BEWARE OF PSEUDO-SKILLS

Imagine this dilemma. You are watching a coach in the process of coaching, maybe you are there to support the person, maybe there to offer feedback, or maybe to benchmark the level of the skills. You watch and listen to what seems like an acknowledgment. You’re pretty sure that you recognized several acknowledgments. Then you hear myself or one of the Meta-Coach Trainers say, “Yes, it did look like the skill of acknowledgment, but it was not. And here’s why.”

Whack! “Did a two-by-four piece of lumber just strike me across the face? It feel like it!” When that happens, you might be in shock, perhaps even in denial. “What?! That’s not an acknowledgment?” At first you are full of questions. Concerns. Confusions. Then you hear myself or a Meta-Coach trainer explain what it takes to perform an “acknowledgment.”