The art of coaching

The art of coaching

For people who have not experienced coaching, for whom it is a mystery or maybe somewhat intangible, it can be hard to grasp what exactly it involves.

It’s tempting to respond by trying to make it fact- and structure-based , indeed that is what we have done with previous articles. This plays to the tangible, the scientific, and that has to be OK. For, after all, there is certainly a scientific element to our executive coaching practice, underpinned as it is by deep development, extensive business experience, a bursting toolkit of coaching techniques and models and a foundation rooted in psychology.

The science of psychosynthesis, of understanding interference, of OD and organisational dynamics, of the part coaching plays in whole-system development, of cognitive behavioural coaching, of adaptive leadership, of inclusive workplaces, of Gestalt approaches and of the psychodynamic approach, of mindfulness and positive psychology, of emotions and of the person-centred coaching model. I could go on…

And yet at Chelsham we firmly believe that the most powerful breakthroughs come when executive coaching is a combination of art and science. The art of coaching? So what is that?

I was prompted to write this article after an interaction with a new coachee recently. They had met a couple of coaches and someone had clearly planted a thought along the lines of “work with me and this is exactly what I do: Session 1 will be this; Session 2 will be that and so on…”  You will find coaches who operate in this way, who are uncompromising in their approach and dictate an agenda. We prefer something a little different, we like to follow the interest of the coachee in the context of the objectives for our work, we like to listen and listen hard. Listen to understand.  And so it follows that, when asked about our approach, our response is a little less structured, a bit more discursive, something like this.

 As you can see, there is art and science involved. There is a strong focus on noticing, on experiencing, on spotting changes, on spotting similarities or patterns. In a space where there is no judging, no ‘shoulds’, the dynamic and energy between the coach and coachee can lead to powerful breakthroughs which can take people by surprise. That is development.

What more can we add about this? Well a few further thoughts perhaps:

Finding your answers

Coaching isn't mentoring, therapy, or consulting, although as you can see above it's related to all of those disciplines. In those relationships you may generally be seeking answers from an expert. Our expertise is in coaching relationships not in you or your aspirations as a leader. We don't have ‘off the peg’ answers for you. We do have questions, and our goal with each client is to earn the right to ask the uniquely challenging questions that you must answer to be successful.

We obviously have knowledge and perspectives, on leadership, transitions and inclusion for example, and it would be odd to withhold them where they are relevant. But it’s not about our answers; it’s about yours.

Your agenda

The coaching is about you and not us. So you set the agenda, often in conjunction with your sponsor within your business. That’s really good practice when it’s possible. We will always point something out that might be missing from your agenda, as a suggestion, and we may add subsidiary objectives as we work together. When we notice things in the coaching room we will make good use of them, for you.

Challenge and support

It’s both. You don't want a ‘cosy chat’ which fails to move you to action. And yet you also need to know that we are by your side and on your side as you grapple with your objectives. You’re almost definitely already a success so there needs to be enough challenge to unlock that extra x% which will truly differentiate you and your company from others.

Intuition

At Chelsham we believe that successful coaching, which enhances your performance, is a mixture of coaching expertise and business/commercial acumen & understanding and adept use of intuition. The third can be an unusual phenomenon to discuss in a business context, but it ought not to be. Harnessing what we are both noticing or feeling can lead to very interesting coaching moments.

So there it is.

The art of coaching, supported by science, in service of your continuing development and success.