Coaching Basics and
Coaching Models
Bangalore Agile Visionaries Meetup
9th September 2017

Purpose
At the end of the presentation
• Learning about Coaching basics and coaching models
• Practice coaching conversation using Coaching arc and any one of the
coaching models we discuss

Agenda
• What is coaching?
• Why coaching?
• Skills required to be a Coach
• Coaching arc of conversation
• Coaching models
• Q&A
• Retrospection(NPS)

One Word about Coaching
Define coaching

What is Coaching?
• “Unlocking a person’s potential to
maximize their own performance.”
- John Whitmore, author of Coaching
for Performance
• Coaching is NEVER about the coach. It is
about the people they coach.
• A coach helps people make the best use
of their own resources.

Why
Coaching?

How is it different from?
• Mentoring
• Teaching & Training
• Consulting
• Facilitating
• Moderating

Coaching
Conversation
• Form Triads
• Coach, Coachee and Observer

Observations, Thoughts, Ideas, What else?

Skills required to be a Coach
Asking
Observing
+ Sharing
Observations
Listening

A Coach…
• Self-aware
• Always uses the Client’s Agenda
• Focused on Results and Actions
• Maintains Neutral stance
• Discourages dependence
• Doesn’t “Buy into” client’s excuses
• Authentic and Present

Coaching questions / Thinking Questions / Leading Questions
“I’m not here to answer your questions. I’m here to question your answers.”
Questions are at the heart of coaching and are a coach’s most important tool. A good question at
the appropriate time can set change in motion for your clients by creating insight or inspiration
• Asks questions that evoke discovery, insight, commitment or action (e.g., those that challenge the
client’s assumptions)
• Asks open-ended questions that create greater clarity, possibility or new learning
• Lots of coaches over-think their questions. They’ve heard that they need to ask “powerful
questions” – It results in moving away from natural curiosity and attention to their client and
into a self-conscious stance.
• Words such as “provocative,” “powerful,” and “challenging” when applied to questions can
suggest confrontation.
• The best coaching questions are “thinking questions” that make people think about the goal,
challenge or dilemma they face in a way that’s new for them.
• Organizations are filled with people conditioned by our education system to believe there is
only one right answer. We’re given questions like “5 + 5 = ?” not questions like “? + ? = 10,”
which introduces so many more possibilities.

Listening
• Active Listener
• Levels of Listening
Source: http://deimidis.github.io/community_curriculum/#three-levels-of-listening

Observing and Sharing Observations

Coaching Arc of Conversation

Coaching Models - Coaching has patterns
• There is no “one right way” to coach.
• A “wrong way” would be to use a formula, template or script for the
conversation
• The human brain likes certainty about what will happen and it recognizes
patterns it has seen before and coped well with.
• We’ll look at four coaching models. Remembering these patterns can help
provide some structure to rely on when needed.
• All of them involve our three core coaching skills: Questioning, listening
and observing/sharing observations.
The trick is not to rely too strongly on a framework or model in your
coaching. Use them where they make sense.

Let’s learn Coaching Models…
• Self-organize yourself in to 4 teams
• Collect the Coaching models-Handout
• Each team picks up a coaching model
• Discuss among the team members
• Present/Summarize in 2 minutes

The GROW model
• The GROW model emerged from the work of Timothy Gallwey, author
of The Inner Game of Tennis.
G Goal This is the end point, where the client wants to be.
R Reality The Current Reality is where the client is now.
O
Obstacles
There will be Obstacles stopping the client getting from where they are now to
where they want to go.
Options
Once Obstacles have been identified, the client needs to find ways of dealing
with them if they are to make progress. These are the Options.
W Way Forward
The Options then need to be converted into action steps which will take the
client to their goal.

GROUPevolved from GROW to coach groups and was developed by Australian coaches and biz school profs Saul Brown and Anthony Grant
G Goal
The group is asked to clarify what they want to achieve from each session. This determines the focus for
coaching.
“What do you want to achieve in this session?” “How would you like to feel afterwards?” “What would
be the best use of this time?
R Reality
Raise awareness of present realities. Examine how the current situation is impacting the group’s goals.
“How have things gone in the past week?” “How have you handled any problems?” “What worked?”
“What didn’t work?”
O Options
Identify and assess available options. Encourage solution focused thinking and brainstorming.
“What possible options do you have?” “What has worked for you in the past?” “What haven’t you tried
yet that might work?”
U Understanding
Others
Group observes deeply, notices their internal responses to what is being said and makes meaning of both
what they hear and their internal response. The group connects to the emerging best future.
“What is your view on the best options?” “What did you understand by her view?” “What was your
internal dialogue when you were listening to that?” “Can you integrate the broader group perspective?”
P Perform
Assist the group to determine next steps. Prototype best options. Develop individual and group action
plans. Build motivation and ensure accountability. “What is the most important thing to do next?” “What
can be learnt from this prototype?” “What might get in the way?” “Who will be able to support you?”
“How will you feel when it’s done?”
Taken from “From GROW to GROUP: theoretical issues and a practical model for group coaching in organisations,” in Coaching: An
International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, Vol. 3, No. 1, March 2010, pp30-45.

CREATE helps those being coached to create momentum in an efficient way. The grid shows the type of
questions a coach would ask to bring things to the surface so the client can think about them and decide what
to do.
· Current Reality
· Expand Awareness
· Target Energy
C Current
Reality
· When did you first start thinking about this?
· How frequently do you think about this?
· How committed are you to resolving this issue, on a scale of 1-10?
· How close are you to coming up with an answer already? (e.g., as a %)
R We’re using the conversational masteries: questioning, listening, processing in the present,
expressing and clarifying
E Expand
Awareness
· What are some of the possible paths to take from here?
· How can you see a solution unfold from here?
· What do you think are some ways to move this forward?
· What other options are there for you to try?
A See opportunities to use the IAC Masteries of helping set and keep clear intentions, inviting possibility,
affirming potential, systems and structures?
T Target
Energy
· Do you want to take some specific action around this?
· What’s the very first thing you need to do?
· What do you feel compelled to do as a next step?
· What, specifically, are you willing to commit to doing next with this?
E Here we’ve lots of chances to play with setting and keeping intentions and creating supportive systems and
structures. Again, clarifying what they are committing to will help you, and clients, test their commitment.
Source: Quiet Leadership: Help People Think Better, Don’t Tell Them What To Do, David Rock, Harper Collins, 2006.

F Frame the
Conversation
Set the context for the conversation by agreeing on the purpose, process and desired outcomes of the
discussion.
U Understand the
Current State
Explore the current state from the point of view of the person being coached; expand his/her awareness
of the situation to determine the real coaching issue.
E Explore the
Desired State
Articulate the vision of success in this scenario and explore multiple alternative paths before prioritizing
methods of achieving this vision.
L Lay out a
Success Plan
Identify the specific, time bounded action steps to be taken to achieve the desired results, and determine
milestones for follow-up and accountability.
Source: The Extraordinary Coach: How the Best Leaders Help Others Grow, Zenger, John H. and Stinnett, Kathleen, McGraw Hill, 2010.

Coaching
Conversation
• With Knowledge of Coaching
models
• Form Triads
• Coach, Coachee and Observer

How did you feel now?
• Observations, Thoughts, Ideas, What else?

Something to Ponder
• You may have noticed similarities between these models. One thing
common to all models is the need to generate multiple options.
• Having multiple options can give people more confidence in their decision
making as they’ll have fewer
• First go broad, then narrow – diverge then converge. Generating a variety
of options also helps avoid the perception that there is “one right answer.”

References
• Coaching for performance Book
• ICP-ACC workshop by Sue Johnston