Coaching Skills for Managers
A university course on the mechanics of coaching someone: asking rather than telling, giving feedback that lands, and setting goals people actually pursue. Free to audit, and useful whether or not you manage anyone.
Course
Mentorship
University of California, Davis
4 to 6 weeks
Intermediate
Free
What it is
A four course specialisation on coaching conversations, covering the coaching mindset, effective questioning, delivering feedback, and goal setting and accountability. Auditing is free; only the certificate costs money.
Why engineers should care
Mentoring is a skill and most engineers do it badly by defaulting to what feels natural, which is giving the answer. Giving the answer is faster and teaches nothing. Learning to ask the question that lets someone find it themselves is a technique, and it can be taught.
Where it applies beyond mentoring
Code review, design review, and any conversation where you can see the problem and the other person cannot yet. The difference between telling someone their design is wrong and asking what happens when the queue backs up is the difference between a defensive conversation and a productive one.
Best for: tech leads, new managers, and anyone who mentors juniors and suspects they are doing it by instinct.
Ready to start?
Opens on University of California, Davis in a new tab.
Stuck on something specific?
Writing only gets you so far. If you want an answer to your situation rather than the general case, book a session and we will work through it together. Every session is free; a few slots open each week.
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