Coaching
We believe that coaching, or executive coaching, is one of the most powerful methods for developing people. Whether the needs are for personal or business skills, the opportunity for the coach to work with the individual's needs and learning style means that positive results are achieved quickly and effectively.
We do not have one specific approach to coaching. Some people benefit from a direct and challenging (though still supportive) style, some from a more "gentle" approach and others fall between. It is important that the "client" feels comfortable with the coach they will use and we will work to make sure there is the best fit of personality and style.
The Coaching Process:
- We start by meeting the "sponsor" in your organisation, whether someone in HR, Training and Development, or a line-manager. The objective of this meeting is to find out the perceived needs and the overall outcomes for the coaching activity. (Also, to establish the boundaries between the different parties and agree the feedback process that will be used, if any.)
- The coach will meet the "client", initially to check that they will be comfortable working together and to agree the outcomes the individual wants to achieve. If there is a significant difference between the individual and organisation's desired outcomes the coach will help to handle this and to gain consensus.
- The actual method of coaching will depend on the individual's needs, style and developmental outcomes. We can use a wide range of approaches from the standard "GROW" model, to Egan's 3-stage model or NLP-style methods. The important thing is to find the most effective way to achieve results for the client and to choose a coach who fits with the client and the individuals.
What is coaching?
Put simply, coaching is a conversation, or series of conversations, one person has with another. Collaborative coaching means the coach and coachee are working together to create change for the coachee. As the coach you don’t try to fix someone, solve problems for them or assume any position of superiority or higher knowledge.
Instead the coach adopts the principle that the person being coached probably knows more about their situation than the coach does. The coach believes in the ability of the individual to create insights and ideas needed to move their situation forward.
The task of the coach is to use advanced skills of listening, questioning and reflection to create highly effective conversations and experiences for the individual.
For the person being coached, the relationship feels more like a partnership of equals than anything parental or advisory.
A collaborative coach’s language is likely to be non-directive, as opposed to directive, as the following list illustrates:
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Directive Language
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Non-directive language |
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“Tell me exactly what you did.”
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“It might help if you speak a little more about that.”
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“No – the answer you’re looking for is six.”
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“Perhaps tell me how you worked your answer out.”
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“You need to open up to me more.”
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“I notice that you don’t always seem to feel comfortable discussing some things with me, and I was wondering what caused that?”
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“If you want to improve your social life, you should get out more.” |
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“What is it about your social life that you want to improve?”
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“Go and join one of those singles groups on the internet – they’re really good.”
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What could you do to improve your social life?” |
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You’re still procrastinating – you simply need to get going.”
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“What’s stopping you from getting into action here?” |
Collaborative coaching
Collaborative coaching is a wonderful coaching style because of its supportive, less directive approach. Whilst more directive styles can be really effective, they demand a coach to be much more confident about both the coaching relationship, and their own expertise and relevant knowledge. In collaborative coaching, the coachee is called upon to generate their thoughts, insights and ideas, which they often experience as incredibly liberating. For any coach, to be a less directive coach is challenging, demanding and highly skilful when done effectively. For the individual being coached, it is often a profound experience that can literally change their life.