Coaching & developing others
For: Anyone with reports they're meant to be growing
Most managers think they coach. Their reports usually disagree. A 12-question deep-dive on whether you actually develop the people who work for you, or just direct their work.
- 12 questions
- 3 dimensions
- ~4-5 min
- Self · Peer · Both
Coaching is the part of management almost everyone skips — not because they don't believe in it, but because it competes with everything urgent and almost always loses. The signal is in three specific places: whether your 1:1s are status updates or developmental conversations, whether you actually see what someone could become beyond what they're doing now, and whether you teach people to think or just answer their questions. This template surfaces all three. 12 questions across three dimensions, calibrated for the receiving side because the manager almost never sees how it lands.
How it works
Run it on yourself first. Then send it to the people whose growth you're responsible for — direct reports, mentees, anyone you've offered to coach. Send it now and again in six months — what changes (or doesn't) is where actual development becomes visible.
What's inside — 12 questions across 3 dimensions
1:1s — status update or development
what your standing meeting actually becomes, and whether anything from it sticks
Seeing potential
whether you notice what people could become, or only how they're doing right now
Teaching vs answering
whether you build the person's thinking or just hand them solutions
The questions, in full
Every question is included below. You answer them yourself first, then send the same set to the people who've seen you work.
1:1s — status update or development
- Q1Rating (1-5)
In our 1:1s, this person makes time to talk about how I'm growing — not just what I'm working on.
- Q2Rating (1-5)
This person remembers what we talked about in previous 1:1s and follows up.
- Q3Multiple choice
What does our typical 1:1 mostly become?
- — Status update on my work
- — Coaching conversation about how I'm growing
- — A mix, naturally
- — Whatever's urgent that week
- — We don't really have regular 1:1s
- Q4Open answer
When was the last time a conversation with this person actually changed something about how you work? What was different about that conversation?
Seeing potential
- Q5Rating (1-5)
This person notices what I could become — not just how I'm doing right now.
- Q6Rating (1-5)
This person has identified something I'm capable of that I don't yet see in myself.
- Q7Rating (1-5)
When I'm stuck, this person helps me see what's actually blocking me — they don't just sympathize or solve it for me.
- Q8Open answer
What's something this person has helped you grow into that you don't think would have happened otherwise?
Teaching vs answering
- Q9Rating (1-5)
When I bring this person a problem, they help me think — they don't just tell me the answer.
- Q10Rating (1-5)
This person asks questions I haven't thought of — and the answers help me get unstuck.
- Q11Rating (1-5)
When this person teaches me something, the knowledge sticks — I can apply it later, not just nod in the moment.
- Q12Multiple choice
How often do you walk away from this person's coaching with something you'll actually do differently?
- — Almost every time
- — Often — most coaching conversations land
- — Sometimes — depends on the topic
- — Rarely — usually I'm just listening
- — Not often — most conversations are status, not coaching
The research behind these questions
Drawn from Daniel Goleman's research on the coaching leadership style (Primal Leadership / HBR), Carol Dweck's Stanford research on growth-vs-fixed mindset, Marshall Goldsmith's behavior-change frameworks, Marcus Buckingham's Gallup-derived strengths-based research, and CCL transfer-of-learning research. Each question targets an observable coaching behavior — not vague 'develops their team' rating.
References
- — Daniel Goleman — Primal Leadership (HBR)
- — Carol Dweck — Mindset (Stanford research)
- — Marshall Goldsmith — What Got You Here Won't Get You There
- — Marcus Buckingham — First, Break All the Rules (Gallup)
- — Center for Creative Leadership — coaching and transfer-of-learning research
Ready to run this round on yourself?
Sign up, pick this template, answer it about yourself, and send the same questions to the people who've been in the room with you. The gap between your view and theirs is where the actual learning lives.