The other day, one of my clients wanted to know how to make marketing calls with impact. Coaching type conversations could be helpful, I suggested, and drew a quick sketch of a conversation flow.
The client recognized immediately how it would help her to really connect with people, find out what makes them tick, and identify potential business partners. Our conversation helped me to explain and demystify how we work as coaches. Here are ten principles:
- Coaches support people as drivers of their own change
- We ask open and succinct questions, and run these in sequence
- The sequence helps the person to explore and clarify where they are stuck, and find ways to enact and embody the change they want
- The focus is on how the client thinks about the topic, not the topic itself
- For coaching to be effective, the client must be in a positive frame of mind
- We create a supportive and positive environment in which the client can stretch their thinking
- A coach does not give advice nor tells the client what to do.
- We maintain an optimal thinking environment through the words we use, our body language, and how we mirror back and reframe the client’s perspective
- We work towards change in the client and what they have control over; not on change in other people or the environment that the client can’t influence
- If deep-seated emotions or trauma surface that (continue to) impact negatively on the client, the coach must raise this and recommend psychotherapy.
Find out more about what we do at Korumo Coaching for Transformation, or book an exploratory consult.
This article was published on LinkedIn