1. AIESEC Peer Coaching Guide
Rosemary McLean
AIESEC – Peer Coaching Guide v1.0
© Career Innovation
January 2008

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Contents
Page
Introduction 3
What is Peer Coaching? 3
What are the benefits? 3
Competency Assessment tool 4
The AIESEC Learning Plan 4
What is your Role? 5
How does it work? 5
How do you do Peer Coaching? 6
Right time, Right place, Right mindset 6
Peer Coaching Agreement 6
Peer Coaching Framework 7
Effective listening 9
How to bring Peer Coaching to an end 10
Overall Hints & Tips for Successful Peer Coaching 12
Learning Resources to Support Peer Coaching 13
Useful books 13
Reflections on your own learning 13
CONFIDENTIALITY:
This document is confidential to the individuals to whom it is sent by AIESEC,
and may only be circulated to colleagues within the AIESEC organisation.
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Introduction
During your AIESEC experience you will have many opportunities to experience
coaching. This may be in your capacity as Leader where you are the coach, or
where someone is coaching you. There are a range of resources available to
you to help you develop your coaching skills.
This guide is designed specifically to help you have Peer Coaching
conversations in the context of AIESEC’s Competency Assessment tool.
What is Peer Coaching?
Peer Coaching happens informally all the time between close colleagues and
friends, and involves having conversations that are mutually beneficial and
supportive. As part of the AIESEC experience we see Peer Coaching as:
“A semi-structured opportunity for individuals to reflect on their strengths and
areas for development, to explore their goals and identify AIESEC experiences
that will further both their personal objectives and the goals of AIESEC.”
As a peer coach you are not expected to be an experienced coach, but rather
act as a confidential listening ear and sounding board.
Unlike everyday conversations, Peer Coaching conversations are more likely to
happen in a semi-formal way and have a purpose, where you agree a time,
appropriate meeting place and an ongoing way of working together. Guidelines
on how to do this are provided in this guide.
What are the benefits?
• Increase your own coaching skills
• Widen your professional network
• Build close and mutually supportive relationships
• Take advantage of the many opportunities available in the AIESEC
experience
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Competency Assessment tool
An integral part of the AIESEC experience is to develop self-awareness, and
take responsibility for your own learning. Working in partnership with Career
Innovation, AIESEC has developed an on-line tool designed to help AIESECers
understand:
• Their level of capability against the AIESEC competencies
• Target development activities and identify appropriate AIESEC learning
experiences.
It is anticipated that individuals will use the tool at various stages throughout
their AIESEC experience, helping them to review their progress as they acquire
and practice new skills.
The tool has two stages:
1. Self-Assessment
Here individuals can conduct a self-review. This provides a profile describing
their own views on their strengths and weaknesses.
2. Feedback from Others
As someone progresses through their AIESEC experience they will move
through the competency layers and have more opportunities to build
capability and work with colleagues on live projects. At this point, using the
tool, individuals can seek structured feedback from others based on their
actual observations on how they perform in a leadership role or project.
This feedback process is anonymous and generates a comprehensive profile
of an individual’s strengths, weaknesses, and areas of potential. It also
highlights any gaps between the individual’s perception of their capabilities
and the perceptions of their profile contributors, and generates targeted
development suggestions.
Whilst an individual can gain a lot of self-knowledge from using the tool and
building a profile of themselves, experience suggests that people really
welcome an opportunity to discuss and explore their profile with someone they
trust. This is where Peer Coaching can add benefit.
The AIESEC Learning Plan
The Competency Assessment tool supported by Peer Coaching relationships
will help individuals to implement their AIESEC learning plan which supports
the overall success of their AIESEC experience.
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The 5 principles of the AIESEC experience are:
• Take an active role in your learning and the learning of others
• Challenge your world view
• Regular personal reflection
• Increase practical and theoretical knowledge
• Create a network of contacts
What is your Role?
As mentioned earlier, as a peer coach you are not expected to be an expert
coach. Professional coaches have extensive training and supervision. However,
by setting the right conditions and using some appropriate skills you can
develop mutually beneficial Peer Coaching conversations with others.
How does it work?
As someone completes the on-line Competency Assessment tool they will be
encouraged to see the benefits of setting up a Peer Coaching relationship.
They will be given some suggestions as to the sort of person who may be
appropriate. Below is the checklist that you can assess yourself against.
