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A Coaching Commons Milestone: 1000 Comments
 To be precise, as of today there are 1,049 comments on the Coaching Commons. To those who have answered, commented, questioned, praised, informed, proclaimed, shared, dared and provoked the coaching conversation at the Commons, well done!
And sincere gratitude to all our guest contributors who have penned over 400 posts in the last 16 months. The Coaching Commons leapt online with courage and hope that this Big Tent could serve as an independent, open space where the growing community of coaches worldwide could push forward (and push back) on those provocative, glaring possibilities necessary to advance the coaching field. A hearty thank you – keep up the good work - and stay tuned.
Read a few of our latest comments:
Comment by Gail Blesch on 13 May 2009:
Coaching has always been and continues to be a conversation, which ultimately introduces the client to themself. The client, not the coach, is the keeper of the answers they seek. The coaching conversation, however it’s conducted, is only a catalyst to this revelation. No one can ever be an expert of another, regardless of the years of schooling, the list of credentials, the hours of training and experience. ‘Truths’ handed over to clients from this place of professional expertise and opinion are like fool’s gold compared to the same truths discovered by the client. What makes a truly great coach isn’t the certification, it’s never forgetting this truth. Read more…
Comment by Billy C H Teoh on 21 April 2009:
Coaching is all about focusing on the coachee, not the coach. It is about the coach facilitating the process to enable the coachee to generate solutions and evidenting actions to attain the coaching goal/outcome/result required. Am I in general consensus with everybody else on this issue? What else should be included? If we are to profoundly think through, what role does ‘friendship’ play in the coaching relationship, and to what extent will ‘friendship’ makes the difference in the coaching context?, what would happen? Read more…
Comment by Justin O'Brien on 13 May 2009:
A client who doesn’t want to be there can be helped by joining them in their concern. For example a person who has been instructed to undertake coaching can be joined by saying “I understand that you have been sent here to address the need for change regarding X, that’s obviously a real pain for you, let’s see if we can’t work through this, find a solution and get you out of here quickly - that should keep the boss off your back, how does that sound.”
This is usually successful and results in further sessions as planned. Read more…
Comment by Lable Braun on 12 May 2009:
“What if …” questions are the best means I’ve found for getting past the “becauses.” “What if you did have enough money to do that?” “What if you did make friends easily?” “What if you were able to get past your writer’s block?” “What if your employees were properly motivated?” “What if …” questions are suitable for use with any roadblock the client throws up. They slice past the objections and keep us from getting stuck. Read more…
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