These questions are formulated to stretch a person to reach their fullest potential. They challenge someone directly, yet supportively and positively, to achieve more and do better than they have before.
Remember, treat these questions like a buffet – take what you like and leave what you don’t. Depending upon your situation and the individual you’re coaching, all questions don’t work for everyone, which is why you have a list to choose from.
Keep in mind, you can always use these questions for some self-coaching to challenge yourself and increase your level of awareness.
9 Coaching Questions to Challenge Your People and Bring Out the Best in Them
- If you could no longer use that as an excuse, what would another solution look like? (What would you need to change or do differently to achieve better results?)
- (When the person says, ‘‘I can’t.’’) Okay, but if you could, how would you do it?
- (When the person says, ‘‘I don’t know.’’) Okay, but if you did know, what would it look like?
- What would doubling your effectiveness look like?
- What could you do that would be uncomfortable for you but would cause a breakthrough and move you forward?
- What would be easy for you to do this week? What would be a stretch for you? (You can’t stretch or challenge people until you know what would be fairly easy for them to accomplish during the course of a normal week.)
- What is one thing you could do this week that would clearly demonstrate your commitment to your goal? (Look for evidence.)
- What would be something you would consider challenging that you could do which would double your productivity?
- When did you decide that was true? What else is possible/true?
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