For the next 30 days, every time someone asks you an advice-type question, instead of giving them an answer, them this question: “What do you think?” Then discipline yourself to simply listen and help them unpack their thoughts.
When I tried this experiment myself, I was surprised to find that at least 70% of the time people came up with their own excellent solution. Even more fascinating was that in half of those cases, they thanked me for my input. I had given no input or advice of any kind. I just listened as they came up with their own solutions… generally solutions that I would never have thought of. Their solutions were specific to their own context, so I couldn’t have thought of them.
Albert Einstein once said something along these lines: “It takes a certain level of intelligence to realize there is a problem. It takes a higher level of intelligence to solve that problem.” In coaching situations, that higher level of intelligence resides inside the person themselves: His name is the Holy Spirit.
I’m up for it!