Ch 11 - Coaching Presence

Question 1

Define coaching presence.

Answer 1

A way of being with clients that facilitates growth and change through connection.

Includes being mindful, empathetic, warm, calm, zestful, fun and courageous

Question 2

Define being skills.

Answer 2

Skills coaches use to build growth promoting relationships

Represents a coach’s way of being when at their most authentic

A way of being in the world that includes qualities that can be chosen, valued, and strengthened in the course of a coach’s professional development.

Question 3

How does the ICF describe the competency of coaching presence?

Answer 3

The ability to be fully conscious and create spontaneous relationship with the client, employing a style that is open, flexible, and confident.

A professional coach is…
Present and flexible
Accesses and trusts their intuition
Is open to not knowing and taking risks
Sees many ways to work with the client
Uses humor effectively to create lightness and energy
Confidently shifts perspectives and experiments with new possibilities
Demonstrates confidence in working with strong emotions

Question 4

What are the 9 being skills of coaching?

Answer 4

Coaching presence is developed through practice of using relational qualities called being skills.

They are skills coaches used to build growth-promoting relationships and also represent a coach's way of being when at their most authentic.

Affirmation
Authenticity
Calm
Courage
Empathy
Mindfulness
Playfulness
Wisdom
Zest

Question 5

What are the doing skills of coaching?

Answer 5

Mindful listening
Open inquiry
Perceptive reflections

They are relational skills that coaches can learn and master as practices.

Question 6

What are the 10 empowering and delightful frameworks suggested by Thomas Leonard, a founder of the modern life coaching movement?

Answer 6

1 It's all solvable or it's not
2 Risk is always reducible
3 There's usually a better way
4 Success is a byproduct
5 Emotions are our teachers
6 inklings are higher intelligence
7 the answer is somewhere
8 Self-confidence can be arranged
9 Problems are immediate opportunities
10 People are doing their very best, even when they seem not to be 

Frameworks such as these empower clients in movement, growth, and connection

Question 7

Why does the disposition of the coach matter greatly when it comes to client outcomes?

Answer 7

Clients grow not only because of what coaches do for them, but also (and perhaps even more so) because of who coaches are in relationship to them.

Question 8

What are the character strengths? How are they related to coaching?

Answer 8

Character strengths are the aptitudes or capacities that people most value and use most ably.

Coaching presence can be thought of as a symphony of character strengths.

Question 9

As a coach, why is it important to discover and use our strengths?

Answer 9

The more coaches play to and come from their strengths, the more powerful and effective their coaching will be.

Question 10

What are signature strengths?

Answer 10

24 character strengths grouped into 6 categories or virtues (wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, transcendence)

Question 11

List the six virtues.

Answer 11

These are the key groupings of signature strengths included in the VIA (Values-in-Action) Signature Strengths Questionnaire.

1 wisdom and knowledge
2 courage
3 humanity
4 justice
5 temperance
6 transcendence

Question 12

How is the being skill mindfulness used in coaching?

Answer 12

Masterful coaching requires mindfulness

Mindfulness is the nonjudgmental awareness of what is happening in the present moment.

As coaches it is our job to not only pay full attention to our clients, but also to suspend judgment and be empathetic and compassionate.

Question 13

True or False: The ability to practice mindfulness during coaching sessions is a core coaching skill.

Answer 13

TRUE

Question 14

What practice can a coach is to develop mindfulness?

Answer 14

Meditation
Yoga
Relaxation
Breath work

Question 15

How is the being skill empathy used in coaching?

Answer 15

Empathy is defined as the respectful understanding of another person’s experience including their feelings, needs and desires.

Empathy seeks solely to understand and value, with respect and compassion, another persons experience.

It is also described as a way to understand and connect with someone’s experience in a positive and life-enriching way.

Connecting with and understanding what’s alive in and coming up for another human being in the present moment

It is the core relational dynamic that leads to movement and growth in coaching.

Question 16

What are the characteristics of some one who is empathetic?

Answer 16

Curious without being demanding

Interested without being intrusive

Compassionate without being condescending

Persistent without being impatient

Question 17

What behaviors may coaches want to use in the interested of being helpful but that may get in the way of being empathetic?

Answer 17

Advising
Educating
Consoling
Reassuring
Explaining
Correcting
Solving problems

Even though these behaviors may be appropriate and useful in coaching conversations at times

Question 18

How is the being skill of warmth used in coaching?

Answer 18

There is a reciprocal relationship between warmth and empathy.

Without warmth, all attempts at empathy will fail because empathy requires a sincere, heartfelt desire to connect with another human being.

Without empathy all attempts are warmth will fail because warmth requires an awareness of what others are feeling and needing in the present moment.

Question 19

How can coaches increase warmth?

Answer 19

To increase warmth coaches can remember their best experiences with people. Remembering past warm moments makes us more ready, willing, and able to extend warmth in the future.

Warmth comes from “positive regard”

Question 20

How is the being skill of affirmation used in coaching?

Answer 20

Affirmation conveys the acceptance and appreciation of a client’s thoughts, feelings, and choices.

Masterful coaches extend unfailing affirmation to both themselves and others.

Extending unfailing affirmation, regardless of the situation, is about helping clients respond to life’s experiences without catastrophizing.

Question 21

How is the being skill of calm used in coaching?

Answer 21

Calm is the energy that comes from connecting with and trusting the unfolding of life, whether on the most personal or universal of levels.

Calm energy, in the fire, is the strength that comes from knowing that it’s never to late to make a difference.

At the start of every day, before every coaching session, and in many other moments in life, coaches claim the calm energy to make a difference.

Question 22

How is the being skill zest used in coaching?

Answer 22

Zest is an optimistic and hopeful energy. It anticipates the best.

Zest is an incredibly attractive energy that people want to get close to and build on.

Question 23

How can a coach elevate zest?

Answer 23

By cultivating gratitude: noticing, remembering, and celebrating good things that happen

The more things we do to fill up our tank with zest, the more zest we will have to share with others.

Question 24

For which being skill does a coach’s self-care directly translate into coaching effectiveness?

Answer 24

Zest

It is not possible to coach masterfully in a state of feeling overwhelmed, fatigued, or stress. Without doing the things that make life worth living, including adequate rest and recovery, it is hard to share zestful energy with others.

Question 25

How is playfulness used in coaching?

Answer 25

Playfulness ignites our energy for and engagement with life.

Masterful coaches and other healthy adults know how to laugh and have fun.

Question 26

How can coaches cultivate the energy of playfulness?

Answer 26

Laugh!

Laugh out loud and laugh often. Get your body involved to experience the full benefits.

Question 27

How is courage used in coaching?

Answer 27

Courage in coaching is about naming what is there to increase client awareness, create connection, and generate movement.

It’s not about telling people what we think or believe. Rather it’s about courageously sharing with people what we notice, feel, need, and want.

Question 28

How is authenticity used in coaching?

Answer 28

Masterful coaches are able to boldly express their observations, feelings, needs, and requests in the service of client outcomes.

They have a genuine way of making conversations real.

Question 29

What factors communicate coaching presence? Select two factors and describe how they can be used to promote mutuality and involvement.

Answer 29

Body language
Voice

Clients resonate in response to the way coaches come across. Ideally coaches come across in ways that promote mutuality and involvement.