Preparing for Winter: COACH

This is the third in the series of new blogs that the British School of Coaching has started that focus on different aspects of wellbeing for both coaches and their clients. BSC already hosts an endorsed Wellbeing Coaching qualification. This course provides an opportunity to understanding wellbeing rather than being seen simply as physical health. In addition there is a one day course to increase the understanding of mindfulness as well an opportunity to try out mindfulness techniques.

This wellness blog has been developed in response to extending the dialogue with coaches, as a way to support coaches to consider their own wellness as well as that of their clients. It isn’t prescriptive, but a mechanism to keep a live debate going as well as caring for the coaching community. Please join in this dialogue through Twitter (@bsc4coaching) using the hashtag- #BSCWellbeing

Available on the British School of Coaching website, the blog is based on five tips for maintaining wellbeing, for all coaches to contribute to.  Using COACH acronym as our framework the blog will be structured in the following headings of:
1. Care
2. Opportunities
3. Action and awareness raising
4. Conversations and feedback
5. Health

Appreciating the environment around us

October is the International Walk to School Month for Primary Schools as well as International School Library Month. Over 40 countries are taking part. For further information please see here.
Perhaps you could have a competition to what you see on the way to school. Below is a flower I particularly liked and took a photo of on a recent walk. Hope you like it too!

Please tweet us your photographs and use the hashtag- #BSCWellbeing so we can re-tweet them.

1.    Care
This section will cover suggested tips for coaches to share with each other how they care for themselves and clients.

The autumn harvests provide a wealth of different vegetables that can be stored and eaten through the winter months.

For this blog the tip is about the benefits of a vegetarian diet to mark World Vegetarian Day that is celebrated annually on 1st October. World Vegetarian Day was founded in 1977 by the North American Vegetarian Society. Its purpose is to draw global attention to the health and environmental benefits of vegetarianism and on the ethics of following a vegetarian lifestyle.

A study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine looked at data from seven clinical studies and 32 other studies published between 1900 and 2013 where participants kept a vegetarian diet and found that vegetarians have lower blood pressure compared to people who eat meat. Other studies suggest a lower incidence of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

It is also important to note that the main documented disadvantage of a vegetarian diet relate to not eating a balanced diet.

As always health and lifestyle choices are personal. This blog provides ‘food for thought’.

2.    Opportunities
Training to be a coach is a journey of increases self -awareness. For wellbeing coaches it also about increasing self-awareness about wellness and prevention. Amongst the national campaigns this month there is a focus on Breast Cancer with national campaign running a fund raising event on 14th October 2016.

3.    Action and awareness raising
October is National Home Security Month which serves as a reminder to coaches about ensuring their coaching environment is secure particularly for those of us who coach in the evenings.
National statistics show there is a 20% increase in home burglaries happening during the darker months of the year.

Don’t Forget  – The clocks Go Back in the UK on Sunday 30th October 2016.
For further information please see the national Locksmiths and business security. Stay Safe in the darker months!

4.    Conversations and feedback
This section is for coaches to provide their hints and tips for maintaining wellness as well as share experiences that may also be used in coaching network supervision session. If you have any models or thoughts you would like to share in this blog please email them to: amy@britishschoolofcoaching.com

5. Health
Spotlight on Mindfulness

World Mental Health Day (10th October) has once again highlighted the importance of building a better understanding of our mental health and wellbeing.

Mindfulness can be defined as moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, characterised mainly by “acceptance” – attention to thoughts and feelings without judging whether they are right or wrong.

The benefits of mindfulness have again been questioned in the media in recent weeks. An academic paper written by Dr Jonathan Passmore called ‘The role of mindfulness in coaching’ explores the concept of mindfulness as a tool for helping both coaches and coachees.  In this article he argues that coaching practice of the coach can be enhanced through using mindfulness as a preparation tool. He also highlights research evidence on mindfulness impact in managing stress and contributing towards improved performance, concluding with a discussion about the benefits for coachees too. Please see the full article here.

Sally Bell, Business and Wellbeing Coach

The content of a coaching session: the art of elephant spotting

Martin Hill, Senior Tutor BSC

My previous blogs explored the topics of “Beginning A Coaching Relationship” and “Endings In A Coaching Relationship”. In this blog I will be exploring the content of the coaching session and, in particular, how the coach needs to ensure that the true topic/issue has been issued – the art of spotting the elephant in the room.

Sounds easy doesn’t it? A lot of the coaching models that you will be familiar with also give that impression – for example GROW – the first item on the agenda is to identify and agree the goal. Unfortunately, the first declared goal may not be the real goal – in other words the elephant has not yet been spotted. This may be for a variety of reasons – the coachee may feel nervous; feel a sense of shame or a fear of failure – it may even be the case that the coachee is unsure or uncertain.

