“The most significant variable in coaching is the readiness, willingness, and ability of clients to change in ways that are meaningful to them” (Drake 2023).
So coaching is only as powerful as the thinkers themselves!
Everything we have seen in the past few blog posts about how you (the Thinker) turn up to coaching is born out in the above quote and the research that has found that the order of attention in the coaching industry is:
- Coaching Method
- Coach
- Relationship
- Thinker
So we first focus our training on the coaching method and believe that the coach has the most impact, when in fact the order of variance in outcomes is:
- Thinker
- Relationship
- Coach
- Coaching Method
Interesting! That’s the complete reverse of the way we approach coaching at the moment.
How you (the Thinker) come to the coaching is paramount. That’s what we have been looking at over the past few posts. This is where we need to focus – supporting you to be the most coachable that you can be!
Take a look back over the previous posts to refresh your memory (or read them for the first time if you skipped over them originally).
What are you learning about what it takes to create the outcomes you most desire?
Don’t rely on your coach to wave a magic wand. You are the magic wand. You are the secret ingredient here. You might not feel that way, as you might be feeling stuck and want someone to haul you out of that stuckness. But it takes a partnership to do that, and you play a pivotal role in that partnership.
Don’t leave it to chance. Arm yourself with the knowledge about how to be the best Thinker you can be. Work on your mindset. Work on your thinking accelerators. Pay yourself attention. The outcome of your thinking is about being clear and connected with who you are – much more than about how you perform. So be prepared to lean into your humanity, your emotions, and your body’s wisdom. Be curious. Make links.
“It is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried. It began to occur to me that unless I had a need to demonstrate my own cleverness and learning, I would do better to rely upon the client for the direction of movement”. . . Carl Rogers.
