Following is a 2nd part of a 2 part series article which summarises my key AHA moments which I experienced during the CTT Coaching program (April 2018 online batch).

Part I covers Internal Aspect and Part II 2 talks about Process Aspects.

Part II: Process Aspect

1.Create awareness through exploration:

The main task for a coach is to focus on creating awareness in mind of client about this issue at hand – it’s importance to client – it’s impact on client – client’s emotions related to the issues – the beliefs that client has and much more. The coach would achieve this by exploring a variety of things around the issue at hand.

If this process of creating awareness through exploration is done well, chances are high that the client would get what they are looking for!

2.Leading question Vs exploration

During coaching, it is important for a coach to ask questions which lead to generating awareness in the mind of client. Coach should refrain from asking a question which takes the conversation in the direction which coach wants (by asking leading question)!

It is the client who decides where to steer the conversation. As the direction chosen by coach could be exactly opposite to where the client wants to go!

3.Power of ‘What else..’

The question ‘What else’ is one of the powerful tool the coach has in his arsenal. In normal conversation, the client would give some response to a question asked by the coach. But when the coach asks – ‘What else’ – the client is forced to think more about the issue at hand – now the client has to go deeper within to respond – at times the client has to think of more perspectives about this issue at hand.

The ‘What else’ questions brings deeper insights about the issue at hand than a normal ‘question-answer’ transaction.

4.Power of Paraphrasing

During coaching, it highly recommended for the coach to paraphrase at regular intervals. It does 2 things – one – it ensures continuity in the conversation; second and important – it confirms if the coach has captured and internalized everything (data, emotions, etc) that client wanted to share.

@ Vivek Yatnalkar – 2018

Some of the coaches, in a hurry to finish the session, choose not to paraphrase at regular interval only to find out at the end that they missed some critical information on the way!

5.Do not take notes during coaching session

I am one of those compulsive note takers who have a need to note down every word in the conversation. My mentor made me realise that – when I take notes – I lose eye contact with the client – I do not see what the client is trying to communicate with me through his body language – at times I might be missing a few key words shared by the client.

Overall – I was not ‘present’ there!

My mentor suggested to me to do coaching session without taking notes. Initially it was a bit difficult. But as I got used to this, I started listening to what client was sharing with me – both verbal and non-verbal. This also enhanced the overall effectiveness of the session.

I was ‘present’ there by not taking notes during the session!

@ Vivek Yatnalkar – 2018

About the Author

 Vivek Yatnalkar is a Coach, Facilitator with 24+ yrs of experience in Corporate world and L/D space. He works with Senior/ Top Management in the areas of Leadership Development, Collaboration, OD, Executive Coaching. He regularly works as volunteer with various NGOs.