A coaching session is a structured conversation so both coach and client know that this is a coaching conversation that has a purpose, versus just having a nice conversation. Thereās a definite beginning and an ending to a coaching session,...
Category: #7 – Direct Communication
Great Coaching is Not Time Bound
As someone who trains and mentor coaches, Iāll often hear coaches say that if they had more time in a coaching session, they would have been able to ask this or say that. Some coaches say that 30 minutes isnāt...
Be Present to Client Language
One of the best ways for a coaching client to feel heard is to use the clientās language in our reflections, messages and questions. There are many of the ICF core competencies affected by how well the coach listens including...
Be Curious About Client Meaning and Language
I recently attended a Panel Discussion at my local Performing Arts Center. The title of the discussion was, āDo the Arts Make Us Better People?ā The moderator started out by saying that we need to define what ābetterā means. She...
Clients Don’t Need Advice
As coaches, we are hired to support our client to achieve their desired outcomes. Coaching is a partnership where the client brings knowledge about themselves, their circumstances, their strengths, hopes, fears, beliefs, mindset, and their life in general. The client...
The coaching skill of requests
A skill that coaches often use with clients is making a Request, which is based on the coach hearing or perceiving something that would be of use for the client to consider doing. The ICF core competencies of Direct Communication...
Why direct communication is an essential coaching competency
Once upon a time when coaching was still very new as a profession, there was the belief that asking curious questions was the only real coaching skill. While asking questions that are potentiallly powerful for the client is still...
Listen for metaphors
ICF Core Coaching Competency #7 is about the use of Direct Communication, which is an "ability to communicate effectively during coaching sessions, and to use language that has the greatest positive impact on the client." One of the sub-points...