The Coaching Question

In this episode we discuss the importance of a chemistry session in coaching and what one might look like.

Chemistry sessions are the (usually free) meetings that a coach and potential client will have to determine whether or not there is a good fit between both parties. It answers the question; ‘Can we work well together?’

We share our experiences of what makes for effective and ineffective chemistry sessions and explain a model supplied by John Whittington, which has the acronym – STANCE.

Resources:

• John Whittington: Coaching Chemistry Model - https://thechemistrycheck.com/

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In this episode we are joined by Jo Taylor, MD of HR Consultancy Let’s Talk Talent, to discuss drop-in coaching.

Let’s Talk Talent’s function is to make organisations irresistible by unlocking their people potential, ensuring organisations thrive at every level, along any time-frame. Jo and Gregor discuss whether it is good business to offer coaching to everyone.

Gregor met Jo when she recruited him as part of a cadré of coaches, who not only coached executives, but also took part in ‘drop-in’ coaching and that’s what this episode is about - something that is close to both of our hearts - making coaching available to everyone and not just a select few at the top. Sarah has coined the term - a Power Hour, and that’s certainly what drop-in coaching is all about.

Resources:

• Jo Taylor Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jotaylorc4/
• Let’s Talk Talent - https://letstalktalent.co.uk/
• Let’s Talk Talent Podcast - https://letstalktalent.podbean.com/

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In this episode we discuss how feedback might show up in coaching.

Feedback can be such a provocative topic. People find it difficult to give constructive feedback and they worry about how others will respond. There are many models out there providing guidance on how to structure your message, but it can often be much more complex than just applying a model and hoping that the conversation goes well.

As coaches, we will offer feedback to our clients in the moment, which can lead to increased self awareness. We might also support our clients in giving and receiving feedback at work. We touch on models and approaches you might try, and explore how we support clients to have feedback conversations in a skilful way. Organisational culture plays an important role in how feedback is given and received. We explore how psychological safety is key to creating the right conditions and examine what we can learn from the world of sport and our work with teams.

Listen in if feedback is something you grapple with in your role or organisation!

Resources:

• Amy Edmonson: Psychological Safety - https://hbr.org/podcast/2019/01/creating-psychological-safety-in-the-workplace
• Perceptual Positions - https://www.trainers-toolbox.com/perceptual-positions-powerful-exercise-to-strengthen-understanding-and-empathy/
• After Action Reviews - https://toggl.com/blog/after-action-review
• Marshall Goldsmith’s FeedForward - https://marshallgoldsmith.com/articles/try-feedforward-instead-feedback/
• Coaching Cards - https://courageousdevelopment.co.uk/coaching/coaching-cards/

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In this episode we are joined by Olympic Gold Medalist and Performance Director John Anderson to talk about performance coaching.

John Anderson MBE came to coaching with a background in high performance sport. Drawing on 20+ years experience working with world class athletes, John has developed a model of performance coaching designed to support the performer to get better at doing the things they need to do to get the results they want to achieve – more frequently and consistently.

He talks about team GB in the Olympic games in Atlanta in 1996 where the team finished in 36th position with just one gold and an overall total of just 15 medals. This was GB’s lowest ever numerical ranking. It was following this experience that John started coaching his athletes to think and act differently. His performance coaching model presents five performance parameters that he has drawn from Olympic and Paralympic sport, and in this episode we explore the importance of all five of these.

John particularly emphasises the significance of wellbeing, mindset and context to performance. He highlights how talent alone is not enough, and that one of the most crucial changes they made in team GB was to hire a lifestyle coach to support the athletes in managing their lives around their training in order to improve performance. This has interesting implications for organisations as they think about how to manage their talent, and the need to think beyond just knowledge, skills and abilities into context, culture, wellbeing and mindset.

We examine how this model can be applied in organisational settings, and we discuss how organisations will need to focus on getting out of survival mode due to covid-19 and back into high performance mode in order to succeed. John’s model offers both a framework and a set of coaching tools that can be hugely valuable to both individuals and teams as they start to focus on driving performance post the pandemic.

John has kindly given us permission to share the top level framework of his model. If you would like to to find out more or to become trained in how to use this model yourself/in your organisation, please do get in touch.

