Coaching for Performance

EI4Change

Definition of coaching

Coaching

“The process of empowering others.” Whitmore, 1997

“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.”

Whitmore, 2002

“Coaching helps individuals access what they already know. They may never have asked themselves the questions but they have the answers. A coach assists, supports and encourages individuals to find these answers.”

Zeus and Skiffington, 2002

“I give you focus and somehow my mere presence moves you to action.”

Lowe (undated) a coaching Haiku

Definition of coaching

Coaching

The Power of the Coaching Process

“I never cease to be amazed at the power of the coaching process to draw out the skills or talents that was previously hidden within an individual, and which invariably finds a way to solve a problem previously thought insolvable.”

John Russell, MD Harley-Davidson

Underlying belief within coaching

Intent to help

The underlying belief in coaching is that the coachee has within them the ability, competence and knowledge that will enable them to effect changes that will result in improvement.

The role of the coach is to draw these out and gain commitment to action.

Within organisations benefits are seen in financial performance retention development of executives in communications

99% of executives who have been coached believe that coaching delivers tangible benefits92% saw an increase in the

bottom line

Benefits of coaching

Impact of coaching

Develop managers and leaders

Support change Develop talent Improve

performance Improve skills

Problem solving Motivate and

inspire Manage conflict Manage time and

stress Improve

communication

When to use coaching

What are the sorts of situations in which you might use a coaching approach?

Who should generate the coaching discussion?

Think back over the last month - were there any situations you could have turned into a coaching opportunity?

When to coach?

Management development

Improving performance

Problem solving

Realising potential

Managing conflict

Team development

Could be formal (planned) or informal (at the vending machine)

Core coaching skills

Coaching is characterised by:

Creating rapport

Deep listening

Effective questioning

Insightful feedback and enabling learning

Intense focus on process and results

Levels of listening

Cosmetic listening

Conversational listening

Active listening

Deep listening

Questioning skills

?

Questions and the coaching process must not get in the way of building rapport and empathising with the individual.

It is better to retain a curious concern than find the killer question.

Questioning skills

Open ended probes

Neutral probes

Brief assertions

Pause

Reflective probes

Summary statements

Leading questions

Close ended probes

?

Questioning skills

?

Are your questions relatively simple (but detailed enough to avoid ambiguity)?

Do they build sequentially from the previous question to keep the whole sequence connected and follow the coaching framework?

Do they have clarity of purpose and intention?

Push and Pull Model

Listening to understand Reflecting Paraphrasing araphrasing Summarising Asking questions that raise awareness Making suggestions Giving feedback Offering guidance Giving advice Instructing

PULLHelping someonesolve their own

problem

PUSHSolving someone’s

problem for them

Non-directive

Directive

(Myles Downey – “Effective Coaching – 2003 – Thomson Texere, New York)

WILLmilestones

actionscommitment

REALITYevidence

awarenessunderstanding

OPTIONSWhat’s possible?

GROW coaching

framework

What do you want?

What is happening now?

What could you do?

What WILL you do?

GOALsituationvision

objective

The coachee explains what they would like to achieve or change

What is wanted as an outcome from this conversation?

Is this realistic - or does the goal need to be separated into bite-size chunks?

What are the time frames for the short and long term goals?

GOALsituationvision

objective

The coachee describes and explores the issue / situation from all angles

Ask questions to open up different aspects of the issue

Identify what’s working well in respect of the issue as well as the barriers and the challenges

Expand the conversation, BEFORE focusing on the detail

REALITYevidence

awarenessunderstanding

The coachee reflects on the options and generates ideas for potential solutions

Resist solving the problem by providing solutions

Encourage the coachee to be creative in considering alternatives and options

Review advantages and disadvantages of each

Keep the questions short and open

Include feeling questions such as: ‘What solution appeals the most?’

OPTIONSWhat’s possible?

The coachee commits to specific actions in a time frame by being asked “What will you do?”

Encourage the coachee to take actions to which they are drawn, feel positive about and motivated to do

Ask questions that will facilitate the coachee to be explicit about the benefits of the action

Ask them to rate their intention, enthusiasm and commitment on a 10-point scale

WILLmilestones

actionscommitment

Key questions for a coachee in a coaching session

What issues would I most value the coach’s support with?

What outcomes do I want, or do I want to avoid?

What can I do to make the most of the time together?

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