Coaching

In the

Workplace

A Pocket Guide of Strategies and Tools for Powerful Change

Coaching
In the

Workplace

A Pocket Guide of Strategies and Tools for Powerful Change

Tim Hallbom, Founder and Training Director of NLP and the Coaching Institute Nick LeForce, President of Inner Works
First Edition | GOAL/QPC

Coaching in the Workplace 2008 by GOAL/QPC. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this publication without the written permission of GOAL/QPC is prohibited. Development Team Susan Griebel, Project Leader Janet MacCausland, Cover & Book Design nSight, Inc., Project Editing Lawrence Smith, Content Review

GOAL/QPC 12 Manor Parkway, Salem, NH 03079-2841 Toll free: 800.643.4316 or 603.893.1944 Fax: 603.870.9122 E-mail: service@goalqpc.com www.MemoryJogger.org

Printed in the United States of America First Edition

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN: 978-1-57681-107-8

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the following people who have made this work possible through their contributions to the field of NLP and to the practice of coaching: Richard Bandler and John Grinder for their brilliant developments in initially creating the field of NLP and the people they first behaviorally modeled, Virginia Satir (the developer of family therapy), and Milton Erickson (the famous psychiatrist). Robert Dilts, a colleague and teacher, who has created so many of the ongoing developments in the fields of NLP and coaching. Dilts has had an international reputation as a leading behavioral skills trainer and business consultant since the late 1970s. A developer and expert in the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), his most recent book, From Coach to Awakener, provides a road map and set of toolboxes for coaches to help clients achieve their goals while experiencing deep changes within themselves. Steve and Connirae Andreas for their contributions in making NLP more robust and accessible. Rodger Bailey and Leslie Cameron Bandler for their work with meta-programs and criteria. Jan Elfline for her pioneering efforts in bringing NLP into the world of coaching. Thomas Leonard and Tim Gallwey for helping to create the field of coaching in the first place.
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Introduction

iii

Reviewers
Sharon Billings, Senior Trainer/Executive Coach, Citizens Financial Group Stephanie Del Valle, Life Coach, Personal Journeys Sylvie Hendrick, Coach, Belgium and United Kingdom Ann Ide, Life Coach, New Possibilities James Salsbury, Senior Lecturer, Bentley College Carrie Stack, Founder/Owner, Say Yes Institute

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Coaching in the Workplace | 2008 GOAL/QPC

Contents
How This Book is Organized .......................... vii Section 1: Overview ........................................ 1 Why Coaching?.............................................. 1 What Is Coaching? ......................................... 3 Neuro Linguistic Programming ....................... 5 The Coach-Client Relationship........................ 7 Who Provides Coaching .............................. 8 Coaching Opportunities ............................ 11 Section 2: Coaching Process ............................. 13 Coaching Tools............................................. 13 The Coach Contract ................................... 15 Coaching Cycles........................................ 17 Intake .......................................................... 18 Switching Hats ......................................... 24 The Universal Cycles of Change...................... 25 Meta-Programs ............................................ 38 Part 1: Process .......................................... 41 Part 2: Profile form .................................... 56 Section 3: Coaching 101: The Basics .................. 61 Communication Blockers .............................. 61 Coaching and Nonverbal Communication ....... 64 Systemic Communications ............................ 66 Active Listening and Backtracking............... 69
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Introduction

Perceptual Positions ................................. 71 Open Questions........................................ 80 The Meta Model ........................................... 84 Craft of Coaching ....................................... 100 Section 4: Managing Client Sessions ................ 111 Coaching Session Overview ......................... 111 Gaining Rapport ..................................... 111 Holding the Clients Agenda ......................... 117 Directionalizing the Communication ......... 118 Outcomes .................................................. 123 Meta-Outcome ........................................... 126 Storyboarding Your Future .......................... 131 State Management ..................................... 138 Section 5: Techniques................................... 145 Appreciative Inquiry.................................... 145 Gregory Batesons Problem-Solving Strategy .. 152 New Behavior Generator ............................. 156 Resource States ......................................... 161 Creative Solution-Finding Process ................ 167 Getting Clear About Criteria ........................ 171 Disney Strategy .......................................... 181 Beliefs ....................................................... 186 Important Coach Reflections ....................... 203 Putting It All Together ................................. 205 Suggested Reading ..................................... 206 Index ......................................................... 207
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Coaching in the Workplace | 2008 GOAL/QPC

