Some years ago, as one of us (BC) was concluding a coaching engagement with a client, the conversation turned, as it does, to how to carry the good work forward. What new habits and actions, what new questions or perspectives, had the client discovered or developed through coaching that client might want to keep using?
For some reason, the idea wasn’t resonating, so I changed the question. “What tools do you want to keep on your tool belt? What do you want to have ready at hand because you use them constantly—like a carpenter uses hammer? What will you want to keep in your tool chest, where you’d put the more specialized tools you need to be able to find but don’t necessarily need all the time?” This time, the conversation tracked.
As it happens, later, I enjoyed a good company and good meal at a conference for coaches, swapping anecdotes and answers with a group of five colleagues. We shared the best ideas we had been using or seen in use in coaching recently—the conversation pirouetted around advanced coaching courses, new perspectives, interesting questions to ask clients, what to do when stuck in a session. Like a group of carpenters proud of their tools and happy to share, we showed off some of the contents of our coaching tool chests, as we have invited others to do—and as we are inviting you to do!—in this issue of our magazine.
So, welcome to the 11th issue of The Future of Coaching! In the nearly three years we’ve been publishing this magazine, we’ve endeavored to add to the discourse of coaching—and to do so with joy. (We hope you have enjoyed it as well.) We’ve looked at research in coaching; we’ve remarked on supervision in coaching; we’ve explored coaching within professions, among other broad themes.
In this issue, in the collaborative spirit of coaching and the dinner we mentioned above, we intend to create a Coaching tool chest—a perennially open issue of coaching tools, approaches, perspectives, questions, etc. We are publishing the things you as coaches want to share with your peers. You might consider it a digital conversation of show-and-tell to contribute to people who, like you, are craftspeople of the soul. When you sit down for coffee or a meal with your coaching friends, what do you share about how you do your work?
In the spirit of this experiment, we intend to leave this issue open for submission—we’d like to invite you to submit (and submit again and again, if you’d like).
New Contributions
Right out of the gate, we have submissions from four coaches.
Vikki Brock, who writes about an integrative approach to head, heart and gut” in coaching–a holistic method based in neuroscience.
Head-Heart-Gut Approach to Coaching
David Spungin, a first-time contributor, offers his take on 360 interviews, based in the method promoted by Marshall Goldsmith.
Four Questions for an Artful Feedback Interview
One of us (BC) shares how to support clients with setting the stage for deeper learning and creating a strong basis for renewal conversations in “Client-Led Consolidation of Learning and Review of Return on Investment.”
Client Led Consolidations of Learning and Review of Return on Investment
One of us (BB) also offers two brief tools for use by coaches. The first tool is a short compendium of questions for coaching—his interrogatives offer ways to clarify what your client wants, what your client has, what the gap between the current and the ideal state are, and what ideas might fill the gap.
The second tool is a framework for the exploration with a client of the “head winds” (resisting forces) and “tail winds” (facilitating forces) that are impacting on their life and work.
Coaching to the Head Winds and Tail Winds
Past Contributions
We also have included in this coaching tool chest some tools that are already in the Library of Professional Coaching (which is itself and abundantly supplied tool chest). Here are these coaching tools:
Emma Louise-Elsey has been one of our most active and generous contributors to the Library’s tool chest. She shares three scripts and a few tips for guided meditation for your clients.
Guided Meditation: Scripts for Relaxation
10 Life Visionary Exercises and Ideas to Help Your Clients Get Inspired by Life!
How to Use the Wheel of Life Template to Create Meaningful Goals!
In “How to Create an Attitude of Gratitude,” Dr. Maynard Brusman share research and tools to help with the mindset of appreciation.
How to Create an Attitude of Gratitude
Mary Anne Flanagan suggests five practical ideas—including asking “who is in your Fab 5?”—for your growth as a life or executive coach.
Paulette Rao, MCC, asks “How Are You Using Your Power?” to remind us that our marketing messages are built on our internal dialogue.
In a short set of strategies and tactics, one of us (BB) suggests ways to get out of the rut of stress. See his “Managing the Stress: a Coaching Tool.”
Book Shelf
Finally, we offer our recommendation regarding a book that contains many provocative coaching questions. This book, in and of itself, is an overflowing coaching tool chest!
The Book Shelf: and the next question is . . . ?
We hope you are able to open our tool chest and make use of what you find inside. And we encourage you to offer your own contributions to our tool chest in this open-ended issue of The Future of Coaching. Please send your tool to:
Bill Carrier
Bill Bergquist
Co-Editors