THE COACH’S ULTIMATE QUESTION: WHAT KIND OF THINKING IS THIS?

When you coach, not only do you coach from your state to your client’s state, you coach from your thinking patterns to your client’s thinking patterns. That raises a really important question for you as the coach: How is my client thinking? What kind of thinking is my client using as he presents his concern or goal or solution, etc.?

It’s the thinking question that then allows you to quickly get to “the heart of the matter.” That’s because “as your client thinks, so is your client.” If your client is thinking using cognitive distortions—you can count on the fact that there will be distortions in her thinking, feelings, speaking, behaving, and relating. If your client is thinking using cognitive biases—guess what? Yes, biased ideas, emotions, and behaviors!