CPM Coaching & Leadership Pipeline 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A manager is coaching an employee using the GROW model. After establishing the Goal and exploring Reality, what is the next step?
- Summarize the conversation and close
- Explore Options available to the employee (Correct answer)
- Define the Will or commitment to action
- Return to goal-setting with more specificity
Correct answer: Explore Options available to the employee
The GROW model sequence is Goal, Reality, Options, Will — Options come third and involve brainstorming possible paths forward.
Question 2: Which leadership pipeline passage is most often the source of organizational dysfunction when poorly executed?
- Individual contributor to managing others (Correct answer)
- Managing managers to functional manager
- Functional manager to business manager
- Business manager to group manager
Correct answer: Individual contributor to managing others
The first passage from individual contributor to managing others is the most common failure point because it requires a fundamental mindset shift that many new managers never fully make.
Question 3: During a coaching session, an employee says, 'I just don't think I'm cut out for leadership.' What is the best coaching response?
- Agree and redirect the employee toward an individual contributor track
- Immediately reassure the employee that they are capable
- Ask the employee to say more about what leads them to that conclusion (Correct answer)
- Share examples of other employees who overcame similar doubts
Correct answer: Ask the employee to say more about what leads them to that conclusion
Exploring the belief behind the statement uncovers root causes and gives the coachee space to examine their assumptions.
Question 4: What is the primary purpose of a leadership pipeline in an organization?
- To create a succession plan for the CEO role only
- To ensure a continuous supply of leaders ready to fill roles at each level (Correct answer)
- To track employee performance for annual reviews
- To identify employees who should be placed on performance improvement plans
Correct answer: To ensure a continuous supply of leaders ready to fill roles at each level
A leadership pipeline ensures the organization can fill leadership vacancies at all levels from within, reducing reliance on external hiring.
Question 5: A manager uses stretch assignments as a coaching tool. What key condition must be met for a stretch assignment to be developmentally effective?
- The assignment must guarantee success to build confidence
- The employee must be fully qualified for the assignment before starting
- The assignment should be slightly beyond the employee's current capability with adequate support (Correct answer)
- The assignment should replace the employee's regular duties entirely
Correct answer: The assignment should be slightly beyond the employee's current capability with adequate support
Effective stretch assignments sit in the growth zone — challenging enough to develop new skills but supported enough to prevent derailment.
Question 6: Which coaching behavior most undermines trust in the coaching relationship?
- Giving the coachee time to think before responding
- Sharing coaching conversation content with the coachee's peers (Correct answer)
- Asking challenging questions that create discomfort
- Focusing on future behavior rather than past mistakes
Correct answer: Sharing coaching conversation content with the coachee's peers
Sharing confidential coaching content destroys psychological safety and breaks the trust that makes coaching effective.
Question 7: In the context of the leadership pipeline, what does 'work values' refer to?
- An employee's salary expectations at each leadership level
- What a leader believes is important enough to spend time on at a given level (Correct answer)
- The ethical standards an organization requires of its leaders
- The performance metrics used to evaluate managers
Correct answer: What a leader believes is important enough to spend time on at a given level
Work values in the pipeline model describe what a leader prioritizes — and these must shift appropriately at each new leadership level.
CPM Coaching & Leadership Pipeline 3
A manager is coaching an employee using the GROW model.
After establishing the Goal and exploring Reality, what is the next step?