Put Me in, Coach! The Essentials of Physician Coaching in Healthcare
“We’re not going to bore you!” Dr. Stephany, director of physician-provider organization support, clinical academic departments, and the leadership center for physicians at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, and an associate professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Mo., promised as she popped from table to table welcoming participants to the “Put Me in, Coach!” session.
The goal of this session was to help hospitalists incorporate coaching skills into their daily work by developing practical skills for having authentic coach-like conversations.
Many health systems are starting to invest in formal coaching programs for physicians and advanced practice practitioners. These robust, formal coaching programs require significant investment in time, coach training, and culture, but can have impressive results. The return on investment for institutions that invest in formal physician coaching programs has been demonstrated in financial terms ($85 million in estimated physician retention at Cleveland Clinic) and through improving clinician engagement and wellness.
Even without a formal coaching program, many coaching skills can be incorporated into everyday leadership for hospitalists. Coaching can help hospitalist groups reach additional key goals including increased productivity, smoother onboarding, leadership development, and team building.
The following advice can help as you begin your journey to becoming more coach-like.
Understand what makes coaching unique
Coaching is a ubiquitous term that is often conflated with other roles like mentorship, sponsorship, and advising. One of the top credentialing bodies for professional coaches, the International Coaching Federation, defines coaching as “a thought-provoking creative process that inspires them [coachees] to maximize their personal and professional potential.” Professional coaching differs from other roles in its focus on the process of discovery and the key role of the coachee in identifying their own path forward.
Identify conversations well-suited to coaching
In general, the conversations that are ideal for a coaching approach are complex conversations with multiple possible paths forward where the coachee(s) can affect their situation by making a decision, changing a behavior, or challenging one of their perceptions. For example: a junior faculty member who is struggling with work-life balance and comes to you asking for advice is probably better served by a coaching approach, where you ask them a series of thoughtful questions to help them understand their values and identify their own strategies to improve their situation.
Know when coaching is not the right tool
While coaching is a wonderful thing, it’s just one of many communication tools and is not the right tool for every conversation. Coaching is intended for situations where there’s time to reflect and discover a path forward with the interests of the coachee as the priority. If you have a vested interest in the results of a conversation that conflicts with the other person’s interests, a more transactional form of communication is likely the better choice.
Adopt a coaching mindset
In our daily work, most hospitalists are in a clinical mindset that is focused on gathering data to identify an objectively correct diagnosis and provide the best treatment to our patients based on our knowledge and judgment. The coaching mindset requires a different frame. A successful coach asks thoughtful questions, listens deeply, and supports the coachee as they uncover their own insights, ideas, and action steps.
Ask the right questions
Ideal coaching questions are open-ended, succinct, and exploratory. If you ask questions as a coach and the answers don’t surprise you, you may need to rethink your questions. Ask questions that welcome broader thinking like “What other options do you have here?” and “Who can support you in this work?” There are many great resources, including the slides from this talk, with examples of other powerful coaching questions.
Prioritize authenticity
As with most high-level communication, authenticity, and trust are paramount in coaching. By maintaining a focus on authenticity in your coaching conversations, you can ensure that you are able to engage and empower your coachee in a way that allows the necessary space to challenge current patterns of thinking and open the door for new insights and ideas.
Build trust through psychological safety
While coaching tools can be incorporated into many types of conversations, an ideal coaching relationship is longitudinal and supported by significant trust. To build trust, coaches should focus on behaviors that demonstrate credibility and reliability. Great coaches are also intentional about creating an environment with high psychological safety so that there is an intimacy to the coaching conversation in which the coachee can explore challenges without judgment. Be sure to check your biases and to assume best intent throughout your coaching.
Talk less, listen more
One thing that erodes trust in a coaching conversation is a coach who is oriented to themselves rather than the coachee. Reducing our tendency to share our own experiences and advice is often one of the hardest but most important aspects of developing as coaches.
Stay curious
Once you can identify opportunities for coach-like conversations, embrace your curiosity. It’s easy to quickly make a “diagnosis”—but avoid premature closure! The best thing about coaching is that it’s highly flexible and individualized. Respecting the individual, their values, and their goals will help you provide a wonderful space for others to work through their own challenges.
Finish strong
As you conclude a coach-like conversation, incorporate some powerful closing questions to ensure action and accountability. Try asking, “What is the next step?” and, “How will you hold yourself accountable?”
By intentionally creating a space for curiosity and discovery, building trust and psychological safety, asking thoughtful questions, and making an action plan, you can excel at coach-like conversations that lead to better results for your team. And there’s nothing boring about that!
Key Takeaways
- Many conversations in hospital medicine lend themselves to a coach-like approach.
- Coaching requires a mindset shift away from diagnosing problems and providing solutions, and toward thoughtful questions, active listening, and exploring options.
- Trust and authenticity are key to a successful coaching relationship. Coaches should always prioritize psychological safety, reliability, and active listening.
Dr. Herrle
Dr. Herrle is an adult hospital medicine physician at Maine Medical Center, and associate medical director of professional development for the division of hospital medicine and medical director of clinical informatics for MaineHealth, both in Portland, Maine. She is a certified executive coach who loves helping people reach their potential through coaching.