Following on from her “Coaching Conversations” discussion with Sharon Lawton (TCA Head of Training), Claire Pedrick (creator of the STOKER coaching model and author of Simplifying Coaching and The Human Behind the Coach) dives into the art of simplifying coaching. There's an undeniable drive within most coaches—a desire to learn and to truly make a difference in the lives of those they coach, but in this pursuit, less can often be more when it comes to having a transformational impact. Read on to discover more insights and valuable information from Claire…
Whether someone is new to the coaching profession, or has been around for a long time, there are two things I notice in most coaches: a desire to learn and a hope to become the best you can be in service of the people you coach.
These are amazing. And they can accidentally look like a coach doing too much, asking more questions or using more tools and techniques. After all, perhaps these new things make you better at unlocking something? Or creating a shift? Or adding more value?
Most coaches can unlock something, create shifts and add value. It takes an artful coach to notice when these things happen so that the two of you don’t walk straight over the transformation in search of a better question. Coaching is about facilitating the other person to think, to see and feel differently about something so that change happens. It’s future focussed. We don’t know what they think or know already. And when we ask them, it’s the coach that’s gaining knowledge and insight about the thinker. Often the thinker isn’t gaining new insights for themselves.
Yes, curiosity is vital in coaching. Their curiosity. When we work out together which ‘bit of the thing’ they are bringing to the conversation is the bit that matters, we are much closer to the heart of the work that we need to do today. And when we are clear about which bit of that matters today (rather than ever), it’s another step forward. A side benefit of being clear what we are doing together today is that we can see when we are doing something else - then we can check in and ask ‘What’s useful now?’ (The ICF call this establishing and maintaining the coaching agreement. I call it making the work the right size for today).
If partnership is important in coaching we need to stay in partnership through the whole conversation. Working out what we are doing in every conversation is important. So is checking in: ‘Is this useful?', ‘How are we doing?’, ‘What do we need to do now?’. When I don’t check in, I’m deciding on my own - and that’s not sharing! Notice how none of those questions feel like ‘Am I doing any good today?’, which is often what coaches perceive is checking in, and therefore don’t do.
This person you are with in this conversation only needs as much as it takes to feel seen and heard and felt, and to get new insights into their own stuff. That’s all. What’s the least you need to do to enable that to happen?
New insights come when someone sees and senses new meaning, or a different perspective. They have to make the meaning themselves. Just because I think it might be new meaning, doesn’t mean it is. It’s like a race. Artful coaches know when to step back and allow the thinker to take the last few steps over the line. When we run over first, we are dragging them and often the transformation is lost.
In this ever-evolving world of coaching, less is more. The difference between a growing coach and an artful coach isn’t about knowing more or doing more. It’s about how we are in our encounter with the thinker. More attentive. Less bothered. My experience is that these are the lessons that will enable you to become the best you can be in service of the people you coach.
If you missed Claire's Coaching Conversations discussion on with our Head of Training, Sharon Lawton, you can watch the replay on The Coaching Academy's YouTube Channel.
About Author:
Claire Pedrick is a human who facilitates other people's thinking. An MCC Master Coach with over 15000 hours experience, and author of Simplifying Coaching and The Human Behind the Coach. Host at The Coaching Inn podcast, Claire believes that coaching is simple and that it takes time to learn to work that simply. In 2022 she walked 600km on the Camino in Spain. Claire received the 2022 Outstanding Contribution to Coaching Award from Henley Business School for being a coach and a Points of Light Award from the UK Prime Minister for being a human! In 2024 Claire’s company won Gold (for social impact) and Silver (for workforce and wellbeing) Awards from the Health Service Journal for Partnership with the NHS. The Human Behind the Coach won Specialist Business Book at the 2024 Business Book Awards.
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