Coaching through Language is a Must

I have a pile of books. I always did. I find one book and want to read it and then find another one before I finish the first one. So, I had this one book in my pile and grabbed it to read while traveling on a plane. It would be 5 hours in the air (on my way to a conference) plus all that sitting around time. I figured that I could finish it. I didn’t.
I also couldn’t put it down. So, when I arrived in California, I read it into the night! The book was “Turn the Ship Around” by David Marquet. It was given to me by Aurora Kripa. She has been the source of more than one great book recommendation on the topic of leadership.
This book is one of the best books on how to align yourself and your team to the goal. You can subscribe to “leadership nudges” which are free concept explanations from the book. So, I subscribed. David is a powerful voice for employee engagement, helping people focus their giftedness on what really matters.
One of the most influential concepts in the book is how leaders need to match their language to their staff and expect advancing task independence. He calls this the ladder of intent which is presented in the picture below.

Using this concept feels like this picture: happy, excited, celebratory, energetic, and wonderful!

My takeaway from the ladder of intent is that when people know what needs to get done, and they have the right training, support, and a solid coach, they will be joyful. They will go home happy and feel the energy of their success.
The language he suggests is coaching language, not telling language. If someone knows how to do the task, the fun will begin.
Coaches make the goal clear. Then coaches ask the following questions.
• What do you think (see or feel)? Coaches help the person get clarity.
• What do you recommend? Coaches help the person critically assess options and consider additional learning and alignment with others whose help is needed. They expect a recommendation to consider the details.
• What would you like to do? Coaches expect that the person will take that recommendation and turn it into an action plan. The coach will encourage the person to try it. Coaches authorize action.
• What do you intend? Coaches get excited when the person progresses to the point that the plan is fully developed, ready to go, and the only thing needed is to inform the boss, not ask for permission.

I have to tell you; everyone feels good when this works. We all need to take David’s advice to heart.