - Powerful Tools for Team: Plus / Delta

148 - Taming Meetings

Are you coach curious? Talk with Tom. Send him an email here.

Additional resources are in our monthly email. Sign up here.

Until next time!

From The Look & Sound of Leadership team

Knowing she’s never been good with people, a leader seeks coaching to her deepen relationships in ways she can tolerate.

Two ways to deepen workplace relationships:

Matching & Curiosity

4 Ways to Match:

• Match Purpose
• Match Energy
• Match Conversations
• Match Vulnerability

Express Curiosity by Asking Deep Questions

• Make sure your questions are open-ended
• Invite reflection
• Keep the other person talking

Answering questions powerfully is another way to deepen relationships. Check out our recent episode on that topic.

Deepen relationships at work by listening to Dave Stachowiak’s conversation on Coaching For Leaders with Charles Duhigg about his book Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection.

Recently, Tom joined Dave on Coaching for Leaders to explore How to Take Initiative. A lively, thought-provoking episode.

Coaches! Join us at ICF Los Angeles’s Executive Coaching Special Interest Group. Check us out on the ICF-LA website.

Categories in the archive to explore for more ideas about deepening relationships:

Communication Skills

Building Relationships

Managing Yourself

Five episodes that’ll help you get deeper:

Building Empathy

Building Listening

Building Rapport

Influence

The Conflict Conversation

Are you ready to invest in yourself? We offer listeners world-class coaching at an affordable price. Reach out to Tom here.

Transcripts of every episode, including this one, are available for free here.

More resources are in our monthly email. Sign up here.

Until next time!

From The Look & Sound of Leadership team

A leader is losing credibility with her senior leaders. Her boss thinks she can turn it around by learning the sorting tool that transformed him as a communicator, so he brings in the coach who taught him.

Sorting & Labeling! The grandaddy of all communication tools. If you can sort and label you will sound like a leader.

The four steps in Sorting & Labeling:

1. Use a headline
2. Use a number
3. Label each number
4. Transition with clarity

See it all for yourself in our free Sorting & Labeling infographic.

To all women who work in social or environmental change: Women’s Impact Alliance wants to support you. Check out their website to see all they ways they can help you succeed.

Coaches! Come join our Executive Coaching Special Interest Group. Check us out on the ICF-LA website.

Categories of episodes that have more ways to help you talk so people understand you:

Communication Skills

Leading Teams

Presentation Skills

Five episodes that’ll speed you down the path:

106 - Communicating with Clarity

253 - How to Answer Questions Powerfully

65 - Sorting & Labeling

16 - Sounding Well-Spoken

20 - Staying on Track

Curious about coaching for yourself? We offer a special program for listeners. Reach out to Tom here.

Transcripts of this and every episode are available for free here.

More resources are in our monthly email. Sign up here!

Until next time!

From The Look & Sound of Leadership team