In this lesson, key characteristics and competencies required for an effective coach are outlined. These competencies were first introduced in Lesson 2: The Transformational Power of Coaching.

While in this lesson, you will hear advice from TCI master coaches who practice these competencies regularly in their engagements with TCI stakeholders and you will have an opportunity to apply these skills through asking powerful questions and active listening exercises.

Characteristics of an effective coach

Building rapport and sustainable systems

Motivating the coachee by preparing for a coaching session

Asking powerful questions

Powerful questions are critical so that you can understand the specific coaching needs of your coachee during each coaching session. As an effective coach, you need to be able to ask questions that reveal information needed to maximize impact for the coachee.

According to research done by Alison Brooks, “asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding.”

As a result, it’s important to ask open-ended questions, sequence questions and be mindful of your tone.

Powerful questions can be grouped by the main sections of the coaching conversation. See the table below for some illustrative examples.

Why powerful questions are necessary

Ask powerful questions exercise

A great way to practice using TCI’s 9-step coaching process is to address your own challenges or pretend to be a leader in your community who is committed to addressing the issue of high rates of teenage pregnancy. Think through the steps and questions that you’d ask and how you might answer. By practicing and getting “stuck” and “unstuck”, you’ll learn how to ask the most helpful questions. Then, write down some stock questions as prompts for future coaching sessions.

Here are a few examples related to TCI programming:

Problem identification:

• What are the factors contributing to high rates of teenage pregnancy in your location?

Exploring potential solutions:

• What has been tried before? Why or why not was it successful?

Active listening

The goal of active listening is to understand the meaning of what is said in the context of the coachee’s desires.

Active listening considers verbal and non-verbal cues that the coachee is communicating. It involves: Reflection and summary, inquiry, acknowledgement and integration of coachee’s words and non-verbal body language (mirroring) and recognizing trends.

Active listening exercise

Active listening helps listeners better understand others’ perspectives and helps speakers feel more understood and less threatened. However, we often listen without really hearing the person speaking to us. In the process, we miss opportunities to connect with the person—and even risk making them feel neglected, disrespected, and resentful.

This exercise helps you express active interest in what the other person, in this case the coachee, has to say and make them feel heard—a way to foster empathy and connection.

HOW TO DO IT

Find a quiet place where you can talk with a conversation partner without interruption or distraction. Invite this person to share what’s on their mind. As they do so, try to follow the steps below. You don’t need to cover every step, but the more you do cover, the more effective this practice is likely to be.

Source: Instructions adapted from: Markman, H., Stanley, S., & Blumberg, S.L. (1994).

Forwarding and deepening

Tips and tricks for this skill include:

• Assist the coachee with defining actions that will enable them to demonstrate new learning and achieve their desired goal(s)
• Focus on and explore opportunities that are central to the coaching goal(s)
• Engage the coachee to explore ideas and solutions
• Promote active experimentation and discovery
• Celebrate coachee’s successes
• Challenge coachee’s assumptions
• Advocate or bring forward points of view that are aligned with coachee’s goals
• Help the client “Do It Now” by prioritizing and agreeing upon actions to be taken
• Define what success means
• Talk about the obstacles
• Wrap up

Bringing it all together

In this video, TCI coach Albert Bwire brings together all of the critical factors to take into consideration and plan for an effective coaching relationship and session.