This one thing has changed my practice — Coaching
Proceed!
…To the tune of ‘Macho Man’ by the Village People:
“Coaching Coaching now, I’m gonna do some Coaching now”
This will be in your head for the remainder of the day. If you work in a large office, perhaps try humming it and seeing how far you can spread the earworm. You are welcome.
Anyway…
This week I completed a MOE Coaching course and became a qualified coach. I am now understanding Coaching as not only a powerful tool for people to uncover their own answers and develop leadership and self trust, but also as a mindset that believes that people do have the solutions to their problems.
So pretty much the mindset of Community Organising, then? Yep, pretty much.
Which is why we, as organisers, move intentionally into more of a coaching role as leaders develop. We are not giving the answers, we are providing space for people to find their own.
What has been great
My default mode of deep listening has been a massive asset — our trainer bigged up the idea of ‘the lazy coach’. In this, less is more. Less feedback from the coach is more time for the coachee to explore their thoughts and reach their own outcomes.
Plus the BIG REVEAL… the power of asking questions… (and listening to the answers folks… no wait, allowing the coachee to listen to their own answers, that’s the ticket.) It is such a simple revelation but really, practise it, the results are electric.
I have been practising all over the place! Asking questions when perhaps I would have offered solutions. The results allow the person you are speaking with to delve deep and really own the actions that come next.
What has been difficult
Practising within my course with others learning the same content was brilliant. We were all very well behaved, and whilst we brought real content as coachees, we came primed to think deeply and knew that our trainee coach wouldn’t be giving us any answers. Trying out my new found skills in ‘the real world’ felt a lot messier — particularly trying to work out when to coach and when to offer knowledge, tools, around community organising that the coachee can pass on.
There is also a difference in angle. When we are organising we focus on the 1–1, a shared conversation. Coaching is a lot more one sided in content — we focus on the coachee and what they want to bring. I haven’t quite worked out what bringing these two angles together looks like yet.
But proceed with caution!
More powerful than ice cream, I hear you cry?!
Yes! I met with a member of one of our community action teams last week and tried out my new learning on him. It was great to give him space to explore his thinking and how he wants to move forwards with Community Organising, but after 40 minutes the poor chap’s ice cream had largely melted over his hand instead of ending up in his stomach!
“She keeps asking me questions!” he exclaimed to a concerned passer by.
What will I do next
- Keep practising.
- Remember the power of undivided attention, listening to someone and not taking the opportunity to find their own answer away from them.
- Remember that no one ever became a good leader because somebody told them to be, and that we all need the space and time to work through our stuff.
- Remember that challenging questions can push people forward in their thinking, and that it doesn’t mean aggressive.
- And finally, try not to get in the way of a man and his ice cream!
Check out the MOE Foundation at https://moefoundation.com/
Wanna know more about what I’m working on? Check out https://www.connectingforgoodcov.com/
