Frequently Asked Questions
About Coaching

• What is Coaching?
• Coaching or Psychotherapy?
• Just in time Coaching
• Creating positive coaching goals
• Seeking and satisfying objections?
• Enhancing human performance?
• What does coaching cost?
• Appreciative Inquiry coaching philosophy?
• How can I become a coach?

What is Coaching?

A coach is a means of getting from A to B

There are many definitions of coaching, listening partner, motivator, mentor, challenger, and several much more detailed, but for simply understanding the coaching process we prefer this simple model of coaching as helping someone get from A to B.

When we think of coaching people we can think of it simply as helping a person get from "State A" to "State B". This basic model of going from A to B suggests that coaching requires three things:

• Where are you? A clear idea of where the person currently is (State A). You can not provide directions to a person if you don't know where they are starting from.
• Where are you going? A clear idea of where they want to go (State B) which is also known as a preferred future state. Coaching is also open to the idea that the client's preferred future may change or unfold as they head toward B. However, while open to such transformation and in a spirit of equanimity, coaching is always oriented toward achieving a goal.
• What do you need?A clear idea of what resources the Client will need in order to get from A to B. The resources people may need vary enormously and could include tangible things such as money, material, personnel, or intangibles such as confidence, skills, or positive motivation.

Having established the goal the process of coaching is about helping people access or acquire the resources they need to get from A to B.

State A does not need to be perceived by the client as a problem state to benefit from coaching. In many situations clients seek coaching to develop their abilities and enhance their effectiveness and not just solve problems.

From a coaching perspective it doesn't really matter why or how you got to where you are, what matters most is knowing where you are, where you want to go next and how you are going to get there.

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Coaching or Psychotherapy?

There is great debate as to what constitutes coaching and psychotherapy. Many of these debates focus on specific techniques. Part of this debate is confused by the fact that the field of psychotherapy has multiple models for explaining the purpose and process of psychotherapy. The A to B coaching model provides a way of deciding whether someone is in need of psychotherapy or coaching. It all depends on what is the starting point. What is State A? If State A is a diagnosable mental disorder and the purpose of the helping relationship is to reduce the presence of the symptoms, State B, then the client is engaged in psychotherapy. On the other hand if State A is any condition that may or may not be considered a problem, (and is not a mental disorder), and the purpose of the helping relationship is to increase human performance then the person could be considered to be engaging in coaching. Form this perspective competent therapists and competent coaches may use the same techniques but the starting point and the goal will be different.

While there are considerable differences within the field of psychotherapy, by definition "therapy" requires that something is broken and needs to be fixed. Psychotherapy seeks to diagnose and reduce the presence of a mental disorder or reduce the symptoms of psychopathology. Generally clients seek therapy to manage their problems and crises through the reduction of troubling symptoms. In many psychotherapies considerable effort is expended to understand the origins of these problems. Because of potential life and death issues the practice of psychotherapy is regulated to protect the client's welfare and the integrity of the therapeutic relationship.

Coaching tends to be time limited and focused on achieving specific goals. Coaching is future oriented and seeks to assist the client to achieve a preferred future often through the teaching and mentoring of specific abilities such as leadership competencies. Clients may or may not pursue coaching because they are facing problems. Some people engage a coach to help them increase their effectiveness, enhance their performance, or create additional opportunities for advancement. Others might be prompted to hire a coach to assist in making life or career transitions while others may have specific work related problems that cause them to seek assistance.

Coaching may also be formal as in a professional coaching relationship, or informal as in the conversation of peers and colleagues. Some jobs such as managing and leading others may require an element of coaching if the leader is to bring out the best in their employees. Coaching as part of a professional leadership role may often be spontaneous and informal.

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Just in time Coaching

Many times we don't know what it is that we need to know until we are in the midst of a situation. This is especially true for clergy who may face very different demands going from one congregational setting to another. Coaching is an ideal way to get collaborative support and learning as you need it. In the appreciative coaching relationship you will discover and develop your own unique strengths and ways of meeting the challenges of daily life and ministry.

Because the majority of coaching is conducted by telephone it is readily accessible and convenient. You are not limited to only those coaches in your area but can access coaching expertise where you are at a time that is convenient to you.