How This Book is Organized

This book is divided into five sections: Section 1: Overview This section provides a general overview of coaching, how coaching differs from other approaches, and who provides coaching to employees in an organization. Section 2: Coaching Process This section provides an understanding of the coaching process from beginning to end, including a discussion of some assessment processes (Universal Cycles of Change and Meta-Programs). Section 3: Coaching 101: The Basics This section offers basic communication skills and interactive skills useful in all phases of the coaching process. Section 4: Managing Client Sessions This section offers a model for managing coaching sessions and specific steps or processes useful in all client sessions, such as gaining rapport, setting outcomes, and managing states. Section 5: Techniques This section offers a variety of specific interventions for specific situations.
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Introduction

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Section 1: Overview

Why Coaching?
People are the primary resource in most organizations. How well (or poorly) an organization performs is a function of how well the individuals within the organization perform. An organizations competitive edge comes from maximizing the performance of employees while maintaining high levels of morale and retention. This requires that managers and owners go beyond the standard rewards, recognition, or typical methods of motivating employees. They need to tap into the inner strength and wisdom of their employees on an individual basis. When it comes to bringing out the best in employees, coaching is becoming the tool of choice. This book will show you how to use coaching tools to take your employeesand, therefore, your organizationto the next level. It will provide you with an understanding of the coaching relationship and how to use coaching skills as a manager and leader. It will help you and your employees to set
1

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Section One

better goals, make better decisions, take action to accomplish goals, and utilize natural strengths. When properly used in your organization, coaching can:

Create stronger manageremployee relationships Empower employees Identify employee strengths Identify employee values Set challenging and realistic goals Improve employee decision-making skills Improve employee problem-solving skills Heighten employee commitment to tasks and assignments Provide effective accountability Tap into employee motivation Release employee creativity Increase employee morale Provide direction for employee development Improve company systems
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Coaching in the Workplace | 2008 GOAL/QPC

What Is Coaching?
Coaching, as defined by the International Coach Federation (ICF), is: an ongoing partnership that helps clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Through the process of coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance, and enhance their quality of life.

Coaching is an interactive process that helps individuals and organizations to develop more rapidly and produce more satisfying results. As a result of coaching, clients set better goals, take more action, make better decisions, and more fully use their natural strengths. Coaches are trained to listen and observe, to customize their approach to the individual clients needs, and to elicit solutions and strategies from the client. They believe that the coachs job is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources, and creativity that the client already has. While the coach provides an objective perspective, the client is responsible for taking the steps to produce the results he or she desires.
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Section One

How do I use it?

The Universal Cycles of Change provide a major framework for coaching. By recognizing that change will occur and respecting the cycles of change, you can coach someone to help them move through their lives in a better way. The Universal Cycles of Change is an ongoing process thats been happening in our universe for about 13.5 billion years, so its a really old model. We have observed seven Universal Cycles of Change that occur in all living systems such as plants, trees, stars, cells, and animals. You can also see these same cycles occurring in most nonliving systems such as cars, houses, computers, and the economy. The Universal Cycles of Change can also be found within all aspects of human life and behavior. They happen in marriages, in business, with health, with families, with various states of mind, and so on. We go through these cycles every day and every year of our life. Being aware of these cycles can help us to consciously create the kinds of life experiences that we want, and to bring forth the reality of our choices. People who do well in life are naturally attuned to these cycles of change. Seven phases of the Universal Cycles of Change that have been identified follows:

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Section Two

27

Creation

Dormancy

Growth

Univer

sa

cles of Change l Cy

Droppings Off Chaos

Complexity

Turbulence
Continuum

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Coaching in the Workplace | 2008 GOAL/QPC

Section 3: Coaching 101: The Basics

Communication Blockers What are they?