Resources:

• John Anderson: Performance Coaching Model - https://performanceleadershipcoaching.co.uk/performance-coaching

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In this episode we are joined by two incredibly experienced supervisors, Eve Turner and Carole Davidson, to explore why supervision is so important in coaching.

The ICF defines coaching supervision as a collaborative learning practice that continually builds the capacity of the coach through reflective dialogue for the benefit of both coaches and clients. Supervision provides coaches with a safe place in which they can reflect on their practice and receive coaching about their coaching approach and support with any challenges, difficulties or ethical considerations.

We explore how critical supervision is for coaches working in organisations (it is starting to be used as part of the coach selection criteria), both for external coaches and those internal coaches who often face a challenge regarding boundaries as a result of working inside the organisation.

About our guests:

Eve Turner is an Accredited Master Executive Coach and Coach Supervisor, and co-founder of the Climate Coaching Alliance. She is also chair of APECS, founder of the Global Supervision Network and author of two books; ’The Heart of Coaching Supervision: Working with Reflection and Self-Care’ with Stephen Palmer, and more recently; ’Systemic Coaching: Delivering Value Beyond the Individual‘ with Peter Hawkins.

Carole Davidson is an Accredited Supervisor and Senior Coach-Mentor Practitioner and Assessor with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council and has extensive experience as a supervisor, especially of internal coaches. She is the author of the book Flying Solo Under 30’.

Resources:

• Eve Turner on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eveturner/
• Carole Davidson on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroledavidsoncoaching/
• Climate Coaching Alliance - https://www.climatecoachingalliance.org/
• APECS - https://www.apecs.org/
• Global Supervision Network - https://eve-turner.com/global-supervisors-network/
• Eve Turner & Stephen Palmer: 'The Heart of Coaching Supervision: Working with Reflection and Self-Care’ - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heart-Coaching-Supervision-Reflection-Self-Care/dp/1138729779/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=eve+turner&qid=1606752624&sr=8-3&pldnSite=1
• Eve Turner & Peter Hawkins: ‘Systemic Coaching: Delivering Value Beyond the Individual‘ - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Systemic-Coaching-Peter-Hawkins/dp/1138322490/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=systemic+Coaching&qid=1606893489&sr=8-1&pldnSite=1
• EMCC - https://emccuk.org/
• Carole Davidson: ‘Flying Solo Under 30’ - https://bookboon.com/en/flying-solo-under-30-ebook

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In this episode we talk about the organisational benefits of career coaching. Listen to this episode if you are interested in learning more about why organisations might want to offer their people the opportunity to access career coaching.

Organisations want to support and be seen to support valued members of staff to find the next role internally or to be supported to leave well and find a role in another organisation. A career conversation can be an integral part of transition coaching when someone is ready, or nearly ready for that next promotion.

We discuss how organisations offer support. Bigger organisations might have career paths or structured promotional criteria. The world of work has changed from a clear hierarchical career path to much more of a matrix approach and the way people are developing their careers has changed quite a lot. Individuals need to take responsibility themselves in terms of how they navigate their career, being more career activists and organisations can support them in this.

A clear way that organisations support people in career transitions is typified by ‘First 90 days’ coaching. Organisations don’t always invest enough time pre-transition and then have to spend more time post-transition. This is often when a coach is brought in, maybe 6-12 months down the line.

Power-hour, or drop-in coaching sessions, mean that career coaching can be available for everyone and not just reserved for high potentials. One of the benefits for the organisation is that coaches can report back on the developmental themes that have arisen whilst respecting confidentially. This informs how we can support the careers of our people, given our line managers aren’t career coaches. Drop-in coaching delivers huge benefits in terms of employer brand and development of people. People really feel valued and taken care of.

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In this episode we talk about what to expect from career coaching.

If you are interested in understanding the role of coaching in your career development, then listen to this episode! We help to clarify the difference between a career coach and a careers guidance professional and we share examples of where career coaching has come up as part of another coaching engagement where the topic of ‘what do I want to do next in my career?’ is addressed.

Sarah started her coaching in the area of career coaching and we both outline exercises to increase self-awareness in this area. For example, what motivates you and what interests you? Both of us work with strengths, and values – really digging into what is important to people. We both also look at peak career experiences. Most career books will have set lists of values, but working with a coach allows values to be tested and placed in a hierarchy and it is this that allows clarity on values to be even more useful.

