Heartist Journey 2026
Workshop 4 recap
Presented by
Joanna PasekSenior HR Business Partner · Poland, Baltics & UkraineAs HR people, we love to solve problems fast. But when we always give the answer, people stop thinking for themselves. Joanna showed how to coach instead: ask open questions, listen, use silence and let people choose their own next step. The GROW model gives you a simple structure for the conversation.
The main messageBe less of a fixer and more of a coach. Your answer helps once. Your question helps people think, today and next time.
8 short parts, in order. Swipe to see them all, and tap one to go there:
Part 1 of 8
Imagine that on Monday nobody may ask you for a solution. Would your team be lost? When a manager says “My team is not engaged”, most of us give advice at once. Then the manager learns nothing, and the problems keep coming back.
Part 2 of 8
A fixer gives the answer. A coach asks questions and lets the person choose. Advice feels kind, but it can make people depend on you.
The room’s triggers for giving advice: time pressure, and wanting to protect someone.
Part 3 of 8
Coaching is a conversation that helps someone think and choose their own way forward. The responsibility moves to them: the solution, and the learning, are theirs.
Part 4 of 8
Believe in people. Be curious. Ask, don’t tell. Listen with full attention. Let them choose. And pause: “that tiny pause is where the coaching starts”.
Part 5 of 8
Open questions make people think. “Have you tried anything?” becomes “What have you tried so far?” “Shouldn’t you ask for help?” becomes “Who could support you?”
Watch out for “Why don’t you try X?”: it is advice in disguise. And ask “What else?” more than once.
Part 6 of 8
GROW gives the conversation a structure: Goal, Reality, Options, Way forward. End with the smallest step the person can take tomorrow. Don’t rush: time spent on the goal is time well spent.
Part 7 of 8
In groups of three (coach, coachee, observer), everyone practised for six minutes per round. The hardest part was not giving advice, or not leading the person to your own answer.
Part 8 of 8
Notice the moment you want to give advice, pause, and ask an open question instead. Keep one question ready, like “What would you do?”, and a small reminder on your desk.
The Universal Coach
Fixer: defines the problem, gives the answer. Coach: clarifies, asks for ideas, lets the person choose.
Believe, be curious, ask don’t tell, listen fully, keep ownership with them, pause.
What have you tried so far? Who could support you? Why is this important to you? What else?
Goal, Reality, Options, Way forward. Finish with the smallest next step.
Notice, pause, ask your ready question (“What would you do?”), keep a visible reminder.
“The hidden cost of our helpfulness is employee dependence.”
“Coaching is a conversation that helps someone think and choose their own way forward.”
“That tiny pause is where the coaching starts.”
“It’s their solution, not yours.”
QWhat makes us give advice instead of coaching?
AThe room named two triggers: time pressure, and wanting to protect someone from looking bad in front of others. One GM, who is also HR and HOD in a small hotel, said coaching makes their job easier: when the team thinks for itself, he has more time.
QWhat was hardest in the practice?
ANot giving advice. Also: asking questions that still lead the person to your own answer. The tip: notice it, pause, and ask a real open question.
We wrote this recap from the session recording. Quotes are slightly edited to make them easier to read.
