Emerging Coaches & Leaders Action ToolKit

Your Action Toolkit keeps you connected beyond your Groops sessions with key group connection concepts to review, discussion questions to continue to reflect on or talk about, and takeaways or things to try to apply new skills and knowledge together.

Groop 1: Psychology-Based Coaching and Unpacking Your Why

Group Connection Concept

Key Aspects of Psychology-Based Coaching

Psychology-Based Coaching helps people achieve a higher level of well-being and performance in life and work by combining the theories and practices of psychology.

It is a growth promoting relationship, focused on the now (dynamics in the room) and the future (where we are going) rather than the past (which is more common in therapy). This helps individuals, teams, and organizations navigate challenges and maximize potential.

Unpack the why that drives your leadership and how this purpose shapes your behaviors as a leader:

Why:

  • What is your purpose?

  • What is your cause?

How:

  • Specific actions to accomplish your why.

What:

  • The result.

Group Discussion Questions

Continue the Conversation

  • What makes you come alive in your work? Or elsewhere?

  • What are your innate strengths?

  • Where do you add the greatest value at work?

  • When you look back, what does a successful life look like to you?

  • Fill in the blank: " I ______ because I believe ______."

    An example: "I lead Groops because I believe when people are more connected at work they are not only more productive, they live better, healthier lives. This is how I can change the world for the better."

  • How can you communicate this to your client / team to inspire?

Takeaways or Things to Try

Take Action Together

  • This week I will communicate my why to _________.

    I will share this in my next Groop.

Groop 2: Fundamentals of Motivational Interviewing and Your Values as a Coach

Group Connection Concept

The What and How in Motivational Interviewing

Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative conversation style.

It overlaps with consultative relationships as both believe in asking questions, active listening, and finding then articulating the shared goal of the relationship or engagement.

Understanding Motivational Interviewing helps coaches and leaders:

  • Foster open communication.

  • Empower individuals to grow.

  • Enhance collaborative problem-solving by eliciting intrinsic motivation rather than imposing directives.

The 4 processes of Motivational Interviewing:

  • Engaging: Rapport building to develop trust and get to know who you are working with.

  • Focusing: Explore what the hiring manager needs. Same for candidates.

  • Evoking: Ask hiring managers to talk about the whys behind their needs. Same with candidates.

  • Planning: Discuss the how of accomplishing this, together.

Group Discussion Questions

Continue the Conversation

  • What top 3 values did you choose?

  • How do you define these values?

  • Why did you choose them?

  • How do they support you as a leader?

  • How do they support the shared goals of your team?

  • How might they interfere with your role as a leader?

  • How might they interfere with the shared goals on your team?

Takeaways or Things to Try

Take Action Together

  • Articulate your values and why they are important to you.

  • Share your values with your team.

  • Ask your team to reflect on their values and share as a work group.

  • Make a list of all the values on the team and notice where there is overlap. These values drive team behavior.

  • Discuss the values on the team and how they support your shared goals and how they might interfere.

Groop 3: Readiness for Change and Your Personality as a Coach

Group Connection Concept

Impact on Coaching & Leadership

Dr. James Prochaska developed the Transtheoretical Model of Change.

TTM refers to how ready someone is to change their behavior.

Readiness for change is non-linear and sounds different at different stages.

This is critical for coaches to understand to know what to say when.

The stages of readiness for change:

  • Precontemplation: "I don't want to change."

  • Contemplation: "I am thinking about change."

  • Preparation: "I am getting ready to make a lifestyle change."

  • Action: "I have made a lifestyle change."

  • Maintenance: "I regularly practice a healthy lifestyle."

Personality and coaching & leadership:

There is no ideal personality style in coaching and leadership.

But, understanding our personality and preferences helps us understand what we need to dial up and dial back.

Successfully coaching a group or leading a team requires some level of extraversion, agreeableness, creativity, openness to experience, accountability, adaptability, confidence, empathy, positivity, and team-building skills.

Group Discussion Questions

Continue the Conversation

  • What is your personality type?

  • How does your personality type shape your leadership style?

  • How does your personality support your leadership?

  • How might your personality hinder your leadership?

Takeaways or Things to Try

Take Action Together

  • Reflect on how your personality helps and/or hinders the goals of your client / employee.

  • Ask your client / team to reflect on their personality and how it helps / hinders their goals.

Groop 4: Assesment and Your Default Leadership Map

Group Connection Concept

Key Aspects of Assestment and Your Default Leadership Map

The first goal as a coach is to build rapport.

You cannot help anyone if they do not trust you.

