Without a doubt, this is the core challenge any coach has during a coaching session.
The coach’s job is to help the client untangle the issue they are dealing with. The way to do that is by extending the client’s thinking.
What do I mean by extending the client’s thinking?
I like to think of it as a four-step process that involves going further and deeper than the client can go on their own. It also requires the coach to put into practice their active-listening skills. These four steps are:
· Explore: it refers to following the client’s curiosity trying to go further by exploring possibilities the client didn’t consider.
· Clarify: it involves being on the same page by clarifying meanings. It could refer to special language, terminology, words, metaphors, and expressions the client use. It also refers to the story the client is telling. One question that is useful in this stage is, what are you saying when you say this?
· Summarizing: this is, restating the story the client is telling. Besides showing the client that you are listening and confirming that you understood well, the power of this technique of active listening lies in the fact that it helps the client become aware of how they are interpreting the world.
· Probe: it refers to going deeper, specially surfacing assumptions, feelings, values, and beliefs that are hidden in the narrative.