Coaching Skills John Oughton Centennial College
Dec 24, 2015
Today’s Learning Outcomes
• Recognize what coaching is, and is, not
• Understand foundations of coaching skills
• Reflect on and observe some principles
• Observe and analyze coaching demo
• Practice and observe mini coaching sessions
“Coaching is
..not telling people what to do; it’s giving them a chance to examine what they are doing in the light of their intentions.” – James Flaherty
Coaching• Uses listening, questions, reflection of
coachee’s statements/feelings, and intuition to help coachee find own answers
• Assumes coachee already
has the knowledge and skills
necessary to solve own
problems, make decisions
and answer questions
Special types include• Sports • Career• Life coaching• Personal/professional development
This is a general approach useful for many situations/relationships -- between peers,
manager/staff, teacher-student relationships May be done effectively over phone or F2F
Benefits of Coaching
• Increases self-awareness
● Makes people more self-directed• Promotes accountability and commitment• Overcomes “dump and run” syndrome• Increases organization morale, quality of
communication
Coaching Traps
• Believing coaching is remedial• Feeling need to be expert• Being too directive• Staying in problem-solving mode• Pursuing your own agenda• Lacking awareness of own beliefs/biases• Not setting agenda and boundaries
COACHING FOUNDATIONS
1. Empathy: being able to communicate authentically what you hear and feel of another’s experience. Putting empathy into action: Reflect what you’ve heard, then ask question, empowering speaker to clarify
Coaching Foundation 2
Coachee has the answers• Can find them even when convinced
he/she can’t
• Coach asks questions to illuminate answers that may be hidden
• People are more satisfied/ compelled/ resourceful when using own answers
Foundation 3
Listening: being present with what other is saying without passing judgment
Listening Levels:• 1. Attention is on me (own goals are primary)• 2. Attention is on coachee: no internal chatter,
aware of other’s every word and nuance• 3. Global listening: Attention is on space/energy
around and between people, underlying moods and tones as well as words, gestures, body language, etc.
Foundation 4
Intuition: learn to recognize when own intuition is working (what does it feel like?)
• When you have a hunch about other’s feeling, perception, etc., blurt it out and then ask if that echoes anything for the coachee
• Even if not accurate, this may trigger a honest response about where
coachee is
Foundation 5: CuriosityA way of discovering, focusing attention on a
specific directionHelps others discover who they are, what’s
important to themUse open or general questions, rather than specific,
for self-explorationSpecific question: what courses will you take?General question: what would you like to learn more about?
Foundation 6: Powerful Questions
These put curiosity into actionUsually no more than 7-8 words: “What’s stopping you?”Special types:Intruding: head off an-overly detailed answer or excursion
with:What’s the payoff for you in that?What’s another way of looking at this?What value are you (not) honouring here?
Inquiry: get the coachee thinking for a while (e.g. until next session): Could you look up some options and choose three to discuss next time?
Foundation 7: Acknowledgement & Championing
Acknowledgement: recognizing (not judging) someone for who they are or who they are becoming, not only their actions
-shows sincere interest in/respect for other; validates their experience
Championing: expressing belief that people can overcome self-doubts or fears and accomplish something; articulates their full potential
Foundation 8: Accountability and Commitment
Accountability: Asking coachee to account for achieving plans/intentions. Uses three questions:
• What are you going to do?
• By when will you do this?
• How will I know?
Commitment: asking coachee’s agreement to follow through on action/reflection
The Saboteur
Inner critic that stops us when we are thinking big and wanting to move forward
Protects us and the status quo
Some favourite sayings:
“You can’t…
You shouldn’t, mustn’t…
This is the way it’s always been”
In the Immortal Words of Coach..
• Yogi Berra (New York Yankees):“You can observe a lot by just watching”
Coaching Demos
Activity 1:
5-10 min. coaching demo
Observers use feedback sheet
Coach and coachee debrief
Coaching Practice
Activity 2:in groups of three, take five-minute turns
playing these roles:● Coach● Coachee● ObserverAfter each mini-coaching session, observer
describes what he/she saw, then all switch roles
Coaching Certification
Available through many organizations in Toronto, including:
• YWCA: Life Skills Coaching 1 and 2• OISE Adult Education and Counselling
Psychology /Adler Institute: Professional Skills Coaching
• York University/Schulich Executive Education Centre: Certificate in Coaching Skills for Managers and Directors.