The 9 Coaching Keys Questions
The first four questions are based within the behavioral focus stream, questions 5 to 7 are questions from the cognitive stream and 8 to 10 from the unconscious cognitive stream
1 WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE?
This is a typical question for use within the behavioral coaching model. The aim is to help the coachee to explicitly state his goal. Frequently less experienced coaches take at face value the first statement and move on, and thus need to return at a later stage to this.
More experienced coaches recognize that time spent at this stage exploring the features of the goal will save time later.
2. WHAT IS HAPPENING?
This question aims to help the coach and coachee gather evidence on what is the current situation. How close or far is the coachee from his actual challenges.
Bringing them back to the present not tempted to accept at face value what the coachee provides as evidence. It is wise for the coach to challenge initial claims, and seek third party evidence for these. A candid and direct open communication will provide such evidence and help ensure a rounded view, not a single perspective, whether coming from either party
3 WHAT OPINIONS DO YOU THINK THERE ARE?
Exploring options is a valuable process in all coaching, if there is a belief that the coachee already has the answer to his own questions and doubts. Reviewing options is a two parts process. The coachee needs to be clear what criteria he is evaluating the options against. As a result the coachee needs to generate the criteria first, before he can start a process of generating or evaluating options
4 CAN YOU SUMMARIZE WHAT YOU GOING TO DO AND BY WHEN?
This question is concerned with action planning when working in the behavioral focus stream. The question encourages coaches to take responsibility for reviewing their process, summarizing what has been discussed and to formally state what they intend to do. This is useful question to ask towards the end of a coaching session, even if the coach has been working with cognitive and unconscious cognitive aspects.
The coach may then encourage the coachee to document this, and develop an action plan that includes a series of sub-goals or steps that take him to this goal over the coming week, month or year ,
5 HOW WOULD YOUR BOSS, MENTOR OR COLLEGUE SEE THIS SITUATION?
This question encourages the coachee to begin to explore the issue or challenge that he faces from a number of different perspectives. Often an issue looks to be an insurmountable problem to us, but when considered from the perspective of another person, either solution can be found or a deeper understanding of the issue gained. A parallel type questions is asking the coachee to consider the challenge as if he were a famous person. For a management issue, the coach may ask the coachee to consider how Richard Branson would deal with the problem.
For a relationship issue, we might select a different characters offering different perspective: Marilyn Monroe and Nelson Mandela. Initially the coachee typically provides a short or flippant remark, but the coach needs to focus the coachee’s response and ensure that he explores the issue and provides a what, where and when descriptive answer.
6. WOULD LIKE YOU TO CLOSE YOUR EYES AND DESCRIBE TO ME WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE EVENT WENT PERFECTLY?
This visualization technique gets coachee to engage with visualization and explore what they see and, with follow up questions, what they feel, smell and think. Evidence has shown in the sports psychology arena that visualization not only builds self-confidence but also creates physical changes in the brain structure that aid subsequent muscle movement and thus enhance performance
7. CAN YOU SUMMARIZE FOR ME THE TASK THAT YOU WILL TEY OUT BEFORE WE MEET AGAIN?
The summarizing task that has already been discussed is applied in this context to focus the attention of the coachee on a homework task. The use of the task provides an opportunity for emersion gradual exposure to the challenging behavior, Follow up questions might be
”What would stop you doing and achieving this?”
“What could you do to overcome these barriers?”
These questions enable the coachee to prepare for the real world of competing priorities and stakeholders who may need to be persuaded
8. TELL ME ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOU HAVE FELT A SIMILAR FEELING BEFORE
This may be useful question to explore patterns. Preceding the question the coach will have encouraged coachee to talk about the current issue or problem, and in particular to draw out the feelings within their body which they experience. Using these bodily sensations the coach may then ask the pattern question that may help coachee to identify similar events, but to access these bodily feelings rather than events.
9. HOW READY DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE TO CHANGE ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10?
WHERE 10 IS THAT YOU HAVE ALREADYMADE THE CHANGE, AND 0 THAT YOU
ARE NOT AT ALL INTERESTED IN CHANGING?