Oftentimes, new coaches jump to advice giving or sharing a “better way” rather than trusting that the current behavior of the client is / was functional (although it might not seem logical to us).

Assessments are just one tool in the toolbox. They can help when used as such and can create barriers when over-relied on.

Our past leaders/ caregivers were...

  • Authoritarian: They conveyed, “I am in charge. It is my way or the highway. People should do as I say and on my time.”

  • Authoritative: They put a lot of time in building relationships with people on their team/ family and understanding their unique needs and style. They explain why. They set the plan and structure but took your team’s consideration into account.

  • Permissive: They set a plan but never followed through. They were not critical but they were very hands off. You and others had a hard time pinning them down. They thought people will do their best with little input from them as a leader.

  • Uninvolved: They did not know what was going on with their team/people. They did not spend time building relationships. They not ask what people are working on.

Group Discussion Questions

Continue the Conversation

Take a few minutes to reflect on your coaching / leadership style:

  • How did you early authority figures lead?

  • How does your history with authority show up in your coaching / leadership?

  • How does your history support your coaching / leadership in a positive way?

  • How might your history hinder your coaching / leadership?

  • What word best describes your coaching / leadership style now?

Takeaways or Things to Try

Take Action Together

  • Get feedback from your team.

  • Notice what is working and what is not and ask yourself how your history with leadership impacts this.

  • Consider getting coaching / therapy to understand more about yourself.

Groop 5: Generative Moments, Stages of Coaching and Practices

Group Connection Concept

How to Collaborate When in Conflict

Generative Moments are when the client is most connected to making a change in the session.

Facilitating Generative Moments.

8 Stages:

  • Collaborate with the client to decide what to focus on.

  • Ask for permission to work on the topic.

  • Ask client what they want in terms of this particular topic (what does success look like to them).

  • Explore strengths to leverage to accomplish this.

  • Explore environments that support this.

  • Explore readiness for change (ambivalence).

  • Explore pathways forward.

  • Express confidence in the clients ability to move forward.

Group Discussion Questions

Continue the Conversation

  • Let’s practice working with an employee who is resistant to change or feedback and your goal is to help them improve as their manager.

    First:

    • One person plays the “employee” and the rest of the group is the “Coach-as-Leader.”

    • Take turns asking open ended questions.

    Second:

    • Imagine you are in the corporate space and a person you manage is resistant to taking feedback about how they are delivering customer service.

    • One person plays the “employee” and the rest of the group is the “Coach-as-Leader.”

    • Take turns asking questions to:

      • assess where they are in their readiness for change

      • understand them more deeply (what is their why)

      • what is the shared goal (between you and the employee)

      • focus them on a goal

      • use OARS

Takeaways or Things to Try

Take Action Together

  • Notice where you are in the stage of the relationship.

  • Reflect on what your client / employee needs now and how to best engage.

Groop 6: Building the Action Plan

Group Connection Concept

Plan = Action.  

Trust, vulnerability, and mutual support impact how we coach and lead.

It also impacts how we learn.

Reflecting back on these aspects helps us integrate the learning and experience, and encode information in a deeper way.

A successful coaching group has:

  • Clear Objectives & Structure: Defined goals, consistent format, and balanced timing.

  • Psychological Safety & Trust: Open, nonjudgmental space, confidentiality, facilitator models vulnerability.

  • Skilled Facilitation: Experienced coach, active listening, adaptability to group needs.

  • Group Cohesion: Shared purpose, team-building, peer support.

  • Personalized Focus: Tailored feedback, relevant content, self-reflection.

  • Engaging & Varied Learning: Mix of discussion, activities, and reflection time.

  • Progress & Accountability: Goal setting, check-ins, and follow-up for growth.

  • Diverse Perspectives & Respect: Balanced participation, respectful dialogue, and variety of viewpoints.

Group Discussion Questions

Continue the Conversation

Let’s reflect on our experience together and remember some key items important in coaching:

  • clear structure

  • psychological safety

  • skilled facilitation

  • group cohesion

  • personalized focus

  • varied learning

  • progress and accountability

  • diverse perspectives

Takeaways or Things to Try

Take Action Together

Let’s reflect on what we want and where we are going by making a coaching action plan.

Review Progress:

  • What was your goal coming into this group?

  • What did you learn?

  • What are your strengths as a Coach / Coach-as-Leader?

  • What areas do you want to develop?

Set Goals:

  • What are 1–3 coaching goals going forward?

Outline Action Steps:

  • What are 1–3 action steps you can start immediately?