Coaching and the Tip of the Iceberg
I want to share a little insight into the world of coaching.There is a very simple model which coaches use to drive the direction of a coaching session. It’s called the GROW Model. In its simplest form, the GROW Model can be seen as a series of questions, but actually this is just the tip of the iceberg.
The term GROW stands for; Goal, Reality, Options and Way forward.
Now you can easily find yourself a set of questions from the GROW Model to ask either yourself, a friend or a colleague. Unfortunately this is where people get a bit confused about what coaching might be.
Anyone can ask questions, but as I said at the start, this is only the tip of the iceberg. What you now need to consider, and what you are really paying coaches to do is the following;
Listen
Reflect back
Hold you accountable
Address limiting beliefs
Identify strengths and weaknesses
Question deeply
Be unbiased
The list above is only some of the many aspects a great coach will bring to their client. Before I go on I want to address a couple from above.
Question Deeply
Yes, I know I have already mentioned we use questions from the GROW Model, however there is a real skill in picking up minute details in what the client says and diving deeper with them. It’s also the ability to know when as a coach, the client hasn’t told you everything yet. Even though the client may not have realised this.
It may be that you are not only questioning what the client said, but rather what they didn’t say, how they shifted in their chair or that something in their behaviour was slightly different. These can be signs that the client is being 100% with you.
Unbiased
There’s a rule in coaching which is ‘never coach friends and family’. They also say try coaching your friends and family and then you will realise why you shouldn’t. As a coach you must remain unbiased. If you coach people you care about, how will you question them deeply or hold them to account? How will they be able to open up and tell you very personal stories. It just does not work.
So if you are wanting to self-coach or coach someone else then please check out some goal setting questions which I wrote about. You can ACCESS THEM HERE. This will certainly give you some starting questions but you must remember that this is only the tip of the iceberg. The real coaching comes in when you start to look under the surface.
If you have found yourself to have a passion for coaching then I would recommend you read ‘Coaching for Performance’. This will cover the GROW Model in more detail and certainly acts as a starting point. You can purchase a copy by CLICKING HERE.
If you feel that to be coached might help you along with your coaching journey then you can read this article I wrote about how the coaching process works and how to select the ideal coach for you. You can access this by CLICKING HERE.
This article was written by Paul Martin. Head Coach at Coaching for Leverage
You can visit the website at www.coachingforleverage.com
Email: hi@coachingforleverage.com
Tel: +44 7884 945423