Being Magnetic: Leadership Coaching for Results

What kind of a magnet are you? Do you push people away or pull people in? The gravitational pull you exert as a leader determines not just your team’s current performance, but its future potential. A leader who magnetizes their team doesn’t just manage; they multiply talent and foster a culture where people feel seen, valued, and driven to contribute their best work.

Three Key Insights

Intentionality Trumps Personality: Magnetic leadership isn’t about being the loudest or the most charismatic; it’s about being deliberate in your actions. Your consistency, your honesty, and the clarity of your vision are what truly attract and stabilize a team, not fleeting charm.

Psychological Safety is the Core: People move toward environments where they feel safe to take risks, voice concerns, and even fail constructively. Your willingness to admit your own mistakes and foster an environment of trust and vulnerability is your strongest magnetic force.

Development is the Retention Strategy: The greatest attraction is the promise of growth. Leaders who actively invest in their team’s skills, delegate based on potential, and provide meaningful challenges essentially create an ‘irresistible force’ that keeps talent engaged and loyal.

What Matters Most

Radical Transparency: Clear, consistent communication that doesn’t sugarcoat challenges but always connects the day-to-day work back to the larger mission.

Deep Listening: Moving beyond simply hearing words to truly understanding the perspectives, anxieties, and aspirations of your team members.

Empowering Accountability: Holding people responsible for outcomes while providing them with the autonomy and resources to achieve them, reinforcing their competence.

Three Questions for Reflection

• Whose voice haven’t I heard in the last week, and why?

• What belief am I currently holding about a team member’s potential that might be limiting their growth?

• If I left my role tomorrow, what is the single, most valuable leadership practice or system I’ve installed that would outlast my tenure?

Practice: The “Potential Partnership”

To actively pull your team in and develop them, commit to the “Potential Partnership” practice:

• Once a quarter, instead of a standard performance review, dedicate a one-on-one session with each direct report entirely to their future potential—not their past performance.

• Start with Strengths: Ask them: “When do you feel you are doing your absolute best work here?”

• Identify the “Stretch”: Based on their response, identify one high-leverage skill or project that is just outside their current comfort zone and directly aligns with the company’s future needs.

• Commit to the ‘How’: Co-create a 30-day development plan for that stretch goal. The leader’s role is to remove obstacles and provide the necessary resources, coaching, or time, making their success your priority.

This shows them you’re invested not just in their deliverables, but in their destiny.

Lead Yourself First, And Others Will Follow

Stephen R. Covey said it best: The most effective leaders begin by leading themselves well, then extend that same clarity, trust, and intentionality to others. When leaders align their identity with their leadership style, engagement, retention, and results naturally improve.

What Matters Most:

• Self-Awareness fuels growth. Leadership success begins with knowing yourself.

• Understanding. Leadership success begins with seeking to understand first and then being understood.

• Responsibility. Leadership success begins with knowing you have the ability to choose your response.

Leadership Habits:

• Be Proactive

• Begin with the End in Mind

• Put First Things First

• Think Win/Win

• Seek First to Understand Then to be Understood

• Synergize

• Sharpen the Saw

Reflection Questions:

• Which leadership habit most resonates with you?

• Which leadership habit most resonates where you are right now?

• Which leadership habit most resonates with your leadership journey?

Quick Practice:

Apply this practice daily for the next week:
“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Practice active listening in every meeting and encounter. Pay close attention to how you perceive, feel, think, and experience yourself as you apply this technique. Journal your responses, actions, what worked best, and what you might change to make the activity more proactive.

Building Retention Through the Power of “What” Questions

Retention is always top of mind for leaders—and it begins with communication. The most effective tool a leader can use when facing unexplored or unanticipated circumstances is to ask “What” questions.

When the puzzle pieces of a situation feel flipped upside down, “What” questions create safety, curiosity, and forward movement. Unlike “Why” or “How” questions, which can trigger defensiveness or confusion, “What” questions invite reflection and ownership.

Leaders can take this one step further by using self-actualizing questions—those that prompt employees to see their own potential and generate positive insight. These questions inspire growth, engagement, and stronger commitment, which directly supports retention.

