A few months back I was asked to provide leadership coaching to a production manager. This engineer was highly regarded by his employers as an effective problem solver and determined achiever of results.
However, he was seen as a “pusher” rather than a “leader”.
At our first meeting I was immediately struck by the manager’s vitality, keenness to learn and determination to do whatever it took to make himself into a better manager.
It is also worth mentioning that he had successfully completed the company’s management development training programme. He knew and understood a lot about management.
What he didn’t know much about was leadership and the impact that his personal behaviour had on his subordinates.
Questions reveal weaknesses
When asked questions like: “how would you feel if someone spoke to you like that?” He was surprised to find himself answering, “I would feel annoyed or upset.” He simply had not made any connection between his own feelings and those of his subordinates. He was not thinking about their feelings.
In over a decade of coaching leaders I have noticed that it is not uncommon for managers to feel upset by the inconsiderate behaviour of their superiors but not realise that their own similar behaviour has a similar adverse impact on their subordinates.
As you know one of the key skills in coaching is the ability to ask revealing questions. So, I asked him, “what do you do when there is a crisis in the factory?”
“I call in the shift foreman and ask him, “why have you shut down the production line?”
“What happens then?” I asked.
“They give some pathetic excuse and try to blame someone else.”
“Does that get the line running again?” I asked.
“Not immediately. But it does tell me what happened.”
“What do you think would happen if you were to ask the foreman, ‘what have we got to do to get the line running again as soon as possible?’”
He thought for a moment. “I guess he would focus on trying to find a solution.”
“And, how do you think he would feel as he was doing that?”
The manager laughed, “I’m sure he would feel relieved that I hadn’t given him a bollocking.”
“Yes, quite probably, but can you see that he would also feel good about the fact that he was using his brain constructively, rather than wasting his time looking for excuses?”
So we agreed that one strategy that he would implement was to start asking more “what” questions and fewer “why” questions.
He reported back to me later that he found it quite hard to hold on to his temper when things went wrong, but by counting to ten while he formulated a “what” question he was able to retain self-control.
Questions can help behaviour change
Good leadership is about behaviour that informs, inspires and motivates others.
Good leaders act in ways that allow people to express themselves. People express themselves by what they think, say and do. So by asking “what” questions this manger was encouraging his subordinates to think for themselves and express their views. If he agreed with them he could then give them the opportunity to enact their ideas – a powerfully motivating chain of events.
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Interesting and informative post. It is fair to say that there a great many people like this in management positions, who do tend to get results from staff from this form of ‘bullying’ style of doing things. It has worked for them for years and they have never questioned the intimidating way that they talk to their staff or the damage in morale being done.
An excellent case for Leadership Coaching and its benefits.