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Saturday, April 4, 2009

How to Discover the Challenge in a Coaching Client's Goal Faster, Easier and With Greater Results

In coaching we are almost invariably dealing at some level with achieving goals. However, what is clear is that someone only seeks coaching if there is a challenge, problem or issue with their goal. Think about it, if achieving their goal was easy and effortless then coaching would be pretty superfluous for that client.

Obvious as this may sound, it's important 1968 Topps baseball cards think about this since many coaches plough in buy games coaching a client on their goal unclear as to what the challenge is that makes coaching necessary in the first place! Clients often obligingly answer the coach's increasingly irrelevant questions because they assume the coach is the expert! The poor client may never get to the real heart of their challenge.

So, let's look at 7 simple but extremely effective questions that help you find what the real challenge is as often and as easily as possible.
1 - What has stopped you doing this so far?

This is a great question for addressing the issue of Addams Family pinball you know what you want to do and it seems that you have a pretty good idea of how to do it, why hasn't it happened?"

On the one hand, this may be a new goal or at least newly achievable in which the question is probably redundant.

However, you could find that the achievability or difficulty of the goal has Captain Midnight changed at all but that the desire or importance of achieving it has increased.

If this is the case then finding out what has stopped the client so far will help you and the client quickly identify what key areas might need to be discussed. It does not, however, mean that what has stopped them so far is definitely still an issue. But it is certainly a place to explore.

2 - What is challenging about this goal for you?

Sometimes a goal may seem pretty straightforward and the coach may be thinking "well, what's the problem?" Alternatively, it may seem obvious to the coach what the difficulty is. Either way, the perception that the coach forms can impact upon the coaching session...and it may be entirely wrong!

By asking what is challenging about this goal for you, the coach can get to the root of what coaching must achieve for the client and bypass their assumptions.

This will ensure that the coaching focuses on the client's real issue not the coach's perception.

As an example of this, I recently saw a coach working with a client whose goal was to contact ex-colleagues by email over the following two weeks. The coach clearly felt the goal was very easy to achieve and the coach and client became mildly frustrated at not being able to get the actions agreed.

By asking what was challenging about the goal for the client, the coach would have found out that the challenge wasn't the simple matter of setting a time to email the colleagues and doing it. Rather it was creating the content of the emails so that they would compel the colleagues to take an interest in the client's new work.

Additionally, the 'for you' is important because when left off it can imply the coach thinks the goal is easy: "What is the challenge of this goal?" could sound very different from "What's the challenge of this goal for you?"

3 - What change has got to happen from what has gone before?

Coaching is all about change! Often a client will have tried many times to achieve their goal but been unsuccessful. In this case, a question such as "what has stopped you doing it before" would probably elicit "well, I've tried but it hasn't worked" and a slight defensiveness may creep in.

Far better would be an attempt to find out what must change this time compared to previous attempts to achieve the goal.

In another observed coaching session, a client talked about her need to improve an outcome from an ex-partner. The coaching session explored how a meeting could be set up, what information would be needed, when the calls would be made, etc.

However, many similar meetings had already been conducted without success. So the real issue was what needed to change this time for the client to get the outcome she needed.

This question would have resulted in a very different conversation. It would have identified that the ability to arrange and conduct the conversations was manageable and instead addressed what needed to change to make the meeting result in a better outcome..

4 - How are you currently stuck with this?

A nice straight forward question this. Why take a client down a route of solving a problem when the problem you're looking at is not the one that exists.

This is straight to the point and will enable you to rapidly identify precisely the issue you need to be exploring.

A question like this allows you to get to the nub and ask the right questions quickly and easily.

5 - If you had to identify one main thing which is holding you back with this goal, what would it be?

This is a useful question for achieving some focus when a client is confused or perhaps discursive in their way of talking about things.

Asking a client this question encourages them to prioritise where there efforts need to be or, at the very least, allows the client to find greater clarity from their confusion.

As a warning however, this is not an end point to getting to the root of the challenge. It's a way of structuring and building steps. You can't assume that a single answer must be the thing you coach on.

Think of this as a first step for a client who is very confused about the issue.

6 - What's really at the root of this issue for you?

This question is a little more open than the others in that it allows for a variety of answers rather than primarily practical/definable causes.

For this reason it is useful for finding out the deeper state of mind of a client around the goal.

As a warning, the question could lead to a wide array of thoughts which may not initially clarify the challenge behind a goal. However, for the right client it might be like an arrow which pierces the heart of the problem.

I heard a coach ask this recently after nearly the whole session using the GROW model. When this question was asked the real issue of the session fell in to place but it was a little too late to explore the realisation that this question raised in the client's mind.

7 - If you still feel unsure what the concern is, try reframing by asking hypothetical questions: "If you achieved xyz would you feel you had all you needed to make your decision (or whatever the issue is)?

This is essentially about testing the water to see if you have got the temperature right. If, by asking a hypothetical question, you find that there is still ambiguity around the problem then you know you need to dig further.

So, for instance, a coach was working with a client who was thinking to start a business in New York and the conversation was exploring whether a particular business was sustainable there. The coach, feeling that somehow they were not on track, asked "If this conversation helped you to decide that this business is sustainable in New York would that be 'decision made'?" The client's response clearly demonstrated that there was another issue or issues to be considered and that the sustainability issue was not the root issue. Without the question the coaching may have pursued the New York business option never getting to the underlying problem.

Similarly, on a personal note, I was in a quandary about a choice and when asked by a friend what my level of commitment was to each choice I replied "around 50/50" - his response was, "OK, so if I throw this coin would you go with whatever the 50/50 result is?" This very simple but powerful hypothetical question encouraged me to think much deeper realising that things were not really so evenly balanced.

Conclusion:

What do all these questions have in common?

Firstly they are all simple questions. Remember "Keep It Short and Simple". There are no unnecessary words thrown in and there is a deliberate attempt to avoid ambiguity (except in question 6). This is important since you are aiming to gain clarity.

Secondly, they all focus on going beyond the presenting issue. In other words, the coach has to do more than simply coach on the thing that's put on the table.

Thirdly, they create a learning frame of mind for the client. Coaching is not very effective where it simply makes the client regurgitate things they already know merely for the benefit of the coach.

Used well, these questions will ensure you get to the root of a client's real challenge easier, faster and with much greater outcomes for the client.

Nick Bolton is the founder of The SMART School of Coaching based in London. He is passionate about creating great coaches with real, practical skills

He has coached individuals and groups for over eight years and mentored many trainee coaches through accreditation. He also now runs the Smart Coach Mastermind Group seeking to establish what really works and what doesn't to help coaches establish profitable businesses

Next step: If you found this article useful, why not go to The SMART School blog at href="coaching-and-training.co.uk">coaching-and-training.co.uk

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Saturday, April 4, 2009

How to Discover the Challenge in a Coaching Client's Goal Faster, Easier and With Greater Results

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