Here are some of my tools and tips that I have gleaned from my own coaching and supervisory practice and which help ensure that the elephant is spotted and appropriately dealt with:
•    Preparations – the pre-session contact and information that you forward to the coachee can play a critical role in scene setting, managing expectations and providing the foundations for building trust and rapport. How do you “contract”? Including the coachee in the process and exploring their preferences/ expectations pays dividends in this regard – for example establishing their learning style preference (which enables the coach to plan for that) or establishing their understanding of, and tolerance for, challenge.

•    Confidentiality – you know that you have established trust and rapport when the coachee feels confident to disclose personal, often their innermost, thoughts and feelings. The greater the attention you pay to explaining confidentiality, and agreeing the boundaries thereof together, the more likely it is that the elephant will come out into the open. Remember though that elephants do not like shocks or surprises – beware of promising “total confidentiality” as there are things that may arise that require disclosure and if you have not fully explained this or checked for mutual understanding – the elephant may well stampede and retreat into the distance.

•    Patience – relax and be prepared to play the long game. Each coachee is unique and will have their own bespoke coaching experience. Bear in mind as well the nature of the coaching engagement as this may be a contributory factor in making the coachee feel safe and relaxed – for example internal coaches may notice that it takes longer to establish total trust and rapport with internal coachees, compared to external coachees.

•    Check-In To Check-Out – even if the goal/topic has been identified and the session is focused on this, take the opportunity from time to time throughout the session to “check in” with the coachee and “check out” that this remains the most pressing or relevant goal or topic that the coachee needs to discuss.

•    Questioning – Use of clear and focused questioning can help unearth the true issues. In “Enabling Genius” (2016), LID Publishing Ltd Myles Downey outlines that one of “the means of managing one’s thinking …is called the ‘floodlight and spotlight’. Floodlight comes first. Floodlighting shines light on the whole territory and into every nook and cranny. It includes what one notices, what one thinks about, what one intuits, imagines, feels and desires. Floodlight is followed by spotlight and the best question to focus the spotlight is: what stands out? Or what is most interesting? Cliff Kimber…asks this question frequently: ‘What do you need to think clearly about?’” Think of this in relation to your coaching practice – does your questioning generate floodlight and spotlight thinking?

•    Use the AWE question – “The Coaching Habit” – Michael Bungay Stanier (2016) Box of Crayons Press uses this tool – the AWE question is (drum roll please)… “And What Else?” This can even be used at the goal/topic discussion stage – do not just accept the first declared goal, follow it up with AWE!

•    Intuition – as your confidence as a coach grows, you will notice that you are becoming more adept at sensing or feeling (a “gut reaction”) the non-declared topics/issues. This intuition is something to pay attention to, but always needs to be carefully managed. Always seek permission to check out if the intuitive sense is accurate, and/or is something that the coachee is content to explore.

•    Observation – the elephant in the room may be spotted by your observations – not just visual but also active listening. For example you may notice discordance in body language or expressed emotions by the coachee when they are talking. Another concept to be aware of comes from Hawkins & Shohet’s Seven Eyed Supervision model – “parallel process”. This could include the situation where the coaching session with the coachee mirrors how the coachee acts/behaves normally –sometimes contradicting what they are telling you in the session. It may be useful to explore this with the client by asking them to describe how they approach a task etc. The coach would then highlight what they have observed and the discordance. For example one coachee was describing her frustration with her second in command and spent some time explaining what the coachee was doing to address that and expressing confusion and frustration at the fact that it was not working. The session was interrupted by a knock on the door and I had a ring side seat and was able to hear the interaction between the two. When the session resumed, I played back what the coachee had initially described about her own behaviours and actions and contrasted that with the interaction I had just overheard which evidenced the complete opposite! A powerful tool which worked wonders.

•    Use of knowledge – as the coach you may come into possession of knowledge or information that is unknown to the coachee. This is where Johari’s Window can be a really powerful tool to use and help the coachee explore their own “blind spot” and the “unknown” arena as well.

•    Materials- Have you got everything that you need – pen, paper? Sometimes using a different learning style or using creativity in the session can expose the elephant. For example a coachee struggled to talk about an emotional issue; until I suggested that we tried a visual representation of the subject – hey presto!  Make sure you keep your “coaching kitbag” stocked and also make sure that you keep it current and topical to suit your practice.

•    Challenge – be ready to challenge the elephant in the room – especially if it has not been “noticed”, or acknowledged by the coachee.

•    How do you eat an elephant?

Make sure you deal with the elephant by setting small “baby” steps for action – make sure that they are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound) and get the coachee to visualise and describe what the successful completion of the action will look and feel like , what will others notice; what will people be saying etc.

•    Suspend Judgement – maintain neutrality no matter what is disclosed. Simply acknowledge, accept and explore.