Key Insights:

• Retention Begins with Curiosity: Leaders who ask “What” questions foster open dialogue and psychological safety.

• “What” Creates Clarity: These questions shift focus from blame to solutions and from confusion to clarity.

• Self-Actualizing Questions Build Ownership: Encouraging reflection helps employees discover their own answers and feel empowered.

• Communication Shapes Culture: The tone and type of questions leaders ask directly influence engagement and retention.

What Matters Most:

• Asking the right questions unlocks the right conversations.

• “What” questions transform uncertainty into opportunity.

• Self-actualizing questions elevate both self-awareness and accountability.

• The quality of your questions determines the quality of your team’s growth and connection.

Reflection Questions:

• What “What” questions could you begin asking more intentionally in your one-on-ones?

• What shifts when you replace “Why” with “What” in moments of challenge?

• What question could you ask this week to inspire a team member’s reflection or breakthrough?

• What would change in your culture if every leader practiced curiosity over judgment?

Quick Practice:

In your next team conversation, replace “Why did this happen?” with “What can we learn from this?” or “What do you think is the next best step?”

Then, when the timing feels right, ask a self-actualizing question such as:

• What are you most proud of in how you handled that?

• What strengths did you use that you didn’t realize you had?

Watch how these simple shifts deepen trust and engagement.

Why Coaching Matters: Turning Attitude Into Alignment

Have you ever had a technically strong employee whose attitude was quietly tearing your team apart?

A leader recently reached out to me with a challenge. She was managing two strong employees — one was a consistent high-performer and the other, highly skilled but struggled with a negative attitude toward her peers.

This employee had excellent technical abilities and knew her job well. But she lacked self-awareness and people skills. She often ridiculed others for not meeting her expectations. The result? Turnover in her department remained high, and morale was low.

The leader didn’t want to terminate this employee. She wanted to coach her, not correct her. She asked, “How can I turn this situation around — to improve performance, strengthen the team, and lower turnover without losing someone with so much potential?”

We began with one foundational principle: Coaching is about helping people see themselves clearly and choose growth.

Through small, consistent coaching moments, the leader shifted her approach. Instead of reacting to the negativity, she began asking powerful, reflective questions:

• “What impact do you think your tone has on the team?”

• “What would leadership look like to you if you were in their shoes?”

• “How can you use your strengths to elevate others rather than intimidate them?”

• “What can you do to support strengths of others and raise their performance?”

The turning point came when the employee realized her behavior was limiting her own opportunities. With consistent feedback, accountability, and encouragement, she agreed to coaching and training.

Six months later, that same employee became the leader of her department. Turnover dropped, performance improved by 10%, and the culture became one of shared respect and ownership.

The original leader was promoted to a new department — and she carried one long-lasting insight with her:

“Coaching doesn’t just change performance. It transforms people — and that changes everything.”

Because when we coach with HEART — Habits, Empower, Authentic, Resilience, and Trust — we don’t just build better employees. We build stronger leaders, healthier teams, and workplaces people want to stay in.

How do you handle a talented employee with a challenging attitude — do you correct them or coach them?

Small, consistent coaching moments create big performance wins.

Meet People Where They Are

When J.J. Redick transitioned from NBA player and analyst to head coach of one of basketball’s most storied franchises, it sparked curiosity: could a first-time coach truly command a locker room of high performers?

What quickly became clear was that Redick’s leadership journey wasn’t about knowing the game — it was about learning himself. His reflection on intensity, empathy, and self-awareness offers a powerful reminder for all leaders: Everyone needs a coach; coaches, too.

Even the best performers need someone to hold up a mirror, ask the tough questions, and help them grow through self-leadership. The best leaders understand that presence is power — not perfection. Leadership is the art of showing up, staying curious, and continuously evolving.

That’s the essence of Coaching With HEART:

• H – Habits that strengthen awareness and focus.

• E – Empower others by seeing and valuing their unique strengths.

• A – Authentic connection through honesty and empathy.

• R – Resilience to reset, learn, and grow through challenges.

• T – Trust that builds safety, performance, and retention.

Redick’s reflection teaches us that leadership isn’t just fire — it’s empathy. It’s knowing when to push, when to pause, and when to connect. And when leaders learn to balance both, retention grows naturally because people stay where they feel understood, inspired, and valued.

