There is a very key difference between telling someone what needs to be done, and how one can do it. While "how to" can sometimes get in the way (more on this later), "how to" can also help someone learn things infinitely faster.
I recently started learning skiing, and found instructors who just tell me "what to" a waste of my money. I don't know the first thing about skiing. So, instead of telling me that I should be able to move forward effortlessly, please ask me to feel the balls of my feet.
Coaching is hard. The key to good coaching is to let folks take a stab once, figure out what they are doing well, and what they are not, and then tailor the "how to" to address the places where they can benefit from it.
An early management mistake is to use over-coach, and not let people figure anything out. A more common management mistake is to not provide any coaching, and thus not tap the full potential of your team.
I recently started learning skiing, and found instructors who just tell me "what to" a waste of my money. I don't know the first thing about skiing. So, instead of telling me that I should be able to move forward effortlessly, please ask me to feel the balls of my feet.
Coaching is hard. The key to good coaching is to let folks take a stab once, figure out what they are doing well, and what they are not, and then tailor the "how to" to address the places where they can benefit from it.
An early management mistake is to use over-coach, and not let people figure anything out. A more common management mistake is to not provide any coaching, and thus not tap the full potential of your team.
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