This question refers to the motivational interviewing approach. This is a complex technique and suggests that the developing coach would benefit from training before making use of the technique. However, questions such as this provide clues to whether the coachee is likely to change, or if he needs more help to explore the benefits of changing. A low score of 1 to 7 would suggest the focusing on change tools would be a waste of time and effort; instead the coach needs to invest time exploring motivation and helping the coachee to develop the intrinsic motivation to change l
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Continous self coaching
Continuous Self Coaching
It’s important to realize your development can never end. On the plus side, what you need to work on is simple, not complex. It’s honest and real. It’s also not exactly the way you’d like it to be, all of the time. And you can chose to understand what you need to work on and deal with it. As compare to not understand it, not deal with it and thus not achieve the success you are capable of. Because life seems complicate to most people, you might feel a complicated approach to self – coaching is required. Not so. A simple solution works better. It does require a degree of self- review though
You can do this on your own schedule, asserting and exertion you put into coaching yourself will make for a bigger “career life-preserver”
Here are three rules that will guide you during your self coaching journey
Rule1. Remember, you’re not alone in this
Take comfort in knowing that most people spend their careers working on the same issues and problems you work on. I’ve worked on them too. “Working on them” means doing, not just knowing. A lot of things discussed you already know. The difference between you and others is what you choose to do with it. “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their endeavor”- Vince Lombardi, the late Green Bay Packer American football coach
Your success will be in direct proportion to your commitment to your self- review and to better self coaching
Rule2. Don’t be extreme; be consistent
The secret to success in self-coaching is constancy, with a good purpose and technique. The ancient philosopher wrote “Genius is nothing but continued attention” You can’t do the “right” thing once in a while> you have to do it all the time. After you experience profitable and productivity results, you’ll agree it’s all worth it.
Rule 3. Be self-disciplined.
Discipline is fun. It rewards you with the greatest feeling. Think about when you had a fully packed day, several meetings, put out numerous fires and finally home. Thinking you will a restful evening, but wait a minute, you need to honor your promise to your son to play cricket with him. You drag yourself and manage to spend some quality time with him. Don’t you feel great? Aren’t you pleased with yourself? Don’t you walk tall with what you have disciplined to carry out your promise? Of course you do. Well that’s the kind of temerity required for your self-coaching.
Take consolation in the fact that everyone (who’s any good) works on their self-development all the time. The successful ones are consistent and self-disciplined-starting with their self-review. You are a responsible adult, you know and it does not give you the license to succumb to excuses, but to rise above them.
Sincere Appreciation,
Richaard Wong
AIG Life Companies
20/F AIA building, 1 Stubbs Road
Hong Kong
Tel (852) 2832 6762
Fax (852) 2572 1792
“Things which matters most must never be at the mercy of things which matters least” - Goethe -
Notice of Confidentiality
This transmission contains information that may be confidential. It has been prepared for the sole and exclusive use of the intended recipient, his team and on the basis agreed with that person. If you are not the intended recipient of the message (or authorized to receive it for the intended recipient), you should notify us immediately; you should delete it from your system.
It’s important to realize your development can never end. On the plus side, what you need to work on is simple, not complex. It’s honest and real. It’s also not exactly the way you’d like it to be, all of the time. And you can chose to understand what you need to work on and deal with it. As compare to not understand it, not deal with it and thus not achieve the success you are capable of. Because life seems complicate to most people, you might feel a complicated approach to self – coaching is required. Not so. A simple solution works better. It does require a degree of self- review though
You can do this on your own schedule, asserting and exertion you put into coaching yourself will make for a bigger “career life-preserver”
Here are three rules that will guide you during your self coaching journey
Rule1. Remember, you’re not alone in this
Take comfort in knowing that most people spend their careers working on the same issues and problems you work on. I’ve worked on them too. “Working on them” means doing, not just knowing. A lot of things discussed you already know. The difference between you and others is what you choose to do with it. “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their endeavor”- Vince Lombardi, the late Green Bay Packer American football coach
Your success will be in direct proportion to your commitment to your self- review and to better self coaching
Rule2. Don’t be extreme; be consistent
The secret to success in self-coaching is constancy, with a good purpose and technique. The ancient philosopher wrote “Genius is nothing but continued attention” You can’t do the “right” thing once in a while> you have to do it all the time. After you experience profitable and productivity results, you’ll agree it’s all worth it.
Rule 3. Be self-disciplined.
Discipline is fun. It rewards you with the greatest feeling. Think about when you had a fully packed day, several meetings, put out numerous fires and finally home. Thinking you will a restful evening, but wait a minute, you need to honor your promise to your son to play cricket with him. You drag yourself and manage to spend some quality time with him. Don’t you feel great? Aren’t you pleased with yourself? Don’t you walk tall with what you have disciplined to carry out your promise? Of course you do. Well that’s the kind of temerity required for your self-coaching.
Take consolation in the fact that everyone (who’s any good) works on their self-development all the time. The successful ones are consistent and self-disciplined-starting with their self-review. You are a responsible adult, you know and it does not give you the license to succumb to excuses, but to rise above them.
Sincere Appreciation,
Richaard Wong
AIG Life Companies
20/F AIA building, 1 Stubbs Road
Hong Kong
Tel (852) 2832 6762
Fax (852) 2572 1792
“Things which matters most must never be at the mercy of things which matters least” - Goethe -
Notice of Confidentiality
This transmission contains information that may be confidential. It has been prepared for the sole and exclusive use of the intended recipient, his team and on the basis agreed with that person. If you are not the intended recipient of the message (or authorized to receive it for the intended recipient), you should notify us immediately; you should delete it from your system.
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