Coaching forum, York (UK)

Last night, I went to a coaching meeting run as part of the International Coaching Federation in York http://tinyurl.com/ICFyorkcoaching.  The meeting covered a really useful tool to better understand people and ideas to address 3 coaching situations.  I thought it would be worth sharing stuff with other people who couldn’t be there.

A recommended tool to better understand others

Shelle Rose Charvet’s use of the Language and Behaviour profile (LAB) was presented.  The LAB tool provides a method for better understanding other people so we can communicate with them more effectively, assign roles to people best suited and enable teams and organisations to work together because they have a better understanding of each other.  Stories of real examples of success using this tool within interviews and in coaching sessions to motivate the coachee to deliver their goals were told. 

Briefly, Charvet’s book http://tinyurl.com/words-that-change shows how a conversational approach can be used to unpick the unconscious preferences we have that give an insight into how we handle the world.  Here are five examples of the types of strategies, in reality some people use both ends of the scale described or use more of one than another:

• Motivation can be toward a goal or away from a problem
• In what we do we can be process driven or prefer to have options
• In how we respond we might act proactively (more quickly) or reactively
• In deciding, we might make choices based solely on their own mind (internal reference) or on external reference
• In communicating we might rely on just what is said or we might be realy sensitive to non-verbal signs or body language

Charvet describes how to ask questions to understand someone’s strategies.  The great thing is that the questions can be incorporated into standard conversation without sounding odd.  For more information buy the book or go to http://www.labprofile.org/ for some FREE resources

How to coach an individual in their first 100 days stepping up into a senior manager role?

The following questions may help….

1. What routines do you need to stop doing, what do you need to let go of?
2. What do you need to start doing?
3. How can you achieve alignment and congruence with the new role?
4. How can you step into the traditions, rituals, behaviours and culture to build relationships within your new peer group?
5. How can you learn the new language and communication approaches used by your new peer group?
6. What symbols may be useful to you, peers and staff to signify the change in your role and seniority?
7. In what possible ways could you change your perspective to best match the new role, for example to let go of detail and see the bigger picture?

When does a coaching relationship end?

Looking at the other end of the timeline, a coaching relationship should first of all be built around a clear objective.  The objective should be a destination the coachee is aiming for and one the coach is able to provide support along the way to enable the coachee get the best possible results. 

Once the goal is satisfactorily achieved, it is good practice to then end the coaching relationship.  If the relationship continues it may become more of a mentoring or therapy relationship.  If mentoring or counselling is needed, the lines need to be drawn and agreed otherwise confusion will occur.  Good practice from the York ICF group recommends using completion session to underline the end.  The session should celebrate the successes and include a 360^o review asking both parties:

1. What needs to be said for the relationship to be complete?
2. What went well?
3. What would have made the experience better?
4. What learnings have you made?
5. How will you apply the learnings [around knowledge, skills and attitude] now?

How can a Coach handle a coachee who is not continuing progression outside the coaching sessions?

First of all to avoid such a situation, the coach should set out the guidelines and get agreement around the expectation of both parties (coach and coachee) prior to the coaching commencing.  This should include understandings that what you get out is proportional to what you put in.  Other things to consider include:

1. Use a completion loop for each action such as plan do review or after action reviews or 180^o reviews
   Get the approach right to handling the client and setting goals in a way congruent with them in terms of:
2. Values levels http://tinyurl.com/valueslevel
3. Motivation: see http://tinyurl.com/words-that-change by Shelle Rose Charvet or Myers Briggs
4. Put the client in control, they take their own notes, they right down their goals, they right gown their actions
5. Ensure there is a well formed outcome http://tinyurl.com/wellformedoutcome that is driven by a clear reason and the client believes is achievable
6. Once a goal is agreed, during the possibility thinking step to look at all ways around how, offer up suggestions.  There are rules though….

·        This needs to happen only when there is a block in thinking. 

·        It should also be preframed with “Would it be OK if I made a suggestion?”

·        “These ideas are no better than the ones you have thought.”

·        “What other ideas have you got?”

·        The coachee needs to be allowed to prioritise those possibilities they believe are the ones to try.  (They may try others later)

7. Agree frequent checkpoints, maybe by phone, to measurably check progress is being made?
8. If the relationship I not working, it may be best to end it and refer the client who is better able to relate and handle the client
9. Ask the client
10. “Where else in your life do you not follow through?”
11. “When you decided to have this problem, what does that give you? Are you ready to give that up in your mind and body?”

  If you have other ideas, other thoughts in agreement or not, share them on the post.