I’m sometimes asked what assessments I am qualified to use as a coach. My answer is that I rarely use assessments in a coaching relationship. Not that I don’t think they are useful. They can be a great window into self-awareness, when debriefed well. But if I were to start a coaching assignment by debriefing someone about an assessment they have just completed, the power dynamic in coaching starts off on the wrong foot.
Let me explain…in coaching, we say that both parties are equal. The client is resourceful, creative and whole. But if I hold information about the client that I feed back to them, then suddenly I hold more power than they do. The power dynamic in coaching is then unequal.
Of course, you can debrief the client in a way that enables them to interpret the data for themselves; but still it is likely that you will understand the way the instrument works better than they do, so once again you hold more power. The power dynamic in coaching is unequal.
When you start a coaching programme in this way, whether it’s 1-1 or with a team, it’s hard to shift the power back to being equal. You’ve set the scene that you are the expert in their data; and extricating yourself from being the expert is tough.
So I don’t start coaching programmes with an assessment. If an assessment is used, I ask that someone else debriefs that with the client. The client then holds their own data and can decide how they want to work with it in coaching; it’s their choice. We start on an equal footing, where neither one of us holds power over the other. The power dynamic in coaching is equal.
There’s a lot more to be said about the power dynamic in coaching – this is just one aspect, and maybe I’ll come back to it again in future posts.