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Creating positive coaching goals

Positive goal setting is a core component of coaching. It is impossible to work effectively on negative goals such as reducing the presence of something we consider undesirable. Appreciative Inquiry teaches that "What we focus on becomes our reality." What we need to focus on is what we want and not on what we don't want, because the more we focus on what we don't want the more it will grow. This is why positive goal setting is so important.

The next step in goal setting is to Imagine

Imagine you have accomplished your goal and it is now a year later. What do you imagine is different in your life and work? Take some time to really imagine how accomplishing the goal has changed your life.

What do you really value about this new way of living and working, and what do you really value about yourself in this new life? To be motivated toward a goal it needs to be consistent with our values and actually add value? Can you perceive of the goal accomplishment as a blessing? If you cannot perceive the blessing, i.e. the value you will not be motivated to accomplishing the goal.

If you cannot imagine the goal being accomplished you will need to break the goal up into smaller imaginable pieces. Also see the next section on satisfying objections.

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Seeking and satisfying objections?

Because we never have perfect motivation to do anything, we need to explore those parts of us that might object to the goals we have established. As you reflect on fulfilling you goal ask yourself whether any part of you objects to this new life? If some part does object, ask what would satisfy the objection. Coaching is not about overcoming our internal objections it is about finding deep satisfaction for these objections. When we overcome our objections we do violence to ourself. Typically these parts that we have violated will inturn sabotage our progress. Burn-out for example often occurs because we can no longer sustain activity in the face of increasing internal objection. On the other hand when we listen respectfully to ourselves and discover our objections and then satisfy them we will create change that is sustainable.

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Enhancing human performance?

One way of thinking about coaching is that it is means to improving human performance. Any human behavior, even non-tangible behaviors such as thinking, can be enhanced through coaching

When modifying or enhancing human behavior there are three areas that the coaching may focus on:

• Environment: Those things that are external to the client but which the client can modify or have impact on.
• Skills and Abilities: The specific skills that a client may need to develop. These can range from a wide range of leadership competencies, emotional intelligence competencies, thinking strategies, time management, etc.
• Motivation: To achieve a goal, the client must be energized in the direction of accomplishing the goal. Without motivation competent people will accomplish little despite the presence of their skills.

Motivation in turn can be divided into 4 additional factors:

• Beliefs: Expectations about how successful the client thinks they will be and what the likely reward will be. (Not to be confused with religious beliefs)
• Values: The relative importance a person puts on behaviors and outcomes.
• Identity: Who the client understand them self to be. For example, a person will not be able to effectively do the work of a pastor until they have the identity of pastor.
• Purpose: What does the client understand their core purpose or reason for being is?

These three areas of environment, skills, and motivation along with the four sub-factors of motivation synergistically interrelate. For example: in general people are more highly motivated when they are using a well developed skill, because they have high beliefs about being successful, and this is even increased if the person highly values success. Likewise a person will be poorly motivated to use a skill that they do not believe will lead to success.

In the coaching work the coach and client may touch on all of these areas as they discover the resources the client needs to enable them to achieve their goals.

If you have a goal in mind, take a moment to think about what you need to enhance your performance to the goal:
Do you need to change your environment?
Do you need to build new skills?
Do you need to clarify and increase your motivation?
Quite likely it is all three. Working with a coach in these areas will help you find the resources you need to accomplish your goal.

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Appreciative Inquiry coaching philosophy?

We use an appreciative inquiry based foundation for our coaching work which means:

• We work from and toward positive goals
• We are strength based and resource oriented
• We use the power of positive storytelling to create generative mindsets
• We are collaborative, helping you create your desired outcomes
• We value what gives you life, purpose, and meaning
• We appreciate and affirm the mystery that is you

Click here for more information about Appreciative Inquiry.

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What does coaching cost?

As of January 1, 2007 we charge $150 per 45 minute session of telephone coaching.

Coaching is typically conducted on a biweekly or monthly basis, depending on your need.

For more information about our coaching services please contact Rob Voyle.
 
Click to obtain and review a ".pdf" copy of our Coaching Letter of Agreement

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How can I become a coach?

In addition to providing Coaching, the Clergy Leadership Institute also provides Appreciative Coach Training for those who would like to develop their coaching skills. Our coach training program is especially oriented toward training clergy to coach: peers, staff, and volunteers; and psychologists who are interested in coaching clergy and consulting to congregations.

If you enjoy helping people accomplish their objectives or have personal and professional wisdom that you enjoy passing on to others then intentional coaching may be something for you to consider.

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