Here is a model to help you sort “What is really going on here?”
Posted by richard on 14 Dec 2006 at 6:12 pm | Tagged as: "How to" coach tips
Sorting is a great skill to teach your executive clients.
In any business situation, the solution you craft will affect one of three main elements. Probing around these three during the initial conversation saves a lot of time and gets you to the root with less stress.
Element one: The executive (or team) has not decided 100% on what they really want. They may think it is x, but when explored. it may be y
Element two: The executive truly believes the issues exist independent of his/her inner state, i.e., values needs, outlook, negative expectations, self awareness. All of these are having a high impact on the situation and may be invisible or unknown
Element three: How is the problem being managed? What is the method or the strategy and does it need to be upgraded? In most cases the strategy is old, worn out, ineffective or unclear to the client.
Listen and sort for these elements as a start. Once you do, it is much easier to converse with the client and get their perspective on each element. You don’t have to guess and you won’t be going in the wrong direction.
I hope that you can use this
Richard R
I like your sorting approach. I personally have concentrated on no. 1, asking repeatedly, “What do you really want?” I help the client or prospect drill down to deeper answers. The first answer is rarely the best. When they arrive at a clearer awareness of what they really want at a deeper level, they can design the strategies needed to get there. As with your no. 3 item, the strategies will be different than what they have used up to now because their goal has shifted to one the want more.
at the end, it should read, “to one they want more.”