When should you coach, when should you not coach, what are your boundaries? It’s important to know what your boundaries are, where you feel ok to coach, and where you feel out of your depth. When you are out of your depth, that may be the time to refer to someone else, either another coach
Tag: coaching
Pacy coaching: Go slow to go fast
I’m going discuss pacy coaching; some people think that asking questions that enable a person to think through a solution for themselves is slower than telling people what to do. They are right, but only in the short-term. In the long-term, however, telling people what to do does not develop their capacity to think for
Leader as Coach: Designing Actions
Coaching is about change. To change, we need to take action of some kind. Before we can take action, we need to consider the possibilities, designing actions, and then make a choice about which action(s) to take. Sometimes, people have come to coaching feeling like they have just two ways of going forward. But neither
Leader as Coach: Creating Awareness
Creating awareness comes bit by bit, and then all at once. Slowly, slowly, we (the leader as coach) help the other person to get clear on what they want to figure out; we ask questions that get them to a place of new knowing; we listen in a way that allows us to play back
Leader as Coach: Direct Communication
Leaders need to get comfortable with direct communication in coaching conversations. No flannel, just directness. I am frequently asked the question, “how can you be non-directive at the same time as providing direct communication? Aren’t those diametrically opposite?” Direct communication is an offer, to which we should be unattached. If it doesn’t land with the
Leader as Coach: Powerful Questioning
The most powerful questioning does not require a question at all; but silence. That silence that allows the person to take their thinking where they need to take it, rather than where you think it should go next. That’s it. That’s all there is for today’s post! That’s not true, but I want you to
Assessments change the power dynamic in coaching
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
Coaching in the eye of the storm
Sending you a link today of a post I wrote in the very talented and grounded William Buist’s blog, all about coaching when you most need it – when you don’t have the time: Coaching in the Eye of the Storm (https://xtenclub.com/2016/09/coaching-in-the-eye-of-the-storm/#.V-vcH4WcFjo) I’m off on holiday now for some well earned rest, so toodaloo. See
1-1 Coaching in Action
Did you get a chance to watch the coaching session with Kelly or James to experience coaching in action? Well here’s another example of coaching in action, this time with Lindsey. This session was all about Lindsey’s new business, and one aspect of building that business. Even though I’ve built a business myself, you’ll
1-1 Coaching in Action
I hope you enjoyed listening to the 1-1 coaching in action session with Kelly, and that it gave you a flavour for what coaching is and is not. Today you get to see a very different flavour of session, with James. I admire James for his deep thinking and desire to do his best by everyone
Coach mentoring, coach supervision – the difference
Are you a coach, wondering whether to look for coach mentoring or coach supervision? What’s the difference between the two? Your time and money are precious, so how do you decide which to invest in? Here’s how I would differentiate between the two: Coach mentoring: Gets you ready for accreditation (the International Coach Federation) mandates 10
1-1 Coaching in Action
Ever wondered what coaching really sounds like? Perhaps you have been thinking about coaching for yourself, but you don’t quite know whether it will meet your needs? Well you can see coaching in action right here. Click on the picture below to listen to a 30 minute session between me and Kelly, helping her to figure
Coaching: time and space to percolate
You might have noticed I’ve been a bit slack lately. Writer’s block! Nine years (or maybe more, I’ve lost count) of blogging every week and I suddenly get writer’s block. I sat on it for a bit, thinking that inspiration would strike. But I didn’t really give it any proper reflection time. I kept going with other
Nobody is perfect – not even you
Note to supervisors: if you are expecting your people to be perfect, look in the mirror! Are you perfect? No. Well, nor are they. And your job is to help them to get closer to high performance (notice I don’t say perfection there, as that’s not terribly measurable – let alone achievable). Stop thinking that
What are you learning from your coaching supervision, or supervision of your supervision?
Do you have coaching supervision? Or if you are a coach supervisor, supervision of your supervision? It’s becoming far more prevalent here in the UK…but some of my coaching contacts in the US look at me blankly when I talk about coaching supervision. As if we stop learning as soon as we get that certificate
Trail blazing in situ
My brain (and probably my heart) has been working on overdrive, since I wrote my post about being a revolutionary, trying to figure out the next trail I want to blaze. On the one hand, I felt like I had to move roles, if I was to make the impact I wanted to make. But
