THE FORM & SPIRIT OF COACHING

In 2008 I put a new diagram in the Coaching Mastery manual (on page 41 in the 2015 manual). The diagram posits two axes, one for the quality of the coaching state and the other for the quantity of the coaching behaviors. On the vertical axis (the meaning axis) there is the coach’s state (which is also the client’s experience) and on the horizontal axis is the coach’s activities (the coaching skills) by which the coaching experience is transferred and facilitated.

This diagram enables us to recognize the correspondence between what you do as a coach and the desired effect it has upon the client. Ideally, the more you as the coach are in the right state doing the right things, the more effective the coaching because the client is trusting, learning, discovering, getting empowered, and transforming.