Power Tool: 5W and 1H

A Coaching Power Tool created by Shubha Rajan
(Life Skills Coach, INDIA)

The common place 5Wand 1H was always my favourite method of breaking down a complex issue and I noticed that this has paid great dividends in my various coaching experiences as well.

People are very subjective when it comes to any issue that is troubling them. There is a lot of emotional disturbance and therefore common sense does not become common practice. The perceived problem is perceived beyond limits, there is a lot of insecurity, a lot of blame game and finally a desperate cry of Oh God! Why me?

Therefore the power tool above starts with the What happened? And moves on to allowing the client to bring out all the details through the When, Where, Who, Why and the How. Once the entire situation is out the client is able to separate the emotion from the issue and is able to look out for a solution which would point the way forward with the And Now…

Coaching is all about asking to receive the total information and my coaching model compliments the power tool as well.

Powerful questions to ask:

• What
• When
• Where
• Who
• Why
• How
• & Now…

All the types of questioning can be used:

1. Probing questions
2. Multiple questions
3. Open ended questions
4. Closed questions
5. Hypothetical questions
6. Simple questions
7. Complex questions
8. Direct questions
9. Indirect questions

The type of questioning depends on the answers we want to get from the client. The only emotion that the coach uses will be Empathetic listening and objective questioning.

In conclusion:

• The shift I am thinking that needs to happen will be between emotional insecurity to objective empowerment
• Subjectivity in the 5H and 1H on to Objectivity in the answering of the and Now?