Key Insights:

• People Need Coaches: Even great leaders and coaches need accountability and self-reflection to evolve.

• Self-Leadership Drives Retention: Awareness, empathy, and balanced energy directly impact how teams engage and stay.

• Presence Over Perfection: True leadership is about being present, not pretending to have it all figured out.

• Meet People Where They Are: Leadership isn’t lowering standards — it’s deepening empathy and connection.

What Matters Most:

• Leadership begins with self-awareness and emotional regulation.

• Great leaders model the courage to pause, reflect, and grow.

• High-performing teams are built on trust and understanding, not fear and intensity.

• Retention rises when leaders empower others to perform at their best, not when they demand perfection.

Reflection Questions:

• Who’s coaching you as you lead and develop others?

• What habits help you reset and refocus when intensity takes over?

• Where might your drive for excellence overshadow your empathy?

• How can you better meet your people where they are—without lowering the bar?

Quick Practice:

Take 10 minutes this week to reflect on one leadership habit you’d like to strengthen. Journal your observations: When do I push too hard? When do I connect well? Identify one employee who could benefit from more empathy and acknowledgment this week. Ask them, “What support would help you perform at your best?” — then listen fully.

You’ve Hired the Right People — Now Keep Them

Hiring the right people is only the beginning. Retaining them requires intentional leadership. The best leaders don’t just manage performance — they connect with purpose. They know their people’s ambitions, strengths, motivations, and leadership potential.

Retention isn’t a mystery; it’s a mindset. It’s about creating a culture where employees feel seen, supported, and inspired to grow. When leaders invest even 15 minutes of focused coaching — guided by the right tools, structure, and conversation — it can transform engagement and loyalty.

Imagine having proven, private AI-driven coaching tools designed specifically for your organization — tools that help you know what to say, how to coach, and how to unlock potential in every conversation.

That’s the power of Coaching With HEART: turning intention into action and conversations into commitment.

Key Insights:

• Retention Begins With Relationship: People stay where they feel understood, valued, and supported.

• Small Coaching Moments Create Big Results: Fifteen minutes of intentional coaching can change a person’s outlook and performance.

• AI Tools + Human Insight = Leadership Confidence: When leaders are equipped with the right support and tools, they lead with clarity and confidence.

• Coaching With HEART Sustains Retention:

  • H – Habits: Build consistent leadership routines that strengthen trust.

  • E – Empower: Help employees see their potential and own their growth.

  • A – Authentic: Create genuine connections through meaningful conversation.

  • R – Resilience: Support people through change, challenges, and growth.

  • T – Trust: Foster psychological safety that keeps talent engaged and committed.

What Matters Most:

• Retention is driven by the quality of leadership relationships, not just paychecks or perks.

• Consistent, authentic coaching conversations build trust, engagement, and performance.

• Leaders who model curiosity and care create a culture where employees want to stay.

• New tools can simplify and strengthen how leaders coach — but the heart behind it must remain human.

Reflection Questions:

• How well do you really know your top performers — their ambitions, challenges, and motivators?

• What would change if every leader in your organization invested 15 minutes a week in coaching a team member?

• What leadership habit could you develop today to strengthen engagement and trust?

• If you had the tools and structure to make coaching easier, would you use them?

Quick Practice:

This week, take 15 minutes with one team member. Ask:

• What’s one goal or skill you’d love to grow in over the next 90 days?

• What support would help you most right now?

Listen, take notes, and follow up in one week. Small, intentional actions lead to lasting retention.

Leadership isn’t about perfection… it’s about presence, curiosity, and intentional action. Being magnetic means showing up consistently, asking the right questions, and investing in the growth of your people. Retention, engagement, and high performance are natural byproducts of leaders who lead with HEART: Habits, Empowerment, Authenticity, Resilience, and Trust. The practices, reflections, and questions shared here aren’t just theoretical; they’re actionable ways to turn everyday interactions into meaningful moments that inspire, develop, and retain your team. Start small, stay consistent, and watch how focused leadership transforms not just your team, but your entire organization. With thoughtful steps you can take advantage of leadership coaching for results that leave you with a team that actually wants to stay.