Rating
Peer Coach Characteristics
1-4 (4=highly suitable)
Is able to be discrete and confidential
Is accessible, and has the time available
Is able to listen well, without being judgemental or
too directive
Is willing to share some of their own experiences and
learning
Is highly motivated to be involved in Peer Coaching,
can see the benefits
Is reliable, meets obligations
Is able to build rapport and put people at ease
It is not expected that this relationship will take up large amounts of time; eg a
minimum of two planned conversations to explore the outcomes from the
Competency Assessment tool. However, if the Peer Coaching continues to be
of value to both of you, you might want to continue. In the Hints and Tips
section you will find suggestions on how you can both manage the ongoing
relationship or end the Peer Coaching.
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How do you do Peer Coaching? A practical guide
In this section we provide advice, and hints and tips on how to provide Peer
Coaching support. You may also like to refer to AIESEC’s Coaching Guide which
provides complimentary information on coaching skills and processes.
Right time, Right place, Right mindset
Let’s assume you have agreed to enter into a Peer Coaching relationship with
one of your colleagues, what happens next?
Firstly you should agree to meet, to discuss and agree an informal Peer
Coaching agreement and start the process. (See below)
To start off the relationship well you should both consider the ideal time and
location.
It will help your conversation if you choose an environment that is appropriate
to having such a conversation; the canteen may not be the best place!
Top Tips
• Choose a location that is quiet & convenient
• Try and make sure you won’t be interrupted by others
• Switch off your mobile phones
• Allow enough time – at least 1 hour
• Try and relax, be yourself
• Try and switch off thinking about other things, focus on the present
• Have an open mind, try not to be judgemental or make assumptions
Peer Coaching Agreement
The Peer Coaching agreement is simply a conversation about how the Peer
Coaching can work for both of you; it helps to provide clarity about
expectations, and reassurance to you both that what is discussed is
confidential.
Top Tips
• Explore what each other’s personal objectives are eg “What are you hoping
to get out of our conversations?”, “How do you hope this might help you?”
• Agree between you that everything that is said is confidential between you
eg “Can we both agree that what is discussed in our Peer Coaching
conversations remains with us, and is not disclosed to anyone else”
• Promise to be reliable, meet at agreed times
• Agree to an initial number of meetings (2 is suggested)
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• Discuss what might happen if one of you wants to stop participating in the
Peer Coaching i.e. that it is OK to say you need to stop for whatever reason
but that this is discussed openly
• Be open, and agree to giving each other feedback on how the Peer
Coaching is working
Peer Coaching Framework
In most professional coaching models there is usually some sort of a
framework or process that guides the flow of coaching conversations. Although
there are many different models most are very similar. AIESEC coaches use the
seven-step Achieve Coaching Model, see below (AIESEC coaching guide):
1. Assess current situation
2. Creative brainstorming of alternatives to current situation
3. Hone goals
4. Initiate options
5. Evaluate options
6. Valid action programme
7. Encourage action
In this context we refer to a simple three stage process which can naturally
evolve in the flow of our conversations.
You may find you get stuck in one of the phases, eg spending too much time
generating lots of development ideas without putting them into practice, or
that you skip a phase, eg going straight to talking about actions before thinking
about strengths and weaknesses.
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As a peer coach you must help others to move through each of the three
stages by asking appropriate questions or making helpful suggestions. See the
chart below for useful questions that support each stage and link to the next.
Insight Innovation Impact
focus is on focus is on options, focus is on actions,
understanding, making possibilities, ideas, consequences, making a
sense, personal connections difference
reflection
Topics: Interests, What Topics: Visioning the Topics: Building
are my values, future, opportunities in competencies and
competencies AIESEC, lifestyle options choosing experiences
Questions at this stage Questions at this stage Questions at this stage
What were your initial Have you any ideas Which are the best fit
reactions to your about how you might options?
competency profile? build on the
assessment? Which actions should
Were you surprised by you take first?
the feedback you What are the options
received from others? available to you? What is your time scale?
What do you see as your How can you measure
strengths? What are your goals your progress/review
going forward? your learning?
What do you think are
your weaknesses? How could you identify
what you really want to
What was missing from do?
the profile?
Who else could you talk
What have you learnt to?
about yourself?
Where can you get more
What do you really enjoy information?
doing?
What would you really
What is important to like to do?
you?
What AIESEC
experiences are open to
you?
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Effective listening
During your Peer Coaching conversations you will be able to have a more
positive impact by using a range of skills that encourage others to talk openly.
