Principle First:
Coaching /Koh – Ching/ noun. Unlocking people’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them. – Sir John Whitmore
At this point, you’ve delegated a task or a project. You’ve provided feedback. And now it’s time to coach.
I’ll draw a contrast between two development frameworks, Coaching and Training. This article focuses on Coaching.
🧠Today’s Framework: GROW model for Coaching
📚Today’s Story: The Origin of Coaching in Business
📝 Today’s Quote:
“We must see people in terms of their future potential, not their past performance” – Sir John Whitmore, father of modern coaching
📚The Story
The origin of Coaching in Business
Sir John Whitmore, a pioneer in the field of coaching, transformed how individuals and organizations approach personal and professional development.
John Whitmore’s early life was shaped by the example of his parents, who were dedicated to helping others during World War II. This upbringing instilled in him a strong sense of purpose, but also left him with a need to prove himself beyond the shadows of his influential parents.
Despite his successful career as a race car driver, Whitmore felt an unresolved internal struggle. He realized that many people, like himself, grappled with self-doubt, fear, and a lack of clear direction—barriers that often hindered their performance and growth more than external challenges.
This realization led Whitmore to the Esalen Institute in California, where he immersed himself in advanced psychological studies.
(I want to visit Esalen to take Eve Ekman’s course “Cultivating Emotional Balance”.)
Here, he encountered Timothy Gallwey’s “Inner Game” concept:
Performance = Potential – Interference
Gallway emphasized the mental and emotional components of performance, first in tennis, then skiing, then in golf. The Inner Game was focused on focused on reducing internal interference caused by negative self-talk and self-doubt, and instead, trusting one’s innate abilities.
The Opponent within one’s own head is more formidable than the one the other side of the net. – Tim Gallway
Inspired by Gallway’s work, Whitmore saw the potential for applying the Inner Game approach to business and personal development, laying the groundwork for what would become modern coaching.
Whitmore’s seminal book, “Coaching for Performance,” encapsulated these ideas and introduced the coaching world to the concepts of self-awareness and responsibility. He emphasized that coaching is not about instructing or advising but about facilitating a process where individuals discover their own solutions and paths. This approach empowered people to take ownership of their development and make conscious, informed decisions.
The best athletes in the world have coaches.
Most CEO’s have coaches.
A great manager is a coach.
Be that coach.
🧠The Framework: GROW model for Coaching
Coaching versus Training
Training is showing somebody what to do. You will do this when you have someone very new to a topic, or in the case or particular urgency.
Coaching is guiding someone through a concept through questioning or offering resources for them to answer their questions. It encourages independence and growth.
You didn’t learn how to ride a bike by being told to ride a bike.
I’m coaching my kids to swim. And I don’t know how to swim myself.
Coaching can take the coachee beyond the technical skills of the coach.
Coaching Continuum
Most people default to the “Teaching” side of the Coaching Continuum. This works when the task has a true “correct” way to be executed.
My wife’s family has a prized pierogi recipe that is generations old. There is only one way to make a pierogi. This is a time to teach!
We need to be coaching most of the time.
Coaching skills can transcend your own technical skills because it’s focused on bringing out the potential in the coachee – it’s THEIR technical skills we are unleashing by leading them to clarity, reducing interference, and connecting them with resources.
Coaching Skills
“Focused attention on coaching is more important than the time spent. What matters most is listening so the other person feels heard. Eliminate distractions and cultivate a sense of presence in the moment.” – Ed Batista, Harvard Business Review (March 20, 2014)
- Be fully present for and focused on the coachee
- Listen to your own internal discussion, be aware of the concepts of Mindset, and pay attention to your’s and that of the coachee.
- Are you in a Fixed Mindset trying to prove? Get both of you back to a Growth Mindset! You must believe they can grow, you must admit your own weaknesses, and you must help them do the same.
- Practice Active Listening
- Ask Open Ended Questions
- Use your one on ones.
