In this post, I’d like to share with you some helpful insights related to issuing a challenge to your client. A challenge is an idea you (the coach) come up with that you suggest to your client. Let me start with a recent example. A few weeks ago I was coaching a young lady on

Coaching is a profession (or endeavor) based on communication. Coaches employ words effectively in order to support the client as she or he creates new awareness, designs new actions, and thereby generates desired results. Used rightly, words can bring worlds into existence. So coaches exercise wisdom when it comes to words – our own words

The International Coach Federation has identified “Coaching Presence” as one of the eleven core coaching competencies. It’s core because it’s incredibly important and foundational to any coaching that makes a difference. But what exactly is coaching presence and how do you develop it?

Many years ago, my brother told me, “At some point in every person’s life, they could benefit from counseling.” That was important for me to hear. Everyone has been hurt. Everyone is stuck somewhere. Since the need for counseling is prevalent, we are going to encounter that need in our coaching. As we build trust

A fatal mistake for a coach is to hear the client’s topic and assume you know how to proceed. The topic needs to be held lightly. It is your first glimpse of a mystery, and you don’t even know what aspect of the mystery you’ve observed. Many analogies come to mind. Ninety percent of an

A client calls, and his topic is Time Management. He is pastoring part-time, working on a degree, holding down a full-time job, and caring for his aging mother. Nothing is getting his full attention, and so he’d like to figure out how to squeeze one more drop out of that already parched clock. I yell