Considering becoming a coach?

Martin Hill

What is coaching?
Coaching is an increasingly popular tool for supporting an individual’s or group’s personal development. It is used within a business environment to enhance performance and encourage achievement and attainment.

The coaching relationship is a partnership – an equal relationship allowing the coachee to:
– Clarify and set the goals that they really want to achieve
– To encourage them to do more than they would have probably done on their own
– To help them to focus better so that they are able to produce results more quickly
– To provide them with the tools, support and structure to enable them to accomplish more

Coaching is not about:
– Telling them what they should or should not do
– Counselling
– Therapy for clinical issues (e.g. depression or high levels of stress/anxiety)

Coaching Definitions
Here are some definitions as to what coaching means:
“Coaching is the art of facilitating the performance, learning and development of another.” (Downey, 2003)
“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than by teaching them (Whitmore, 2003)
“[Coaching is] developing a person’s skills and knowledge so that their job performance improves, hopefully so that organizational objectives are achieved.” (CIPD, 2008)

Why Do You Want To Be A Coach?
In “Coaching- Learning Made Simple” (2007) Butterworth-Heineman; David Pardey suggests that “it may be:
•    Something you have wanted to do for some time to pass on your knowledge and skills and see other people develop and improve.
•    A way of building or developing your career.
•    Part of your job that you need to be able to do.”

Pardey also suggests that the following key questions to ask yourself “to understand your own attitude and motivation:
– Is it your choice or somebody else’s that you should become a coach?
– Have you been coached yourself, or seen other people coaching?
– Have you already done any coaching?
– How do you feel about coaching?

….One of the most important parts of the coach’s role is to encourage people to become reflective. Reflective means that they consciously think about and analyse what they have done or are doing. But you cannot expect to encourage other people to be reflective if you aren’t reflective yourself…You can start by using these questions to reflect on (to consciously think about and analyse) your motivations, experiences and attitudes to coaching.”

Qualities of a Coach
In “Coaching & Mentoring at Work” (2nd edition) (2012) Open University Press- Mary Connor and Julia Pokora suggest the following qualities of a coach:
•    Supportive – a non-judgemental listener
•    Challenging – not afraid to disagree or question
•    Assertive – able to state wants and needs
•    Open – receptive to new ideas and ways of thinking , to ‘half-baked’ ideas
•    Transparent – communicates their values and ‘walks the talk’
•    Creative – able to think laterally and ‘outside of the box’
•    Interpersonally skilled – at influencing others
•    Strategic – able to take the long-term view
•    Kind – sensitive to others and shows care for them
•    Fair – treats people equally, not prejudiced or partial
•    Resilient – in the face of difficulties
•    Considered – rather than reactive, in making judgements

Connor & Pokora also give the following examples of possible roles of the coach:
•    Supporter – a confidential respectful listener who does not judge or evaluate
•    Challenger – helps the client to challenge themselves, and offers empathic challenge
•    Sounding Board – helps the client to explore ‘half baked’ ideas and thoughts
•    Networker – helps the client to identify key connections and develop relationships
•    Coach – helps the client to develop skills and confidence
•    Role model – has qualities or attributes to which the client aspires
•    Critical friend – offers constructive feedback
•    Strategist – helps the client to look at the broad picture and think long term
•    Catalyst – helps the client to develop new perspectives and harness their creativity

Next steps?

For more information, why not give us a call here at British School of Coaching (01744605046) – we will be delighted to provide guidance and support.


Martin Hill LL.B (Hons), FCMI, FInstLM, FISQC, MAC, EMCC Member, Coach and Coach Supervisor
Director for ILM Level 7 Executive Coaching and Mentoring Programme


www.britishschoolofcoaching.com

Staying in control of your decisions

Charlotte Randall

We have all had to make choices in our life that have required decisions to be made to affect an end goal. The bigger the end goal the more resilient you need to be to aspire to achieve it. Once the wheels are in motion towards your target you embark on a journey that will test your commitment, resolve and emotional stance. Excitement of the possibilities ahead is often the first emotion and the driving force behind the energy that supports the planning phase of the change process. However, as major new experiences loom excitement can start to wane and in its place fear is waiting.

When fear takes hold behaviours alter and coming off your trajectory is a very plausible outcome. You start to convince yourself that you’re still in control, you know what you’re doing and where you’re going; you push on with ever increasing urgency trying to make your mental map (where you think you are going) fit with where you actually are. The longer you operate in this paradigm the easier it is for fear of failure to manifest; lurching from one irrational decision to another looking for the emotional reprieve a particular course of action might bring, hoping that equilibrium will once again be restored.  This is neither a sustainable nor a productive environment in which to operate and holds the potential of derailing your pursuits altogether.

Maintaining control of your decisions as the situation evolves and avoiding emotion alone dictating the next move you make is paramount. Very few successful outcomes are achieved unaided and it is important to develop relationships that provide objectivity to the process and explores the purposefulness of each decision, aligned with the end goal. Utilising the skills of a coach to facilitate a solutions focused conversation and the management of emotions along the journey, is a potentially powerful relationship to hold; one that will help you to stay on track and in control of your thinking and direction.  A coaching relationship then can provide the following scaffold:

1.    Planned time and space to think – the challenge will not feel so overwhelming when you have the opportunity to focus on it without interference.

2.    Talk and be heard - by having someone really listen to your challenge you can establish (re-establish) momentum, clarity of the situation and a solid baseline from which to move forwards.

3.    Solution focused communication - the conversation remains positive, giving you permission to connect with the possibilities through the development of challenging action planning.

4.    Respect for your emotions – the support to be brave enough to consider from the outset your emotional triggers, default reactions as a result and the empowerment to do something about them so you do not derail.

5.    Celebrate achievement – encouragement to congratulate yourself on the small achievements and positive experiences along the way. In a situation where the end goal seems so great, or so far out of reach, it is important to recognise that you are making a difference with your actions.

6.    Importantly a coach will retain your focus on the original impetus for change and when challenging situations arise remind you it really excited you once and it can again!