Guidelines on use of the Tool:
The above is a suggested sequence of questions which the Coach may use to engage the Coachee on the subject of his choice in terms of the Goal he / she wishes to pursue.
This is best used in conversation and not for sending as a questionnaire for the coachee to fill in. This is to ensure that this tool is introduced at the right moment and the sequence of questions are not fired / answered without sensitivity.
When it is used in conversation, the Coach has the flexibility to pause and dwell on a particular aspect as long as it is appropriate for the Coachee to gain clarity on that issue and ensure that he /she answers it for himself / herself with conviction.
In practice it may also happen that not all these questions are addressed at one go. A good coach will have to be present in the moment and make some choices regarding the appropriateness of continuing a particular thread of thought or to change track in recognition of what has emerged in the moment.
Why, When and Where?
As an Executive Coach we are often engaged because of our personal experience in the kind of roles our clients are in. Though this is not really required to be an effective Coach, the client organization and clients seem to get some degree of comfort in engaging coaches with domain industry experience.
Arising out of the above approach, the client also begins to expect a certain degree of input from the Coach on account of their subject matter expertise and experience. Consequently their mindset and preparedness to do all the work maybe slightly weak to start with. It is here that the Coach has to be careful that they do not start owning the responsibility for making progress, but ensure that the Coachee is willing and understands the way Coaching will work.
It is important that the expectations and understanding of how the relationship will work is established upfront. Even with that there is the possibility that the coachee may look towards the Coach to offer solutions or ideas. When the coach is good enough to keep pushing back and seeking the Coachee to do all the reflection and searching for answers, it may lead to frustration and annoyance. This is a common enough occurrence. It is important to reinforce the principles of the relationship – the Coach does not provide the answers but only engages, challenges and encourages the coachee, to come up with his own solutions, through the journey of exploring, identifying, experimenting and imbibing the new ways.
As the Coach continues to encourage the Coachee to do the hard work, it may often lead to deteriorating interest on the part of the Coachee. This is on account of their discomfort or lack of interest in pursuing the journey on the basis of the reinforced principles of this relationship. This then gets reflected in their irregular engagement, lack of follow through on action plans, unwillingness to stretch in their efforts.
The only way to remedy this situation is to help the Coachee to revisit their own commitment to the achievement of the goal. If their commitment is high, they will automatically realize that their current actions are detrimental to the achievement of their own goals. This is where the usefulness of this tool is realised. If the Coach has upfront taken the Client through the process of establishing his / her commitment to the goal, it can be revisited to bring back the energy in the coachee to take on the responsibility for doing the important work associated with the goal.
If the goal is only a fad or wish, then the willingness to take on the hard work of breaking new grounds may not be owned by the coachee. This is often realized much after the train has left the station ! Then it leads to misunderstanding, accusations and break-down in the relationship. It is to pre-empt such a situation that the commitment exercise is suggested to be done at an early stage so that there is clarity about the paramount importance of the goal for the coachee, to encourage him to take on whatever extra work is required in its pursuit.
I have also encountered situations where the Coachee is keen on pursuing a goal but has multiple other agenda on his plate. His action plans keep faltering because of the ground realities. He gets caught up in the different pulls and pressures and the goal he is working towards is marginalized. But every now then he realizes that he needs to focus more on the goal ! This is a typical case of inappropriate prioritization. This again is best addressed by the use of this tool to generate awareness around what priority he is willing to accord to this goal.
Conclusion:
This tool is a simple but effective way of establishing the importance of the Goal in the Coachee’s scheme of things. Once this is established, it helps to keep the focus and energy levels of the Coachee high.
With practise, the use of the tool becomes so simple that the Coach adopts it even without any conscious thought or effort.