Getting out of the weeds of problem solving for other people

“Why don’t you just download some accounting software to help you with that?”

Immediately my advice turns into problem solving for someone else, and well, that’s not what she’s here for. Tell someone what to do, and they’ll just circle around all the objections that surface.

If I’m wanting to turn people off, I just steer them right into the Zone of Restistance. That’s what Josh Braun calls it - a disastrous cul-de-sac we both can’t wait to get of.

Using a coach approach flips this script - the International Coaching Federation knows it’s coaches aren’t mentors or gurus ladling out advice left and right to the starving. A good coach approach acknowledges that the client is the authority in their life, and a coach helps a creative, resourceful and whole client figure out how to get unstuck.

How would it impact you if the next time someone started complaining “I can’t run a business! I am no good with numbers, or accounting!” you took a big step back from getting trapped into problem-solving for them and simply asked them, “what does running a business well mean to you?” Follow the thread after that with follow up questions, keeping your questions open, curious and about them.

You’ll be surprised at the result.