Boundaries are really critical in career coaching and we share the acronym PERTH as a checklist re boundaries.

We ask about CVs and LinkedIn profiles and what people should be doing there. We also refer to Krumboltz theory of planned happenstance – which indicates how we should be more open to possibilities, such as interviewing for jobs even when we are happy in our current role. This theory encourages us to keep an eye out for opportunities.

Resources:

• Krumboltz Theory of Planned Happenstance - https://marcr.net/marcr-for-career-professionals/career-theory/career-theories-and-theorists/planned-happenstance-theory-krumboltz-levin/

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In this episode we ask the question - "Why should we bother with a systemic approach and constellations in coaching?”

Listen in to this episode if you are interested in learning more about what systemic coaching is and how systemic constellations as a technique works in practice. You will be particularly interested in this episode if you are keen to understand how other factors in your life/work might be impacting you - how you feel and how you perform at work.

We talk through some examples to demonstrate how constellations work in practice and we introduce a question “What is one step for better that would free up the system?”

We talk about physical constellations or ‘sculpting’, which is also a very useful technique in coaching supervision, and how all sorts of things can be surfaced.

In teams, we talk about the outside-in and future-back approach, using more systemic questions such as; Who does your team serve? What will they require differently from you in the future? What will you regret in two years’ time not having addressed? And one of Gregor’s favourite questions; When you are successful as a team, what will they (your stakeholders) be doing differently?

We also explore when HR should be looking for a systemic approach from their coaches. Sarah reminds us how whiteboards on Zoom and Teams can be a great enabler and just because we can’t meet physically doesn’t mean that you can’t work systemically with constellations.

Resources:

• Overview of Systemic Constellations - https://coaching-blog.com/overview-of-systemic-constellations/

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In this episode we discuss how coaching can help with stress and mental health and where coaching stops and counselling starts.

We explore how boundaries can be helpful in managing our stress levels and we share a great quote from Brené Brown: “Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves even if we risk upsetting others.”

Listen to this episode if you are interested in learning about some of the resources we share with our clients; such as the four wellsprings of wellbeing, which can be useful in determining where to draw energy from; emotions in action, which uses zones to examine how balanced your life and work is in terms of stress levels; Harvard Business Review articles, checklists and apps.

We talk about the evolution of shadow and the different stages we go through. We share a key coaching question that helps with one of the most important stages and a quick checklist Gregor likes to go through just to check that we haven’t forgotten the simple physical elements: Sleep; Alcohol; Caffeine; Hydration. We also talk about Mindfulness Apps and mention a great Harvard Business Review article – ”Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time”.

Resources:

• Coaching Cards Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcj9f-dn7cA&t=1s
• Harvard Business Review article: Manage Your Energy,  Not Your Time - https://hbr.org/2007/10/manage-your-energy-not-your-time
• Headspace - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/headspace-meditation-sleep/id493145008
• Calm - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/calm/id571800810
• Insight Timer - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/insight-timer-meditation-app/id337472899

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In this episode we discuss what we can learn about change from Covid 19.

We reflect on how people’s need for structure is severely impacted by not having an office environment, and that structure is really important as a psychological need. The boundaries that were present in our physical office routine are no longer there.

We explore how structure relates to Certainty, part of David Rock’s SCARF model from the field of neuroscience. It’s clear that as coaches we can help leaders model clear boundaries.

We use Kübler-Ross’s change model as we look at denial and a key benefit of this model is it helps us name feelings. We also apply William Bridge’s model of Transitions, how it makes a distinction between changes and transitions, and the model’s simplicity of new beginnings, no man’s land and endings.

We further explore how a leader can use SCARF as a lens, and by applying this lens see how people can be in an away state or a towards state (in simplicity, moving away from punishment and towards reward) and use this lens to practically help their people.

Resources:

• David Rock’s SCARF model - https://neuroleadership.com/your-brain-at-work/scarf-model-motivate-your-employees
• Kübler-Ross’s change model - https://www.change-management-coach.com/kubler-ross.html
• William Bridge’s model of Transitions - https://wmbridges.com/about/what-is-transition/

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