INTELLIGENCE GATHERING Job #1 in Coaching, Esp. For PCMC Level

If you want to do a great job in Coaching, Job #1 is required. Do you know what that is? You won’t be able to progress very far or stay on subject with your client if you don’t do this. So your first task is: Effective intelligence gathering. That is Job #1. At the PCMC level this is not only a fundamental requirement, you also have to be able to identify where you are in the process. This satisfies the condition of thinking strategically.

While I believe that the reason is obvious, I will repeat it here for emphasis. When you begin you do not know what the client wants or needs. Even the client probably doesn’t know what he or she really wants or needs. So you have to engage in intelligence gathering. If you attempt to start “coaching” before you do this— you are sure to miss it, to impose your own maps on the client, to not understand your client, to ask the wrong questions, to facilitate the wrong direction, to get frustrated in the process, etc. Is that reason enough?