GROW
- 𝗚 – The 𝗚oal you want
- 𝗥 – 𝗥eality of today
- 𝗢 – 𝗢ptions for action
- 𝗪 – 𝗪ill do this – secure a commitment to action
Goal:
The first stage of the GROW model focuses on defining what the coachee wants to achieve. This involves setting clear, specific, and measurable goals that align with their personal or professional aspirations.
It is common to revisit this segment of the model several times on one coaching session. Alignment is key!
Sample questions:
- What do you want, desire, or need to overcome?
- What are your interests, values and motivations?
- What will success or achievement look or feel like?
- When will you know you have succeeded?
- How will you know you have succeeded?
- How important is this to you?
(Note: This is a primer, Whitmore’s book has a “Coaching Question Toolkit” at the end of his book. There arehundreds of questions. The entire book is an enjoyable read.)
Reality:
In the second stage, the coach helps the coachee assess their current situation. This involves a thorough evaluation of the coachee’s present circumstances, challenges, and resources, providing a realistic foundation for planning.
Whitmore uses the following example demonstrating the power of a question:
Every ball sport has the adage “Keep your eye on the ball.”
If we ask “Are you watching the ball?” the coachee may get defensive and simply lie.
If we berate “Why aren’t you watching the ball?” we’ll again elicit a defensive reaction.
But here’s a powerful question:
“What way is the ball spinning?”
We’ve asked an open ended question that:
- Compels attention for an answer,
- Focuses attention for precision,
- Avoids judgment, and
- Creates a feedback loop.
Sample questions:
- Where are you now with this topic?
- What makes you think that?
- What would your peers say about it?
- What obstacles are currently in the way of your success?
- What resources do you need to achieve your goal?
This is a tool to help lead the coachee to develop a sense of reality, creating constructive tension between reality and the goal. (Here’s a 1 minute video on Creative Tension – give it a quick 👍🏻 while you are there!)
Options:
The third stage involves exploring possible actions and solutions.
Through brainstorming and creative thinking, the coachee identifies a range of options that could help achieve the defined goals.
As in all good brainstorming, we want as many options as we can imagine before options are selected.
💡Tip: It is important that the coach NOT ADD any options until the coachee has shared all of theirs. The coach should simply ask questions to help the coachee use all their senses, and think about the options from various angles and perspectives.
Sample questions:
- If your biggest obstacle wasn’t there, what would you do?
- If you had endless resources, what would you do?
- What would your best friend, manager, or peer want or do in this situation?
- What can you do right now to further develop skills that would be useful in reaching your goal?
- What have helpful mentors done that has helped you progress?
Will:
The final stage pulls everything together and determines the way forward.
We want the coachee to own the action plan that achieves the goal they’ve set.
This involves committing to specific actions, setting timelines, and establishing accountability mechanisms to ensure progress towards the goals.
Sample questions:
- What will you do?
- On a scale of 1-10, how committed are you to doing this? (If 6 or below, ask what would bring them to an 8-10.)
- What obstacles could arise?
- How will you overcome them?
- When will you start?
- How will you and I know it’s been achieved or completed?
- Who will you ask for feedback after you’ve taken action?
- What advocacy would help?
- How can I provide more support towards your development?
- Imagine this results in disaster, what happened and what can we do to prevent it?
Here’s the best stuff I found while writing this.
🎧Today’s Podcast:
In this episode, my brilliant childhood friend Dr. Brooke Griffin explains the distinctions between coaching and mentoring, highlights the importance of a thought partner in career development, discusses her work helping pharmacists navigate career transitions, and shares innovative strategies for reducing stress and increasing motivation through group coaching programs. Listen Here: Outcomes Rocket, June 20 2024.
📺Today’s Video:
Sir John Whitmore discusses his the origin story of Coaching. It was my source for The Story above. Watch Here: Ministry of Education Living Legends Conversation with Sir John Whitmore
📰Today’s Article:
Effective managers recognize both positive and negative changes in employee performance and take appropriate remedial action when required. A manager’s assumption on whether or not the employee has a Fixed or Growth Mindset affects their recognition of actual change in the employee’s performance. Full Article: Research Gate (free)
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