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Without it sessions can lean too far into the client’s story. And we could miss the subtle cues that tell us what idea, belief, or perspective is getting in the way of what the client wants.

An agreement allows the coach to pause the conversation and invite the client to reflect on what they really want vs what they thought they wanted when they came to the session.

I ask my coaches to imagine you are in a boat in the middle of a lake. You can’t see the shores, but you know they’re there. In this analogy the boat in the coaching session and the shore is the agreement – what the client was to achieve in the session. This allows freely row along with the client while mindful of that we are heading to the shore.

Don’t like that analogy. I have another one.

Imaging boarding a train expecting to get somewhere but you have no idea if the train you’re on is heading in the direction you want and you’re not sure of where you want to go. So, you ride forever getting nowhere. The similarities are obvious. The agreement allows us to ride freely because we know where the client wants to go. And if that changes, we can stop and re-route the session.

What to earn your MCC or coach like one? Check out the Coach Credential Prep Course.

Special pricing for group starting September 12^th.

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I admit I am a super fan of true crime and have a paid subscription ID Discovery – all crime, all the time.

It has struck me more than once the skills of a detective are aligned with the skills of a coach. As Joe says, our questions are based on our observations of the client.

What makes a good detective also makes for a masterful coach – both are calm, friendly, and observant, and react well to situations that require an open mind.

Also, coaches need to remember to share with the client anything that doesn’t seem to make sense or add up or sounds like a contradiction. Awareness is often invited when sharing something the client isn’t seeing.

“As I approached the crime scene, I consciously entered into a zone, focusing my mind, tightening down the screws.”

Do what Joe does without the crime scene. As we approach a session enter the zone of active listening, non-judgement, and curiosity. Tightened the screws.

What to earn your MCC or coach like one? Check out the Coach Credential Prep Course.
Special pricing for group starting September 12th.

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The following are key elements of ICF Core Competency #2 – Establishing the Coaching Agreement that invites you to hold off on nailing down the outcome or goal until you have explored for specificity. This is permission to go deeper to consider, what is the mindset, thought or belief underneath the challenge or stated focus for the session.

Often, there is an issue beneath the issue? The initial “issue” is rarely the “real” or underlying one. Let’s use the example of a client who comes to the session with a focus on time management. They say they want a plan, tips, techniques to get a handle on their schedule.

The temptation is to go straight to strategy which steps over the exploration of the issue under this issue. Given the unending apps and tools out there to manage time, don’t believe your client lacks information. Instead, consider what mindsets lurk beneath this surface.

Maybe they are unwittingly buying into the belief there is never enough time, that other people manage their time better than they do or they say yes to too many requests believing this is what a generous, popular, or competent person does.

If we overlook these curiosities, any strategic action going forward will likely be a temporary solution. But if we partner with them to find a truer, more productive perspective the challenge might be permanently transformed – and with it the person.

Want some more practical tips to boost your coaching? Check out the Coach Credential Prep Course and/or join my mentor groups.
www.coachcredentialprep.com

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We often mouth the words mistakes are learning experiences, that failure is a given and happens to everyone. Yet do we fully step into this truth?

In ICF Competency 2: Embodies a Coaching Mindset is something we MUST pursue for ourselves if we are to demonstrate this in our coaching. When it comes to your coaching, are you open, curious, and flexible? Do you really know that one doesn’t need to be confident to learn? You just must be confident that you’re committed fully to this process, which is an ongoing, life-time goal. The only choice is to keep going. Don’t get stuck in a limiting belief that you are not a good coach.

In the current ICF PCC Marker Training we are encouraged to “Regularly access all aspects of yourself (intellect, emotions, physicality, intuition) and see how your ways of being might impact how you evaluate.” That’s my invitation to you when you review your own coaching.

Want some more practical tips to boost your coaching? Check out the Coach Credential Prep Course and/or join my mentor groups.
www.coachcredentialprep.com

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I was slugging through the winter when I committed to a 30-Day Yoga program by the lovely yogi Adrienne. Something had to get me away from my laptop and the coach.
Struggling with the 6th downward dog (I am not a fan of this posture) when she reminded us that the ‘process is the reward’.

This is true for yoga and, it occurred to me, true for coaching.
This wise pronouncement comes not from a coach or a yogi but from the adventurer Amelia Earhart. And she certainly embodied the idea the process – a flight across the Atlantic Ocean – is the reward.
Many coaches come to coach training with a fierce desire to help others. This is all good until it becomes the agenda of the coach. We are not the ones making the change. It is not our role or responsibility to ‘make something happen for the client whether it’s the awareness or the action. Instead, we have a process that invites, enthuses, energizes the client to find their way forward.

