Good morning.  Coaching is a key strategy for empowering your team to reach new heights of performance and satisfaction.  It is the single most crucial role for every leader, period.

I recently spoke to a very experienced and capable Regional Director of Operations for a prominent SNF provider.  They had been in their role for about a year and had discovered that their organization was quietly recruiting for his replacement.

He is blind-sided.  No coaching.  No feedback was given, no opportunity to get better.  The door will just be closed in his face.

As an industry, we need to do better.  We must do better.

Transforming from a directive leader to a coach requires more than just a change in mindset; it necessitates a toolkit of specific, actionable strategies.  Let’s explore a deeper, more nuanced approach to coaching, including lesser-known but effective tactics supported by research.

Elevate your Coaching

Effective coaching doesn’t have to be complicated.  The challenge comes in the form of courage, consistency, and the ability to form relationships.  Follow these six tactics, and you will immediately become a better coach than you were yesterday.

1.  Elevate Goal Setting with Reflective Depth

Leverage “Reflective Goal Setting,” an evolution of the SMART framework, to deepen engagement.  This method integrates introspection, asking team members to consider the why behind their goals and fostering alignment with personal and professional values.

Actionable Steps:

• Ask open-ended questions like, “What impact will achieving this goal have on your team, the organization, and your career?”
• Co-create a visual roadmap, linking immediate objectives to long-term aspirations.  Use tools like shared dashboards for transparency and accountability.
  
  

Key Measure: Progress should be reviewed not only for completion but also for resonance—did the goal inspire greater ownership and growth?  Use periodic pulse surveys to assess engagement.

2.  Master Self-Reflection with Precision Tools

Implement guided reflection frameworks anchored in experiential learning.  This process turns everyday operations into continuous learning opportunities.

Actionable Steps:

• Following key events, provide structured prompts such as:
  
  • What was the root cause of the outcome?
  • How would you approach it differently next time?
  • Were there any surprises along the way?
    
    
• Facilitate quarterly reflection workshops, sharing insights across the team to build collective wisdom.
  
  

Key Measure: Look for qualitative improvements in decision-making and resilience, as evidenced by fewer repeated errors and richer team discussions.

3.  Socratic Questioning for Independence

Develop a curated “Socratic Toolkit” containing scenario-specific, thought-provoking questions.  This strategy will push your team to analyze complex situations critically.

Actionable Steps:

• Introduce scenario-based training sessions, using these questions to guide dialogue.  For instance, ask, “What options could help this resident experience 50% fewer falls next quarter?”
• Encourage leaders to create their questioning frameworks to address unique team dynamics.
  
  

Key Measure: Track the reduction in escalations requiring your intervention (as opposed to input or just an FYI) and the quality of solutions proposed during team meetings.  This is a sure sign that the leader is owning problems and creating potential solutions.

4.  Expand Feedback with 360-degree Insights

Feedback becomes transformational when it’s multi-dimensional.  Implement structured 360-degree reviews that include self-assessments, peer input, and leadership evaluations.

Actionable Steps:

• Roll out an anonymous feedback system using SurveyMonkey or dedicated HR platforms.
• Lead workshops on interpreting feedback constructively and creating personalized action plans.
  
  

Key Measure: During 1:1s, look for improved team dynamics and self-reported growth supported by tangible performance metrics.  The best metric to determine if this is working is whether or not constructive feedback flows between leaders without you having to ask them to seek it out.

5.  Empower Peer Coaching

Peer coaching, often underutilized, can unlock collective expertise within your team while fostering camaraderie.

Actionable Steps:

• Pair team members with complementary strengths and provide a structured coaching template, such as focusing on skill-sharing or situational analysis.
• Recognize and celebrate successful peer coaching outcomes publicly to reinforce the practice.
  
  

Key Measure: Identify specific goals for the peer-to-peer relationship and measure the enhancement of the leader’s skillset before and after the coaching period.

6.  Harness Visualization Techniques for Problem Solving

Visualization, a staple in performance psychology, can amplify clarity and confidence in goal achievement and problem-solving.  It sounds silly, but great coaches help their team personalize what winning looks and feels like.  To do this, it takes the ability to imagine that future state of success.

Actionable Steps:

• Facilitate visualization exercises during goal-setting.  For example, ask, “Picture yourself when this goal is achieved.  What does success look and feel like?”
• Ask, “How will you know when you’ve reached your goal?  What else will change as a result?”
• Use visual aids, like mind maps or a large whiteboard (my favorite), to quickly display ideas and thoughts and brainstorm solutions collaboratively during team challenges.
  
  

Key Measure: Monitor goal achievement rates and the variety of solutions generated in problem-solving sessions, noting a rise in innovative approaches.

Final Thought: Coaching as Culture

Effective coaching is not merely a skill—it’s a cultural cornerstone.  By embedding these elevated tactics into your leadership DNA, you foster an environment of trust, growth, and resilience.  The transformation begins not just with action but with mindset: a belief in the untapped potential of every team member.

Take the first step today by integrating one new tactic into your next coaching interaction. Over time, you’ll see progress not only in your team but also in the quality of care and leadership that defines your skilled nursing operation.

What tactic will you elevate first?

Partners We Love

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About Prime Care Technologies

Prime Care Technologies provides integrated data and technologies to make real-time, performance-impacting decisions—an Atlanta-based company and industry-leading data warehouse. Empowering senior care operators to achieve care goals.

Check out their solutions HERE.

Whenever you’re ready, there are a couple of ways I can help you.

1. Leverage our partnership with CEUSrEZ and purchase NAB-approved, online, self-paced, continuing education courses at a 20% discount here.
2. Check out our free AI Chatbot trained on thousands of pages of regs and industry best practices.  It’s like having a surveyor on your team.  Try it out here.
3. Coming soon in 2024.  Stay tuned!