In Episode 3 of the Catalyst Coaching Certification, Coach Sarita Rochwani facilitated our training on The Principles of a Great Coach by directing our thinking on how a Coach evolves. She began with three key statements.
Who you are is how you coach.
As we grow in our coaching skills, we will evolve and our competencies will show up differently.
We evolve not from our experiences but from reflecting on our experiences.
Reflecting upon our experiences is part of the human need to find or make meaning and hastens the process of learning. Reflection must be an essential part of the coaching process.
When we change the way we look at things, things will change.
As coaches we must look for observable shifts in our own thinking and that of our Coachee. Even the smallest change signals a big difference.
She then asked the group to discuss and share what we thought were important Do's and Don'ts of a Great Coach. We watched an interesting video on John Wooden's Pyramid of Success which is essentially a playbook for success beyond just basketball and featured 25 Characteristics of Successful People. Finally, we looked at Coach Mel's 7 Principles of a Great Coach and responded with our thoughts.
Principles are to critical to Coaching because they are the North Star, the brightest star in the constellation and a seemingly fixed point which ancient sailors used to navigate the seas. We navigate Life by our principles whether we are aware of them or not. This is my small attempt to distill thinking about Principles and how they should be embedded in my practice as a Coach.
Trawl the internet and you will find hundred of articles on the topic Principles of Coaching/ A Good Coach/ A Great Coach. (I exaggerate, of course) There is wisdom in every one and some ideas in common but there is a sense that each are claiming their principles work better. Though it may be true that there are many pathways to a Goal just as 12 minus 2 equals 5 times 2 equals 20 divided by 2, I wondered if there could be that many principles. (Thank you, Coach Sarita for that equation which sparked my Math Geek).
Principles (Capital P) are fundamental truths and concepts which govern and guide thinking, feeling and behavior and are unchanging. In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey says “A principle is a natural law like gravity. If you drop something, gravity controls. If I don’t tell you the truth, you won’t trust me; that’s a natural law.” For Covey, principles often concern human behavior and govern interactions between people including fairness, integrity, and honesty.
Just as Newton observed an apple falling and deduced the Law of Gravity, Principles are observable from human experience and represent an objective reality. Newton's Law of Gravity led to understanding and development of scientific processes and new applications in science and technology such as space exploration, maglev cars continue. Similarly, Principles can expand our thinking about humanity and can take our efforts at human development to higher levels. In the same way, Mathematical Constants allow us to successfully find solutions across multiple mathematical problems, Principles can lead to infinite discoveries when applied to multiple contexts.
What are the Constants, the immutable unchanging Principles that I would like to own?
I doubled-back to Coach Sarita's first statement WHO YOU ARE IS HOW YOU COACH. My coaching consultancy is not a faith-based business and caters to a diverse set of coachees. I am however a Christian who believes and trusts in a loving, unchanging God who is the same yesterday, today and forever. This must inform the principles from which I aspire to operate. I seek understanding from my non-Christian friends as I share here how I am developing my principles.
Principle 1: Man is Made in the Image of God (Genesis 1:27)
Generally Articulated as: Respect your Coachee as Creative, Resourceful and Whole.
When you grow to see your coachee differently, you will coach more effectively.
In Action:
I will honor and respect my Coachee as a person deeply loved by God
God is the Creator so my coachee is creative. As He is limitless, so too my coachee is resourceful and because God has integrity, my coachee is whole. My role is to help him connect to those qualities whether he is a Christian or not.
I will find the treasure in him, listening without judgement and creating a safe space.
I will seek to help him discover his purpose he was created for and potential he was born with.
Found in: Coach Mel's Believe in Human Potential,
Principle 2: God Has Given Each of Us Different Gifts (Romans 12:6) but all are 'fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm139:14) We are his workmanship
Generally Articulated as: Facilitate and Collaborate.
Honour Your Coachee's Unique Talents & Strengths. What makes you different makes you special! Gallup Organisation's data shows that the likelihood of finding a person with the same set of distinct talents is 1 in 33 million.
In Action:
I will help my Coachee recognise and celebrate his unique talents and strengths.
I will help him see how his talents can add value as part of a community or a team and how he can partner with others well.
