Coaching practices for Performance Coaching
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Performance Coaching, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I only ever coach in the rare formal sit-down and then default to firing off answers in every quick hallway exchange
- When I replay my coaching conversations I’m talking way more than the other person
- I sit down to coach someone through what happened and they’re already braced, because they know I’ve made up my mind about how they did
- I keep solving the same person’s problems over and over, slightly different each time
- I give my team a sharp, accurate read on what’s going wrong and exactly how to fix it, and they nod and walk away
Practices that may help
- Use GROW in brief leadership conversations, not just formal coaching sessions
Apply GROW structure to 5-minute hallway conversations and 1-on-1 check-ins — not only to hour-long coaching sessions.
The GROW Model: Coaching Conversations That Actually Move People - Maintain a high question-to-statement ratio throughout GROW
Ask questions far more often than you offer statements — the coachee’s thinking is the product.
The GROW Model: Coaching Conversations That Actually Move People - Replace performance review conversations with feedforward conversations
In coaching conversations, ask "what could you do differently?" instead of "what went wrong?"
Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior - Coach the person, not just the problem
The most important thing a manager can work on is the person’s capacity to handle future problems, not just today’s.
The Leader as Coach: A New Management Paradigm - Raise awareness and build responsibility simultaneously
Help the person see their situation more clearly while also connecting them to their ownership of it.
The GROW Model: Coaching Conversations That Actually Move People - Clarify the Goal with precision
Establish exactly what the person wants to achieve — not the presenting topic, but the specific, owned outcome.
The GROW Coaching Model, Made Practical - Create thinking space rather than filling every meeting with content
The most valuable thing a coaching manager provides is protected time and space for reflection — which most teams never get.
The Leader as Coach: A New Management Paradigm - Rewrite internal-focus coaching cues as external-focus equivalents
Audit your coaching language and convert body-focused instructions to effect-focused ones.
External Focus of Attention, Made Practical - Close the GROW loop with session review
At the start of the next session, review what was committed and what actually happened before setting a new goal.
The GROW Coaching Model, Made Practical - Obstacle anticipation before close
Before ending, ask "what could get in the way?" and pre-plan the response.
The GROW Coaching Model, Made Practical
Related concerns
- Whitmore Coaching Performance
Help the person see their situation more clearly while also connecting them to their ownership of it.
Raise awareness and build responsibility simultaneously
- Coaching Session Goal
Establish exactly what the person wants to achieve — not the presenting topic, but the specific, owned outcome.
Clarify the Goal with precision
- How Can I Help Coaching
Telling people how you’ll help before finding out what kind of help they want is one of the most common management errors.
Ask "How can I help?" instead of assuming
- Stability Focus Coaching
Focus on the feeling of the surface or a distant stabilization target rather than on your postural muscles.
Use external focus to improve balance and stability
- What Founder Coaching Can And Cannot Do
Before ending, ask "what could get in the way?" and pre-plan the response.
Obstacle anticipation before close
- Why Is Understanding Your Developmental Stage Important For Coaching
Ask questions far more often than you offer statements — the coachee’s thinking is the product.
Maintain a high question-to-statement ratio throughout GROW
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.