Blog – Competencies That Create Awareness
On our honeymoon, Danelle and I were traveling southeast through southern Indiana on our way to the Smoky Mountains when the road suddenly ended. Looking ahead, the blacktop petered out and an enormous pile of rock lay right in the middle of the road. At least, it would have, had there been a road.
I think it was Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry character who quipped, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” As coaches, we tend to be anti-limitations. Many of our clients are held back by limiting beliefs, assumptions, and perspectives. We often encourage clients to think bigger and to stretch beyond the constraints that they allow
In one of our coach training classes (CAM 505 The Language of Coaching), we talk about helping clients make distinctions. That is, helping a client clarify between two related, but not synonymous, words or phrases. Making a distinction unclouds confusion and often brings fresh and invigorating freedom. For example, a common distinction involves the
One of my favorite jokes is one you’ve probably heard. It’s about a guy who’s looking for his car keys late at night along the highway. When a friend comes by to help and asks him where he dropped the keys, the guy points 10 yards away and says, “Over there in the bushes.”
In the 1970s, managers began to realize that workers needed to be able to think more deeply about their work. Prior to this time, most jobs demanded that employees worked uniformly, repeating the same tasks over and over. As technology blossomed, managers observed that employees needed to make decisions throughout the day. They needed
A good observation can create more awareness than the best question. Too many questions can create a monologue from the client. When you begin making observations as you coach, you truly enter the dialogue. Great coaching is a conversation where both the coach and the client bring something to the table. While I still
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We’ve categorized our posts so you can learn more about specific areas of coaching.
Coaching Skills Just Beyond the Basics
Competencies That Create Awareness
Concepts That Create Distinctions
The Basics of Starting a Coaching Practice