These are responses typically intended to be helpful, but which often dont work and can actually discourage good communications. One of the biggest challenges facing the manager/coach, or HR/ EAP coach, is overcoming the tendency to direct the employee, which often occurs through these communication blockers. Thomas Gordon (the developer of Leader Effectiveness Training, 1977) lists sixteen such responses, which follow below.

Why do it?
Exploring these common communication mistakes will help make you more conscious of them so you can avoid them.

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Section Three

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Coach: So what can you do to work with your boss so that you dont get stuck in this way?

Perceptual Positions
What is it?
A key element of many coaching processes is helping the client take a new perspective. These perspectives are actually different perceptual positions and different ways of thinking. This process is especially helpful in coaching employees because work requires cooperative effort and the ability to shift between all three of the perceptual positions when appropriate. There are three perceptual positions:

Self: When youre writing in first person, you

use the pronoun II woke up that morning, and I went to school. Thats writing from Self. It is also an associated position. In this position, youre in your body, youre hearing and seeing things through your own experience, and you are accessing your own neurology. Its your point of view, which is, of course, colored by all your unique beliefs, attitudes, experiences, limitations, and knowledge.

Other: In this position, you are considering a situation as if you were the other personlooking at it through their eyes, adopting their physiology, personal values, and personal history (as far as you are informed). The more complete the shift,
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Section Three

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Section 4: Managing Client Sessions

Coaching Session Overview

Each coaching session is a process in itself, and the coach can use the Coach Session Overview to manage the steps within a coaching session. It covers everything from the pre-session preparation to post-session notes and follow-up. The coach can use this map to keep on track with the client in each session.

Gaining Rapport
Rapport can be defined as being in sync or on the same wavelength or in harmony with another person. It implies clear understanding and mutual credibility between two or more people. The ingredients in rapport were an early discovery from modeling through NLP. Mirroring or matching certain aspects of a clients behavior creates
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Section Four 111

Step 1: Identify behavior to be changed. Get a clear idea of the present state.

Fin Cr

Solution ative: Reframing e g din

Step 6:

Step 2:

Ask, What will doing that behavior get for you? This will identify the positive purpose of the behavior.

Identify any possible downsides to employing the new behaviors. If yes, modify the new behaviors until they work. Step 5: Try out the new behaviors in your imagination in the appropriate future contexts to find out how they might work. If they look good gain commitment to do them.

Step 3: Gain agreement to consider new behaviors that will satisfy the positive purpose. Step 4: Help the client access a creative state and brainstorm new behaviors that will satisfy the positive purpose.

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Section Five 169

ImprovIng

the Way

organIzatIons run

GOAL/QPC is a leading, worldwide provider of information, tools, and ser vices for organizational improvement. We are a not-for-profit research, publishing, and training company dedicated to helping people achieve performance excellence. Our best-selling product line, The Memory Jogger series, is designed to give everyone in the organization the tools and methods they need for organizational improvement. We also provide off-the-shelf training materials, software, books, DVDs, and training courses to help you meet your improvement goals. Visit us online today and learn how people around the world, in all types of organizations and industries, use our materials to excel at:
q Six Sigma q Lean Enterprise q Process Improvement q Time Management q Problem Solving q Project Management q ISO 9001:2000 Compliance q Strategic Planning q Team Facilitation and Coaching q Customer Focus q Innovation and Creativity q Leadership q Process Management

Contact GOAL/QPC Toll Free: 800.643.4316 Sales Direct: 603.893.1944 | Fax: 603.870.9122 service@goalqpc.com | www.MemoryJogger.org

800.643.4316 603.893.4316 | Fax: 603.870.9122 service@goalqpc.com | www.MemoryJogger.org