Mentoring and faciliting executives is vastly different than having middle managers or new supervisors in the class. I spend more time with the higher executives digging deep into the far-reaching consequences and implications of average people skills [emotional intelligence]. New supervisors need assistance and practice in delegating, “letting go” and coaching. Middle managers find mentoring and strategizing most challenging.
I have found that some instructions will transform these confident, intelligent, knowing leaders into stunned deer being caught in a car’s headlights. So what are these instructions?
- ‘pair up’ or ‘find a partner’
- ‘get into groups of three’
- ‘in your group, select who will go first’
Perhaps it’s the way I’m saying it, perhaps my instructions are not clear. Maybe it’s they don’t know which other leaders they want to do the next activity with. I wish I knew.
Is it …. not what I said, it’s what they think they heard?
