Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on reviewing progress in a coaching program.

Do you set goals for yourself? More than likely, right. And this is something we hear a lot about, especially in the New Year. Setting goals is a fundamental part of success. And if you are in a coaching role, you have probably helped other people set goals for themselves. But the real work isn’t in setting the goals; it’s in following through and putting energy into meeting these goals.

And as someone’s coach, your work isn’t done once you help someone decide on some objectives. The next step is following up, which typically means sitting down with the person you’re coaching to review progress. You ask them how things have been going, and listen as they describe what they’ve done. But sometimes, the person hasn’t really followed through. What then?

That’s when you prove your value by holding the person accountable. And that might include reinforcing your company’s values, as you try to hold the person to their commitments. Of course, the person might have encountered barriers, which you can ask about and discuss. Still, those barriers shouldn’t serve as excuses, and you may have to push the person a bit to reach their potential. And, of course, a good coach remains supportive throughout this kind of process.

In today’s dialog, we’ll continue listening to a conversation between two lawyers, Marion and Rachel. Marion has been coaching Rachel as she adapts to her new job as a young attorney. They’ve discussed some of the problems Rachel faces, and set some goals. Now Marion is following up and reviewing progress toward those goals.

Listening Questions

1. What does Marion say when Rachel blames Jeff for some problems?
2. What barrier does Rachel identify to improving her profile and network?
3. After challenging Rachel to do better, what does Marion offer?

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Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on setting goals during a coaching session.

You’ve probably heard that an important part of coaching is listening and showing empathy. A good coach tries hard to understand the person he or she is trying to coach. That helps build trust, which creates a constructive relationship. But what is that relationship for? What kind of work does that trust allow?

Once you build a good relationship as a coach, then you can start talking about improvements. After all, coaches don’t exist just to hear about people’s problems. Their whole purpose is to help people get better. And a big part of getting better is setting goals, which is something a good coach can help with.

So how do we work with someone on their goals? Well, that might start with asking about their motivation. After all, goals have to be directed at something. If someone’s motivated by the idea of getting a promotion, then the goals have to relate to that. And that underlines the fact that they are the other person’s goals. We don’t set goals for them. We ask them about their goals. Then we can help them break their goals into smaller objectives.

Of course, another important role of a coach is to give encouragement. So when we help someone set goals, we are in a good position to show confidence in their ability to meet them. And finally, we might ask them about their next steps. That is, what are the concrete activities that the person will take as she tries to accomplish her goals?

In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin two lawyers: Marion and Rachel. Marion has been coaching Rachel as she learns how to be a better lawyer. In the previous lesson, we heard Marion trying to figure out Rachel’s challenges. Now we’ll hear her help Rachel set some goals.

Listening Questions

1. What does Marion ask Rachel about at the start of the conversation?
2. What short-term objective does Rachel identify for herself?
3. What does Marion say she is “sure about” and has “no doubt about?”

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Download: Podcast MP3