I hope that this has provided a catalyst for your own thoughts and reflections and I would be interested to hear from you with your own comments or observations (email Martin@britishschoolofcoaching.com).

Beginning a Coaching Relationship

Martin Hill, Senior Tutor BSC

“Let us watch well our beginnings, and results will manage themselves” –Alexander Clark

In this blog I thought it may be useful to draw on the lessons I have learned from my own coaching and supervisory practice relating to the beginning of a coaching relationship with a new client.

Frequently coaches say that they achieved rapport and gained trust, but when asked what they did and how they did it, they frequently are unable to do so. This can even apply to experienced coaches. The risk as one becomes more consciously competent is that complacency can begin to creep in and we begin to take some skills and behaviours almost for granted, meaning we give them less focus and attention. I would recommend taking some time to review and reflect what you do and consider how you managed to create a safe environment that helped to build trust and rapport.

Here are some of the factors that I have noticed that help build an effective and successful coaching relationship:
– Preparatory Actions- Even before the first session is held, your preparatory actions can be critical in building a sense of trust and rapport with your coachee. Do you always follow up your potential leads? How is that done? Have you got your “elevator pitch” fine-tuned? Prior to a first session I forward my coachees a copy of my profile, a brief explanation about what coaching is, a copy of the proposed coaching contract/agreement and a copy of the Code of Ethics I follow. The advantage of that is that the first session spends minimal times on dealing with these “administrative” necessities, and the majority of the session is focused on coaching. The pre-session material outlines what the coachee can expect of me, and also the expectations of them.

– Research Preparation- taking the time to research the coachee and/or organisation is something that can potentially reap huge dividends- not only does it illustrate a professional and committed approach, but it can provide you with background knowledge that can be used to make the coachee feel at ease and relax, once they realise that there is some element of common understanding.  Some coaches take this a stage further and ask the coachee about their preferred learning style or their “challenge” preference/tolerance. This can enable the coach to adapt their coaching style to accommodate those preferences. Bear in mind, however, that sometimes it is useful to “stretch” someone by choosing a different style – but that is something that is likely to be more productive once the coaching relationship has had time to establish.

– Contracting- Again this is a preparatory element – who do you have to contract with? This could be a 2 way contract (between coach and coachee directly) or a 3 way contract (coach, coachee and sponsor). Take time to scope all the players involved as there may be a multiplicity of parties- for example, coach, coachee, sponsor (HR), line manager, department head, organisation etc. etc. This also influences what documentation may be needed – for example the “formal” legal contract (dealing with fees, deliverables, termination, confidentiality etc.) needs to be agreed with the “sponsor”, but I also ensure that the coachee in these situations completes a coaching agreement which outlines what they can expect from myself as the coach, what is expected of them, confidentiality and termination and cancellation). Think what may be needed for your own practice. Finally, this may also assist with who should be invited to attend the first session – I have found it useful to invite , having discussed with the coachee, the line manager so that the coachee and line manager can both hear me outline what will happen in the session and critically, what confidentiality means- which helps build trust as the coachee knows there is not going to be a separate conversation between coach and line manager ( which could create doubts or concerns about what will be discussed at that meeting) and also means that the line manager and coachee are clear about what the coaching sessions will focus on, which avoids misconceptions and misunderstandings arising.

– Chemistry Session- some coaches offer “chemistry” sessions or calls so that coach and coachee can discuss preliminary matters and establish whether they can work with one another. Some coaches offer the first coaching session as a “free” session at which they cover similar matters to those outlined in “preparatory actions” above- explaining what coaching is; dealing with the contract etc. This can be done face to face or by telephone or Skype.

– Location- This depends on how the coaching intervention is going to be conducted – it could be face to face or it could be done remotely via telephone or Skype. Whatever the method, ensure that the coaching room is a “safe” environment – not just for the coachee, but also for you. Make sure that the room is comfortable and that interruptions can be minimised, if not entirely avoided.  Make sure that you get there early to set the room up to ensure that the coachee feels relaxed and focused.

– Dress- wear something that helps you feel comfortable, relaxed and professional. It is worth checking as well with the coachee, if you are coaching at their organisation’s premises, whether they have a particular dress code that needs to be followed.

– Materials- Have you got everything that you need –pen, paper, laptop, charger etc.? Make sure you keep your “coaching kitbag” stocked and also make sure that you keep it current and topical to suit your practice.

– Authentic Self- Edna Murdoch once said “Who You Are Is How You Coach” – [2010] Personnel Zone. Make sure that you are behaving as your natural self and being true to your values and beliefs. Sometimes assumptions and presumptions can be made by a coach about what they think the coachee is expecting about how they behave and act and this can lead to the coach overcompensating or undercompensating their own skills and behaviours. If you are not being true to self, not only will you feel uncomfortable – but the probability is that the coachee will notice – at the very least it will affect the session flow and feeling of naturalness.