One of the most important skills is the ability to listen well.
“There are those who are listening and those who are waiting to speak”
(Anon)
Activity
Place a tick by any of the following which you sometimes do:
Listen only to what you want to hear
Jump to conclusions
Finish people's sentences for them
Fills any silence with words
Let your mind wander while being spoken to
Thinking about what you will say next
Continue to do something else while being spoken to
Effective listening is much more than simply hearing what is said. It involves
informed and sharpened active attention, what has been termed ‘listening with
the third ear’.
In essence, active attention is directed at processing and understanding as
fully as possible:
What is said
How it is said
What is meant
What is not said
The context in which it is said
Hints and Tips
• Respect
Show utmost respect for the other person. This is conveyed more than
anything else by really creating the opportunity for the other person to talk.
• Give attention/be here now
Do not let your attention wander. Avoid all distractions and keep your eyes as
well as your ears focused on the person talking. Lean slightly forward to
register this.
• Reflect back
Say back to someone what they have said in a mini-summary.
“So what you are saying is that you have really enjoyed taking on the project
leader role”
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• Check
If you have not understood, stop the person gently and simply ask them to
repeat something so that your do understand.
“Sorry can I just check I’ve got that right, would you mind repeating what you
have just said”
• Seek examples
Ask for examples of what someone means.
“In what way was it a challenge?”
“What exactly has happened?”
“Can you describe it? “
• Encourage
Through looks, tone of voice, even when someone is saying something with
which you personally disagree.
• Question
When the person has finished their point, ask them some questions to probe
further. This shows how much you have valued their opinions.
• Silence
Cope with silence by smiles. Do not always feel the need to fill the gaps.
How to bring Peer Coaching to an end
Earlier we mentioned the importance of setting up a Peer Coaching agreement,
at which point it is good to agree how the Peer Coaching relationship can be
ended by either side.
Why is this important?
• You may have agreed at the outset just to have one or two meetings, and it
is time to stop and review learning
• You may feel the other person is becoming too demanding of your time,
and you need to manage their expectations
• Your circumstances may change and you are no longer available to help in
the way you had planned
• You feel you have helped them as much as you can and they are clear
about what they plan to do
• The other person needs specialist help, and it is inappropriate for you to try
and help them
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Ending the Peer Coaching in a clear and positive way is beneficial to both,
ensuring useful learning and no sense of rejection.
Hints and Tips
• Always ask the other person about how they are finding the Peer Coaching
and whether they want to continue, as an ongoing check. They may be too
embarrassed to say they want to stop seeing you.
• Where it is clear that the coaching has reached its conclusion, ask the other
person what they have found most useful/least useful from the Peer
Coaching process. Thank them for asking you to work with them, and
express the benefits you have gained too. Make it clear that you are no
longer in a Peer Coaching relationship.
• When the other person wants to continue but you feel as if you have
committed enough time and energy, simply refer back to the Peer Coaching
agreement and say something like “at the outset we agreed to work with
each other over two meetings, I have enjoyed working with you but feel with
my current level of expertise, experience and time available I am unable to
give you the support you need”. Direct them to other resources or people in
AIESEC who may be able to help.
• If a person shows that they have other more specialist needs e.g.
bereavement support, stress etc identify resources that are around that you
could encourage them to use. As above say something like “Whilst I can be
a listening ear and give peer support I don’t have the experience or skills to
help you with …, can I suggest that you consider talking to …. who could
really help”
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Overall Hints & Tips for Successful Peer Coaching
Do
• Make sure you have the time and commitment to participate in Peer
Coaching
• Set up a Peer Coaching agreement to manage expectations
• Respect the other person and always be confidential
• Focus your attention on the other person and listen well
• Use appropriate questions
• Encourage action
• Seek feedback
• Encourage the person to seek professional help if needed
• Make sure the Peer Coaching ends well
Don’t
• Be judgemental
• Get too involved and over committed to the other person
• Try and coach the person inappropriately, you are not a fully trained coach
• Fail to turn up for agreed meetings
• Reject the other person by not ending the Peer Coaching clearly and
positively
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Learning Resources to support Peer Coaching
Useful books
Everyone Needs a Mentor 4th edition, David Clutterbuck, April 2004, CIPD
Reflections on your own learning
• What did I enjoy about being a peer coach?
• What have I learned from the experience?
• What have I found challenging?
• What further skills/competencies might I develop?
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January 2008