My experience in coaching started as Mozillian. During the activities that I do someone suggested to me to read the Tao of Coaching few years ago.
Now I read many books about the topic and also on public speaking to improve my skills and my words when I talk to the people to get what I want easily (in terms of information to help them) and help them to do find/do what they want.
One of the rules that I use is to write my guide about my experience to let others to join, for that reason I written:
- How to be a techspeaker: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vkqRBnbV5emxHZjTZctXmNgqaHQVA8wFO8Y86VnzW1U/edit
- How to recruit and motivate volunteers: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kg7CxZIyebsXEjXWxGKxov84NWgEm-eQ8FFFWC2AsJk/edit
- http://mte90.github.io/Talk-Coaching/ - my talk about coaching for open source communities
My personal experience in communities life without the coaching skills will be pretty incomplete because enabled me to create groups and understand the needs and the problems on a specific task without generate strange situations or uncomfortable questions.
The big step is to accept that the coaching stuff is not something for psychologist but something that can help to improve the quality, the timing, the knowledge, to be more focus and get more fun about your task that can be help a volunteer or fix a bug.
This is also one of the reason why I have a wall of post it of stuff to do but also I join Community Leadership Conferences (CLSX) in Italy to talk about my experience and get more people involved in Mozilla because we are open to everything, the only little step is start to think that I want to do and the others people with experience will help you to arrive to your target.
Initially understand that when you are talking of a coach is completely different from a boss or a mentor was difficult because the role can be the same but is not. It is not a question of role but approach of what you are doing on your role that can be a mentor or a leader.
That approach of coaching is to let the coachee to do the stuff on their own, you have only to guide them with listening and help to focus on the goal.
however I think follow up questions are a good way to keep trainees thinking about what they have learned