WHAT KIND OF A CONVERSATION IS THIS?

One of the wonderful things about the Team Leader role is that of benchmarking coaching sessions. Last year I got to do that four times in four different countries, this year I get to do it six times. When a team leader does this, or when I get to do this, it means that we are taking a balcony view (or meta-level view) of the coach and client— their states, conversation, and processes. And as such, it provides a way to see the structure of a coaching conversation.

During the last several years, I have often stepped in and interrupted the coach and asked him or her, “What kind of a conversation does the client want to have with you about this content?” And before explaining this as thoroughly as we now do in Meta-Coaching, the coaches often would ask about what I meant by that question. So I would respond with something like: “Is the client wanting to have an experience, think through things, make a decision, create a new identity, change a belief, or what?”