In the beginning there are no rules, because you don’t know what you do. In the middle, there are only rules, nothing beyond, and they limit you. In the end you control rules, not the other way around. You are now the master.
Rules are important. But it is more important to understand why rules are important.
In coaching there are few rules; rest are competencies. Competencies are about skills. Rules are about purpose. For acquiring mastery, you need to understand the purpose.
There are a few masters we would like to introduce you in your journey to coaching mastery. They, in turn, will teach you the rules of the game. We shall meet them again, time and again in our journey.
- Carl Rogers, in our humble opinion, is the master of masters. His book, On Becoming a Person, is a must read for anyone embarking on a coaching journey. His rule is simple. Coaching is about the client, only about the client and nothing but the client.
- John Whitmore went beyond the defined outcome of coaching. In an interview he said, “It is not about material benefits. It is about a larger purpose, one of serving others. Coaching is spiritual.” Let us bow to this master as we begin our journey.
- Thomas Leonard challenged conventional wisdom. His Portable Coach starts provocatively with “be selfish.” I blogged on his wisdom and there is no end to it.
- Timothy Gallwey and his Inner Game create the foundation for coaching exploration into what blocks us within. What are those interferences we need to overcome to move from current performance to true potential?
- Marshall Goldsmith who with his “What Got you Here won’t get you There” laid down simple practical rules that help me in my day to day executive coaching.
Coaching at its essence is simple. A client comes to us with an expectation that is difficult to accomplish, materially or behaviorally. This leaves the client disempowered. The coach needs to realize that the client has little control over their external environment. What the client can do is change within.
Once the coach understands that the way to empower the client is through an inner shift (reframing, as it is often termed), through a non-judgmental, client-focused approach and trust in the process, results do happen. Contrary to what some organizations tell coaches, it is the coach’s responsibility to help the client reach the desired outcome. That is what the client is paying us for!
Professional training in coaching and mastery of coaching is a personal need (to be qualified), even if it is not a professional need. Even if you are a successful ‘coach’ and call yourself a master coach, which you can, since this is not yet a licensed profession, wouldn’t you like to measure your capabilities through a peer managed framework?
Market trends are that in coaching, as in every reputed service profession, there is demand for evidence, both in terms of qualifications and performance.
In this blog series, we will cover the following subjects, and will cover more based on request. As various topics are published, we will update this blog with links to the new posts. What you can expect over time:
- Why Ethics?
- Starting with a Contract
- Empowering Relationship
- Mindless Presence
- Listening beyond Words
- Asking curiously
- Communicating with a purpose
- Awareness in coach and client
- Acting towards outcome
- Planning beyond the journey
- Accountability to Anchor
- Understanding Self through Reflective Practice
- Continuous Self Development
- Models & Techniques
- Evaluation and Evidencing
- Mentoring with Coaching
- Supervision
- Systemic Team Coaching
- Self-Coaching
- Self Discovery
- Ontological Coaching
- Somatic Coaching
- Emotional Intelligence
- Energy awareness in coaching
- Constellations
- Polarity
- Gestalt
- NLP
- Appreciative Inquiry
- Transactional Analysis
- Positive Psychology
Let us know what more you want covered.
The topic outlined above will be published with the “Mastery in Coaching” tag. You may see what has been published so far on this link.
