Whether you’re a boss, a colleague, or a friend, you can help the people around you make important life-enhancing changes. But the way to do that isn’t by setting targets for them and fixing their problems; it’s by coaching with compassion, an approach that involves focusing on their dreams and how they could achieve them. Instead of doling out advice, a good coach will ask exploratory, open-ended questions and listen with genuine care and concern. The idea is to have coachees envision an ideal self (who they wish to be and what they wish to do), explore the real self (not just the gaps they need to fill but the strengths that will help them do so), set a learning agenda, and then experiment with and practice new behaviors and roles. The coach is there to provide support as they strive to spot their learning opportunities, set the groundwork to achieve change, and then see things through.
Change is hard. Ask anyone who has tried to switch careers, develop a new skill, improve a relationship, or break a bad habit. And yet for most people change will at some point be necessary—a critical step toward fulfilling their potential and achieving their goals, both at work and at home. They will need support with this process. They’ll need a coach.
HBR Learning