– Adopt a 3R Evaluation Approach- Review, Reflect & Revise- following each coaching session that you conduct, seek feedback from the coachee, but also take time to review the session, reflect on what you did and what the effect was; also consider what worked well, what could have been improved on or what could have been done differently. Finally, if the reflection leads you to conclude that something needs to change, and then revise your approach before the next session.

I hope that this has provided a catalyst for your own thoughts and reflections and I would be interested to hear from you with your own comments or observations.

In my next blog, I will look at the ending of coaching relationships.

The P.A.T Model

Judith Barton, Director of Coaching&Mentoring

The NIKE tick and tagline “just do it” is probably one of the most recognised brands. This call to action may be interpreted as do it – now! Implying immediate action, dive straight in. Whilst diving straight in may work it isn’t an approach that is likely to be the most effective for the client.

The P.A.T Model is an approach I have developed and our coaching clients continually refine. It has been developed through commercial experience, coach and client practitioner experience, the needs of the sponsor, risk and reflection. I use this model to prepare myself and use it as a checklist.


1. Values and Standards
Values are the basis of everything we do and shapes how we see professionalism. We define professionalism through many ‘frames’, culture, upbringing, parents, nationality, experience, own values, professional standards, the organisation we worked for, mentors and sponsors.

Every coach, just as every client, is different. Some clients will select a coach or mentor for their point of difference, e.g. a creative agency may wish to select a coach who presents in a more structured formal way. Whilst another client selected a coach that mirrored behavior they were aspired to for. This really highlights why the initial conversation (chemistry conversation) with a potential client is so important.

What is important is 1) recognising what sits under the professionalism heading for you and
                                  2) having a consistent approach.

Standards and by some degree expectations are likely to be governed by the professional bodies you have elected to join (ISQC, AOC, EMCC, ICF – see bottom of page for references). Whilst professional bodies are not a complaints resolution service they do offer clients an assurance.

When I am coaching and training coaches I operate from the fundamental principle of ‘do no harm’. Many will recognise this as the corner stone of all practice, clinical, legal. This serves as a constant reminder to check ‘is this coaching assignment within the scope of my ability?’ Do you have a protocol in place for a referral? Do I have supervision in place?

2. Mental Preparation
“If you want a job done ask a busy person” is not necessarily the right approach when selecting a coach. If a busy person has a busy mind there may be little space left to think. Having the mental capacity to think before, during and after a session is the difference between an effective coach rather than an adviser, instructor or boss.

When training coaches I always ask them to prepare their mind, their mental space before a session, just as I would do their physical space – the environment they are coaching in.

Over the last 12 months at BSC we have introduced a mindfulness development workshop, introducing techniques aimed at coaches who may wish to introduce the approaches into their practice and those who may wish to practice the techniques as part of their lifestyle. Mindfulness workshop

Managing our mind can be more difficult than managing our body and of course one directly impacts the other, so give it a go – why not commence your session with a 1 or 2 minute mindfulness exercise; we would love to hear how you got on (email Judith@britishschoolofcoaching.com).

3. Physical Preparation
At the November 2015 Coaching Network in the Middle East my colleague Brenda McKay who leads the mindfulness and wellbeing programmes opened the session by reminding us that “a 2% reduction in water intake has a 50% reduction in mental performance”.

The question I ask myself is what can I control that will have a positive impact on my performance as a coach? Hydration is one; food is the other very important one. For me, starting my day with food to sustain my energy and alertness is key for example: porridge, blueberries, a boiled egg and spinach. If the coaching sessions are later in the day avoid food highs and lows. It can create great energetic intros for 10 to 20 minutes and then a great low. Have an emergency food with you such as almonds, banana and of course water.

  
4. Commercial and logistical Arrangements
Whilst this features at the end of this blog it is one of the first things that I focus on.
It is essential to have a common understanding and agreement of the service to be delivered. This will include; scope, who the clients are, location, environment, specific requirements, client/sponsor needs, review time periods, type of feedback to sponsor if any and so on.

Operational details to make the session happen can appear very simple but work through the planning with precision. A tip is to view this from the client’s perspective. Check, for example, if you require any particular approvals to enter the client premises, e.g. passport photo ID. Or if working at an airport and you need to go airside you will require a police check; this takes time, can be up to 6 weeks in the UK.

If you intended (with the permission of the client) to record a session any equipment may need approval and pre-screening, especially if using a mobile phone. All this takes time and will incur costs.

Don’t take any aspects of logistics for granted. Remember don’t get lost on the way to the session or in the session.
References:
International Society of Qualified Coaches (ISQC)
Association for Coaching (AC)
European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC)
International Coaching Federation (ICF)