From Problem-Solver to Powerful Guide: The Coaching Mindset Shift You Need, with Michael Jones

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Are you giving endless advice that nobody seems to take? You might be unintentionally creating the very bottleneck that's preventing your clients from achieving real transformation.

This episode tackles one of the most common challenges faced by coaches and leaders today – the tendency to over-solve problems for others. We explore the powerful distinction between providing answers and guiding people to discover their own solutions, a difference that separates truly effective coaches from those who inadvertently create dependency.

We unpack three key reasons why coaches fall into the problem-solving trap: equating giving answers with being helpful, feeling overly responsible for client success, and fearing that questions alone won't be enough to create results. At the heart of these concerns lies a fundamental misunderstanding about what coaching truly is – not rescuing, but empowering through skilled guidance.

The mindset shift we propose is deceptively simple yet profoundly impactful: great coaches don't give people fish; they teach them how to fish through transformational questions. When you ask "What do you think will work best?" or "What's the real challenge here for you?" instead of jumping in with solutions, you activate your client's innate problem-solving abilities and create space for genuine breakthroughs to emerge.

Ready to transform your coaching approach? Comment below with your experience of catching yourself over-solving, and book a free coaching call to learn our framework for asking questions that drive real change. Subscribe for more leadership insights that will help you make a greater impact while growing your confidence and business.

Want a personalized strategy session for free? Book a free call with Marc or Teresa: https://www.modernleadership.us/apply

Whether you're going through a challenge, or working on a powerful goal, join Marc or Teresa for a 20-minute strategy session and leave the call with a plan to make it happen!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Have you ever felt like you're carrying the weight
of everybody else's problems?
You want to help, but insteadyou're giving all of this advice
and nobody is ever taking youup on any of it.
The truth is is if you're justalways trying to solve people's
problems, then you could be theone that's actually holding them
back.
In this video, we're reallygoing to dive into the mindset
shift that helps coaches stopover-helping and start guiding

(00:21):
people to real breakthroughs.
You're a coach with a big heartand a powerful desire to make a
real difference in the world,but what if you could increase
your impact, increase yourconfidence and grow a business
with ease?
I want to help by offering youa free coaching call so we can
discover exactly how to help youfeel aligned and equipped to
guide your clients to even moreincredible results.

(00:42):
We'll also create a plan toscale your business while
maintaining your work-lifebalance.
If you're ready to turn yourpassion of helping other people
into sustainable growth, clickthe link below and book your
free call.
Thank you for being willing tolean in and let's get right back
into the show.
So welcome back to ModernLeadership, where we answer key
questions from our coachingcommunity so that you can grow
the confidence in the skills youneed to make more impact and

(01:05):
income.
Today's video is from Michael.
Let's jump right into hisquestion.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Hey, Mark and Teresa.
This is Michael Jones fromBirmingham, Alabama.
You can find me online atLinkedIn is where I hang out the
most and just search forEncouraging Leader.
I've been in your CoachAccelerator program for about 90
days and I love it.
I've learned, honestly, morefrom y'all in the last 90 days
than I have from all the otherprograms combined.
In my coaching practice I servefolks who are corporate

(01:31):
professionals who've beenworking for 10, 20 plus years
and they feel frustrated withtheir careers.
They feel like they don't havethe joy in their careers anymore
, they don't feel connected tothe values of their company and
they don't know what to do next.
Well, I help those folks figureout what to do next and I help
them to take those next steps.
My question for the two of youis about, especially for new

(01:52):
coaches how do you get out ofthe habit of trying to solve
problems for people and be thatmentor versus that guide who's
asking questions, and what areyour best tips for how to ask
better questions as a coach?
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
So I love this question because many coaches
and leaders and serviceproviders actually fall into
this trap.
We think solving problemsactually is valuable, but it
actually creates a bottleneck.
There's a huge differencebetween giving someone answers
and helping someone find theirown, and the most effective
leaders actually understand this.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Now, having coached a lot of people, there's three
main things that I see in termsof what actually holds people
back in this area.
Number one is coaches equategiving answers as being helpful,
like they really do want to getin and help people solve
problems.
But whether or not they'regiving people advice or
direction has a directcorrelation in their mind to
whether or not they're actuallybeing helpful for their clients,

(02:48):
and this could, of course, getyou into giving even more
directions.
The next reason is they couldfeel responsible for their
client's success.
Now here's the thing I reallydo want you to do whatever you
can to help your clients achievesuccess, but in reality, their
success is not 100% in yourhands, and thinking that you
have to give them answers inorder to see that success is

(03:08):
actually a big mindset shiftthat we need to make.
And the last one is coaches,especially new ones, are a
little bit nervous, wondering ifasking questions is going to be
enough.
What if the person can't cometo their own conclusions and
doesn't have success because Ieither asked the wrong question
or I didn't tell them what to do?
And this all boils down to onething Sometimes we tell
ourselves this story that if wedon't give them the answers,

(03:31):
they're going to think that Idon't even know what I'm doing
as a coach.
But here's the mindset shiftyour job is to guide, not to
rescue.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
So the way that I think about it is that great
coaches and leaders don't givepeople fish.
They teach them how to fish byasking great questions.
So the next time you feel theurge to give people answers,
pause and ask what do you thinkwill work best or what's the
real challenge here for you?
And if you want a simpleframework for asking
transformational questions,that's exactly what we help our

(04:00):
clients do.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
So if you're ready to step into your role as a true
guide, not just a problem solver, we would love to help.
Comment below when you'veactually caught yourself
over-solving for people'sproblems, book a free coaching
call with us to learn how to askbetter questions, and
definitely subscribe for moreleadership and coaching insights
.