The 15 Coachville Coaching Proficiencies
Hallmark of the Certified CoachTM
These proficiencies are the basis for the Certified Coach Program at CoachVille
1. Engages in provocative conversations.
Coaching sessions are generally short. By hearing what the client is saying and not saying, by questioning what you hear, by asking the right questions, pressing for clarity, and by sharing what you know and how you feel, provocative conversations can occur within minutes, not months. Welcome to the world of the Certified Coach.
Examples:
- Listen for the unsaid.
- Ask the "duh/obvious" question.
- Question what does not resonate.
The key distinction is provocative conversation vs. nice chat.
2. Reveals the client to themselves.
The more aware anyone is, the better choices they can make for themselves. Part of what Certified Coaches do with clients is to help them discover their gifts, talents, wants, values, needs and dreams, as well as come to understand what motivates and inspires them. The result? A well-informed client, quickly moving forward on their path of self-awareness.
Examples:
- Point to their unseen gifts/secret aspirations.
- Help them see their way of thinking/paradigm.
- Help to identify their sources of motivation/energy.
The key distinction is awareness vs. information.
3. Elicits greatness.
Who else is trained to be proficient in this, 24/7/365, but the Certified Coach? And, while it is true that few clients come to a coach and specifically ask that we bring out and develop this greatness, this is what we do naturally when we ask the client to think and act bigger, and by challenging the client to continually raise their own bar and standards.
Examples:
- Ask for higher standards.
- Ask for "absence of" something.
- Ask for a much bigger game.
The key distinction is greatness vs. success.
4. Enjoys the client immensely.
How is 'enjoying the client' a proficiency? Simple. Because when you enjoy the client in their entirety (including their upsides and downsides), high levels of trust naturally occur. And the benefit of that? Clients naturally take more risks and move forward more quickly because they know you are totally there for them. When the coach is at this place with a client, the coaching is collaborative and light, not heavy.
Examples:
- Enjoy their strengths and qualities.
- Enjoy their faults and foibles.
- Enjoy their missed opportunities.
The key distinction is enjoy vs. accept.
5. Expands the client's best efforts.
One of the reasons clients hire a coach is to support them to do more in a shorter period of time than they would do on their own. Hence, the Certified Coach acts as both a catalyst and accelerant. By supporting the client to do more than they have done or think that they are capable of doing, significant value is added.
Examples:
- Congratulate, and then ask for 2/10x more.
- Expand their envelope/reality/thinking.
- Point out the next level/place to operate from.
The key distinction is expansion vs. pushing.
6. Navigates via curiosity.
The coach who is naturally curious can be well guided by that curiosity. After all, coaches are in the discovery business and how can you help the client find new and better ways of doing things, if you are not curious? And, the real benefit of curiosity is that it leads to learning for both the coach and client.
Examples:
- Be curious about situations.
- Be curious about dynamics.
- Be curious about the facts.
The key distinction is curiosity vs. information gathering.
7. Recognizes perfection in every situation.
One way of looking at life is to believe that everything happens for a perfectly good reason, even if we cannot always see or know that reason within our own lifetime. The point here is to look for and find how a client's event, problem, situation or trait is perfect, even if it's clearly not. Seeking to understand and recognizing perfection first, instead of offering tips, techniques and solutions as a knee-jerk reaction, is what the Certified Coach does naturally.
Examples:
- Transcend your own bias against the word "perfect."
- Identify the Greater Truth of the situation; perfection is in there.
- Ask the client to find the perfection and/or share the perfection that you see.
The key distinction is responding vs. reacting.
8. Hones in on what is most important.
Depending on the day, hour or even minute, what is most important to the client will change. Such is the nature of individuals in a high-growth phase of their lives. The Certified Coach is both quick to recognize this moving target and is flexible enough to adjust the coaching to be effective in this new terrain.
Examples:
- Ask the client what is most important, not just most urgent.
- Focus on the shifts called for, not just the urgent business.
- Continually get updated by what the client says is most important.
The key distinction is present moment vs. recent priority.
9. Communicates cleanly.
This should be obvious, yes? After all, the cleaner the communication, the less that gets in the way of great coaching. That said most of us have 'stuff' in our communication style, which slows down the super-conductive nature of the coaching process. Certified Coaches have worked to clean up the stuff that can get in the way of effective coaching. What kind of stuff? Everything from biases, judgments, unmet needs, shoulds, coulds, to singularity, vicariousness, agendas, arrogance and fears. It can all be cleaned.
Example:
- Transcend your reactions/smallness.
- Share your biases/limits.
- Be responsible for how you are heard, not just what you say.
The key distinction is absence of vs. unnecessary additives.
10. Shares what is there.
Clients rely on our observations, intuition and even our inklings to help move them forward in life. Hence, the more often, and easily, a coach can share what they see, feel and hear, the more value that can be created for that client. It's often the tiniest, most subtle inklings that can act as powerful beacons and catalysts to the client's life or business.
Examples:
- Share inklings.
- Share observations.
- Share what you are hesitant to share.
The key distinction is inkling vs. evidence.
11. Champions the client.
The more often, and deeply, the coach champions their client at all levels (including their actions, progress, dreams, traits, commitments, gifts and qualities), the more encouraged the client feels and the more likely they are to succeed. For the coach to merely be encouraging is not enough; there is a much higher level of support generated when the coach operates at the championing level, which is where the Certified Coach operates.
Examples:
- Be excited about their actions/progress.
- Point to underlying shifts/growth.
- Be awed by their willingness.
The key distinction is championing vs. cheerleading.
12. Enters new territories.
The Certified Coach expands the client's thinking by weaving in new concepts, principles and distinctions during the coaching session, and also, by inviting the client to experiment with new models, ways of doing things, and even to identify new goals or outcomes. Clients don't usually ask the coach for this, but these are key ways that value is created for the client. Examples:
- Broach topics that client didn't retain you for.
- Share ideas/distinctions that will expand the client.
- Experiment.
The key distinction is broaching vs. reacting.
13. Relishes truth.
This may sound obvious, and it's deeper than that. After all, truth is a level above mere honesty, as in there is always a truth about a situation, person or event that, when discovered and articulated, can transforms one's life or business. Certified Coaches have come to enjoy and orient around truth as a source of joy and guidance.
Examples:
- Come to enjoy/relish truth about the client's abilities and limitations.
- Teach the client how to relish the truth for the pleasure, not just the utility, of it.
- Be open to truths about your coaching style/paradigm.
The key distinction is relishing truth vs. expecting honesty.
14. Designs supportive environments.
Success, not to mention personal evolution, becomes sustainable when there are environments and failsafe structures that support it. After all, who wants to rely on fortitude and willpower to get things done or to develop oneself? Enter the Certified Coach who has been specifically trained in helping the client to design and install these environments.
Examples:
- Design environments that automatically support.
- Design stimulating environments that evolve.
- Repair environments that weaken.
The key distinction is environments vs. self-reliance.
15. Respects the client's humanity.
We all have limits, both internal and external and as much as coaching is about maximizing potential and opportunities, we are all human and the Certified Coach respects this. Success without stress is what we are all after and by recognizing limits and appreciating different paths to achievement, the client is both individually and universally respected.
Examples:
- Respect the client's RAM limitations.
- Respect the client's style/approach.
- Respect the client's wishes.
The key distinction is respect vs. accept.