Remember: Supporting others while they stretch into their potential, holding the trusting space to open themselves up to new ideas and perspectives, and witnessing their growth and development is all due to the coaching process.
Even if they don’t get “there”, wherever “there” is, the process is the reward for them. You can’t always control the outcomes, but you can control what you put into this amazing process.

Want some more practical tips to boost your coaching? Check out the Coach Credential Prep Course and/or join my mentor groups. www.coachcredentialprep.com

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We will check with them via email or the next session about whether they did what they said they would.

There are a few things wrong here. First, we don’t hold the client accountable. The commitment to the coaching is an accountability structure. Much like when you pay for a gym membership you do so with the hope that it will commit you to actually go to the gym. The membership is an accountability structure.

Second thing to remember as a coach is that you are not checking their homework like a good parent. If you come to a session and the first thing you ask is, “Did you complete your actions from last week?” you’re setting the agenda and this flies in the face of creating the partnership necessary in coaching. It puts in play a hierarchical dynamic with the coach in charge vs the client.

But how do we attend to the PCC markers? Easy. It is spelled out clearly here in
Competency 8: Facilitates Client Growth – 8.7: Coach partners with the client to design the best methods of accountability for themselves.

So what does the coach do in relation to accountability?
We ask, notice, observe and wonder. Here’s what that might look like:

ASK, client what would it take for you to move forward?

• How would you like to hold yourself accountable for your goals?
• How do you want me to approach you if you don’t follow through with the commitments you make? What would be a good way to bring this up?
• How else can I support your accountability process?

And then watch for any changes.

With the current pandemic situation, many of our goals may have changed or others more relevant have surfaced. Pay attention to what has changed in the cleint’s life or situation that might be affecting their goals. Check-in and ensure that the original goal is still in alignment as the coaching progresses. Consider asking are they still committed? Does the goal need to be revised?

References:
Coaching for Leadership

Managing Progress & Accountability Facilitated by Jean-Francois Cousin (MCC) and Nat Permsup (PCC)

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I’ll explain and yes, it’s coaching.

The recent Olympics and the stories of victory and defeat are so applicable to everyday life that it is no wonder professional coaching took its framework from how athletic coaches bring out the best in others.

A coach doesn’t need to perform as well as those they coach. The same is true for life and workplace coaches. What we have is a powerful process which involves committed listening and an understanding of perspectives that get folks stuck.

A student in my mentor groups, struggling with this idea, asked, when is it appropriate to share your resources or experience? It seems that a lot of coaches, especially newly trained coaches, want to share such information with clients, but they’re not sure if this is leading or advising and they were likely taught that coaches are not consultants.

I shared with this coach a thought that might reframe her perspective. What if you think of yourself as at thought partner? She paused and her face lifted with consideration and then the awareness.

Of course, I didn’t invent this term. It is frequently used in executive and leadership coaching to explain the value of a coach to highly successful and ambitious people.

But perhaps it is new to you. As a thinking partner, we help clients ‘think things through’, to open and stretch their thinking, inviting a reframe or trying on a different perspective which often reveals multiple causes and possible outcomes to any choice. Coach as a thinking partner works to raise awareness of information gaps, assumptions, and patterns of thinking in an objective way.

It’s like brainstorming – a competency of coaching according to the International Coach Federation (ICF).  In the current competencies, the behavioral markers for Professional Certified Coach (PCC) explain the process like this:

1. Brainstorms and assists the client to define actions that will enable the client to demonstrate, practice, and deepen new learning.
2. Helps the client to focus on and systematically explore specific concerns and opportunities that are central to agreed-upon coaching goals.
3. Engages the client to explore alternative ideas and solutions, to evaluate options, and to make related decisions.

Such brainstorming encourages people to come up with thoughts and ideas that are new and even a bit silly and can be crafted into creative solutions, hopefully sparking even more ideas. As a thought partner this is exactly what we do to get people unstuck by challenging to see beyond their normal ways of thinking.

Most importantly, a thought partner/coach must be non-judgmental and objective for the process to be productive and the resulting actions sustainable. We are not telling them what to do or leading them in a particular direction.  We are giving them the time and space and the benefit of being on the sidelines to open up possibilities and break down assumptions about a problem or challenge.

So, what does this sounds like in real coaching? We explore and demonstrate this in our unique ICF Credential Prep Course. Find out more here. And feel free to book a brief call with me (NO HARD SELL, I PROMISE). I’m happy to answer your questions.

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