Some tips:
- Use Humour, metaphor, silence and challenge
- Explore through open ended questions
- Use appropriate Tools - Visualization, role play, wheel of life, etc.
A cardinal principle to be followed – coach does not offer solution – Client has to develop and decide on the preferred option
Forward Planning – Actions, Time Frame
A good closure with clear action forward is very important in a coaching session. Help client define the next steps, develop specific action plan, fosters motivation to maintain momentum, be specific and define timing.
What are you going to do? What steps do you have to take to get there? or When will you do that? Encourage the client to charge along ambitiously. For example, if client says he or she will start to solve a problem by having a conversation with a relevant person next Friday, you could say, How about this Friday?
Some helpful questions at the stage are:
- When precisely are you going to start and finish each?
- Who needs to know what your plans are?
- What support you need and from whom?
- If there is no solution, discuss how to move forward?
Finally, coach should close session with “To what extent does the options develop meet the objective? And “how does client feel now?, and, “What could the I (Coach) do to support you?
Learning from Golf for a Coach
As a coach one can learn a lot from the game of Golf. A few key learning are:
- A golfer competes with one self so you decide your pace. In coaching the client decides the pace, of course a coach challenges where required . Pace – The pace of gold is unique Between shots a negative train of thoughts can be devastating
- Pressure of Competition- In any other game if had a bad game you can tell yourself that my opponent was playing particularly well that day. A golfer is responsible for one’s action, takes credit for a good hole and blame for a bad hole. Famous golfer Jeev Milkha Singh says he listens to his caddy’s advice but finally he takes his decision and blame or credit is always his. Similarly, a cardinal principle of coaching is that it’s the client who decides the action and takes the credit or blame for that.
- Be present, focus on ball when you hit the ball. Negative thoughts about a water body around, hazard, etc should not affect the golfer. A coach must be ‘present’ and be non judgmental in the whole process
- In golf you have to be always looking forward. A birdie or par in the previous hole is not a guarantee similar result in the next hole. Similarly a bad shot should not spoil your rest of the game – you can always recover in the next shots. A coach must, in the same way, should help client always moving forward and not bogged with the past.
- In golf, there are several things are not in your control viz. – greens, Fairway conditions, wind speed or direction, but you have to decide your strategy and play a good game, sometime by challenging yourself. Similarly in coaching you decide your goal based on what is in your control
- Listening can be more of an asset than it is generally given credit for in golf by listening to the sound of ball as it is struck you can learn to discriminate whether it is being hit inside, outside or directly on the sweet spot. As this awareness increases so does percentage of solid shots. In coaching active listening is key for the coach.
- Ethics and Values – This is a very important lesson for a Coach. In Golf no one is watching you, you need to be truthful to your own conscience and play your game. In Movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance” no one watched the ball moved or complained but Junuh, the hero, against the advice of many, himself declared that the ball has moved after he tried to remove an obstacle and took penalty strokes. Junuh pulls back to a tie with Jones and Hagen when he had a clear change to win.
- Finally, an anecdote from the same golf movie highlights another important message for coaches - A coach should know when to quit. In the movie, seeing from the aforementioned incident that Junuh has grown and matured, Bagger, the Coach and Caddy decides that Junuh, the golfer doesn't need him anymore. Bagger leaves him as mysteriously as he met him, with the 18th hole unfinished!
References:
GROW Model – Coaching for Performance, Fourth Edition, by John Whitmore
Grown Model – Notes / reading material from ICA classes
‘A Manager’s Guide to Coaching by Brian Emerson and Anne Loehr
Inner Game of Golf – W Timothy Gallaway,
“The Legend of Bagger Vance”, An American Film, by Robert Redford, year 2000