Great Coaching Doesn't Focus on Giving Advice

Cathie Leimbach • April 26, 2022

A leader’s job is to support their employees to success. This includes ensuring employees are clear on what is expected of them, sharing important information, and developing necessary skills. It also includes providing positive feedback to encourage employees in what they are doing well and to kindly provide corrective feedback to help them perform even more effectively.

Leaders worth following also coach employees from being dependent on them, to being independent, to being interdependent with their colleagues.


Guiding employees to be independent and interdependent requires leveraging their knowledge and skills for diverse tasks and a variety of circumstances. This requires that leaders help their employees expand their understanding of how to apply their knowledge and skills as they are assigned new tasks and asked to work on different challenges. This increases individual job satisfaction, team morale, and organizational results.


Yet, many leaders have a tendency towards micromanagement such as telling people specifically how to do each new task and regularly solving problems for them.  When leaders learn how to support and trust experienced employees to handle day-to-day workplace variables independently, it frees the leaders to support others in developing their capacity and to address higher level tasks.


Let’s explore a coaching approach that positions leaders to develop employee competence and confidence, the precursors for independence, interdependence, and collaboration. When leaders use coaching skills they can guide their employees to reflect on their strengths and growth areas and develop the ability to apply their knowledge and skills in new situations. This involves having frequent 2-way one-on-one conversations with employees using open-ended questions and reflective listening. For example:


The leader:

1.      Asks the employee what specific, measurable goal or end result they are working to achieve.

2.      Restates the end result and checks with the employee if they have accurately understood what they said.

3.      Asks the employee what progress they have made towards this goal and listens carefully to their answer. The leader periodically summarizes what they heard to be sure she is understanding.

4.      Asks the employee what actions they still need to take to achieve the goal, periodically checking she has heard the employee’s intent.

5.      Asks additional questions to guide the employee to listing all of the significant steps required to achieve the goal. Only if the employee is missing critical elements of the work or is stumped, does the leader make suggestions of how the employee might proceed.

6.      If, and only if, the employee cannot fully develop their action plan themselves, asks the employee if they would like a suggestion. Only if the employee says yes, the leader shares their ideas. If the employee doesn’t want suggestions but hasn’t developed a complete plan, then the leader asks the employee to take some time to think about their action plan. Before ending this meeting, the leader asks the employee to set a date, time, and location to reconvene the conversation.

7.      After a potentially successful action plan has been developed, asks what resources, information, training, or help they need to achieve the goal.

8.      Asks how she, herself, can help them. The leader confirms what she will do to support the employee.

9.      Asks the employee to state when and how they should connect for accountability. The leader may need to ask further questions until a specific, feasible approach and time are agreed to. 

 

When leaders support their employees through such a self-discovery process, they build employee confidence and competence, as well as demonstrating that they trust the employee. This leadership style gradually, even quickly, increased employee engagement, morale, and productivity. 

What Problems Disappear When Leadership Gets Stronger?

By Cathie Leimbach • April 14, 2026
Most workplace issues don’t start big. They build slowly—through missed conversations, unclear expectations, and more people leave. That’s where disengagement shows up. And when it does, the cost is real: 78% higher absenteeism 51% higher turnover 63% more safety incidents These differences come from comparing the 25% of organizations with the strongest employee engagement to those in the bottom 25% (Gallup). And across the U.S., the bigger picture is hard to ignore— disengaged employees cost organizations nearly $2 trillion annually in lost productivity (Gallup). These aren’t just HR problems. They’re leadership problems. When people don’t feel connected, clear, or supported: They call off more More people quit Mistakes and risks increase The good news? These patterns are preventable. Strong leaders reduce these issues by: Addressing problems early Creating clarity instead of assumptions Having consistent, direct conversations Reinforcing expectations before things drift It’s not about doing more. It’s about leading differently—every day. A question to consider: Which of these challenges is quietly costing your organization the most right now? 👉 Join our upcoming Leadership Conversation on April 27th, 3:00 PM—this is not a webinar . This is a candid conversation with leaders comparing their employee engagement challenges and successes. Most organizations are tolerating more of this than they realize. The question is—are you?

What Changes When People Actually Feel Engaged?

By Cathie Leimbach • April 7, 2026
Most leaders don’t struggle because they don’t care. They struggle because engagement feels hard to influence. But when people are engaged, the impact is hard to ignore: 18% higher sales 23% higher profitability 70% higher wellbeing These differences come from comparing the 25% of organizations with the strongest employee engagement to those in the bottom 25% (Gallup). And the stakes are bigger than most realize— disengaged employees cost U.S. organizations nearly $2 trillion in lost productivity each year (Gallup). This isn’t about perks or programs. It’s about how people are led every day. Engaged teams are clearer on expectations. They feel supported. They know their work matters. And most importantly—those conditions don’t happen by accident. They’re created in conversations: Clarifying priorities Reinforcing what good looks like Checking for understanding Following through consistently Small leadership habits drive big business outcomes. A question to consider: Where could stronger day-to-day leadership conversations improve results in your team? 👉 Join our next 60-minute Leadership Conversation: Inspiring High Performance — Monday, April 27 th at 3:00 PM ET (this is not a webinar) It’s a small-group discussion with other leaders looking at a simple question: What’s actually driving engagement—and what’s quietly holding it back?  If a shift in leadership could impact sales, profitability, and wellbeing… it’s worth exploring what that might look like in your world.