Refresh, Reinspire, Reignite

When was the last time you thought about the quality of your coaching?

When was the last time you did something to add value to the work that you are doing with your clients?

When was the last time you invested in yourself and your continual professional development (CPD) as a coach?

Remember Habit #7 of Stephen Covey’s seminal work ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ is ‘Sharpen the saw’ – so just as the effective woodcutters take time out of their busy days to sharpen their saws and in doing so, outperform their competition who choose instead to relentlessly keep their noses to the grindstone, so too do the top professionals in any industry. The top coaches take time out of their coaching schedules to learn relevant new skills and brush up on the old ones, keeping abreast of new developments.

Allow me to refresh your memory…

Top 10 Tips for better Coaching

1. Trust in the process

Remember the coaching framework and use this as a guideline to keep your client on track and help ensure they leave your sessions with some specific actions which will increase the likelihood of their success.

2. Keep to your clients’ agenda

Empower your client to take ownership and responsibility by asking great questions, drawing out their ideas and actions without imposing your thoughts. Only your clients can make the change. You are there to help them explore their situation and solution and facilitate their learning and self-awareness.

3. Ask great questions

Questions are the little keys that will continue to help unlock your clients’ potential. Questions can help them open things up or focus things down. They can challenge your clients’ beliefs and assumptions and draw out strengths, skills and can-do attitude.

4. Listen up

Without strong listening skills, the entire coaching relationship will suffer. Great listening will help build a high level of rapport, facilitate purposeful questions, and pick up not only what your client says but also what they don’t say that often can help shed light on what might be holding them back.

5. Seek first to understand

The quality time you spend before your coaching, managing expectations, raising awareness, building rapport and preparing for your coaching conversations can make all the difference. Remember: Proper prior planning prevents poor performance.

6. PMA

Don’t underestimate the power of your positive mental attitude. Believe in yourself and in your clients and half the battle is won. Your clients will never cease to amaze you, surprise you and surpass your expectations – so expect the unexpected, focus on the positive and harness the power of your PMA.

7. Begin with the end in mind

Helping your client identify a focussed and motivation future is key to the success of your coaching session. It will inspire them to consider where they are starting from and all of the different ways they could move forward whilst increasing their levels of commitment to their chosen action plan.

8. Accentuate the positive

You get what you focus on. So help your client’s focus on what they want – not what they don’t want; what they can do – not what they can’t do; what they want to start doing – not what they want to stop doing.

9. Create that space

Aim for the golden rule of 70/30, with 70% of your time listening to your client, giving them the space and freedom to think through and explore what they want and how they might get it, whilst spending 30% of your time asking those great questions to help them get clarity, focus and resolution.

10. Sharpen your saw

Peter Thomson says ‘The day you stop learning, is the day you stop earning’ – so what are you doing to develop yourself professionally? When was the last time you went back to basics? Are you feeling a little rusty? What could you do to hone your coaching skills?