There is value in diversity of thinking and therefore I will encourage conversations and connection with those who are "different" from me because they have value.
Found in: Coach Mel's Build Self-Esteem, John Wooden's traits of Loyalty, Cooperation & Friendship
Principle 3: God Is Willing to Give Wisdom to All That Ask and Are Seeking. (James 1:5) We Can Be Transformed by the Renewing of our Minds (Romans 12:2)
Generally Articulated as: Ask motivating questions that provoke thinking, solutions, actions,
discovery and insights derived by the coachee.
In Action:
I will stay curious but stay within boundaries
I will listen with intent, seeking wisdom to interpret all I hear correctly
I will maintain confidentiality and a non judgemental attitude at all times as they are betwixt becoming and being
At each milestone, I will celebrate each shift, each step towards discovering who he is meant to be and build his confidence for bigger things.
Found in: Coach Mel's Validate Understanding, John Wooden's Trait of Alertness
Principle 4: With God, All Things Are Possible (Matthew 19:26)
Generally Articulated as: Tackle Limiting Beliefs. Expand Options
In Action:
I will facilitate to identify the thoughts and beliefs which are getting in my Coachee's way.
I will trust in my Coachee's own creativity in deriving the ways to remove these limiting thoughts, to dare to dream and to do.
By challenging my Coachee's reality with compassion and care, I will help open my Coachee's mind and expand his options
Found in: Coach Mel's Challenge Reality
Principle 5: "Those who work their land will have abundant food but those who chase fantasies have no sense (Proverbs 12:11) If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10)
Generally Articulated as: Action plans and accountability. Promote learning through experience.
In Action:
I will prompt thinking about what the Coachee can do and work with him to determine the practical steps towards his goal. It may take a few false starts, a bit of experimentation but every step is a step forward
I will help the Coachee stay focused and on track, following up at each meeting with his action plans as part of the agenda.
I will nudge the Coachee from complacency and inertia when needed. I will be patient with his progress because it's on his timetable and not mine. Transformation takes time.
I will recognise, encourage and celebrate when Coachee has done work,
Found in Coach Mel's Inspire Action. John Wooden's Industriousness, Intentness and Initiative
Principle 6: Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity. {Titus 2:7 & 8)
Generally Articulated as: Model What You Coach/ Maintain Integrity at all times.
The word integrity comes from the word "integer" which carries the idea of wholeness and consistency. Other principles include Leading by Example and Doing the Right Thing When No One is Looking.
In Action:
I must be consistent in every area of life, matching up what I say with what I do even if I sometimes don't feel like doing it.
My relationships with people must always be honouring and creating spaces for grace to be shared
I will develop my own accountability by seeking those who will be honest with me to tell me where I could have done better and support as I work at my rough edges
Found in: Coach Mel's BE a coach. John Wooden's Characteristics of Self control and Confidence
Final thoughts.
In my attempt to amalgamate my learnings I sincerely hope that this post does not come across as a critique of anyone's principles and is not intended to be preachy. I humbly apologise if any offence is given or taken.
I reckon that it would be much much harder to live consistently by Principles than to come up with them. Habits and default thinking often hamper our evolution to becoming better versions of ourselves. For instance, it's easy to judge by appearances when I know I should not be judging in the first place. My third ranked CliftonStrength is Activator so I caught myself moving too quickly into the Doing mode rather than first allowing time for depth of Reflection that can open the door to change and sustain it. Things like this run contrary to principles I aspire. With the Principles in place, I hope these will slowly disappear and the competencies will look different as I evolve and change.
Curiosity, Compassion and Courage, the 3 Cs of Coaching must accompany the change within us. The same Curiosity we have about our Coachee must cause us to look at our intentions and where we fail and fall short, may we be compassionate and kinder to ourselves because we are all not yet there and may we have Courage to pick ourselves up and continue on our journey, extending the same grace to others.
Next stop, the Base Camp of Ethical Practice. Coach Maire signing off.
PS: Since we are in Math Geek mode - Did you know that another infinity exists and can be found between the number 0 and the number 1 ie 0.1, 0.01, 0.001, 0.0001, 0.00001...to infinity and beyond? How cool is that!
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