How to Attain Mastery in Coaching

I have often reflected on this - is there one, and only one true model of coaching that really, really works? Especially so because, in nearly all my client interventions over my last eight years as a coach, I have believed in experimenting with a wide variety of tools and approaches to enable client's to successfully achieve their goals. I have debated on the merits of this approach with other coaches in several coaching forums and I have realized that opinions seems fairly divided between two schools - the Fundamentalists and the Evolutionists. The Fundamentalists are usually graduates of coaching schools who believe that only the model or the approach they have been trained in, is the best. In the case of Business coaches, Fundamentalist come from particular specialization who believe that only their expertise area is the one that will work for a business client. For instance, somebody coming from a finance background would tend to believe that a business coach’s job is to increase the cash flow of the business from operations and nothing more. While profits are the lifeblood of every successful business, the success of strategic planning systems such as the Balanced Scorecard suggests that financial goals are achieved from a seamless integration of several other perspectives as well. On the other hand, there are the Evolutionists - liberals and experienced (self-taught) coaches who believe that one's coaching model needs to evolve and develop with the individual coach's experience. Diane Lennard, author of Coaching Models: A Cultural Perspective supports this Evolutionist school of thought. She believes that in coaching, just as no two clients are the same, no two coaches or coaching approaches can be exactly the same. She is a proponent of the belief  that coaches apply their cultural backgrounds, interests, and experiences to their coaching and factor in their own insights, experiences, successes and learning to support the client. This, says Lennard, can result in stronger and more authentic coaching interventions.

As an Evolutionist, I have always believed that a coach needs to continuously improve on his coaching approaches by experimenting with different models. I have personally constructed several models based on various behavioural, cognitive and management (both business and self) theories and incorporated them into my coaching in the light of my personal experiences. In addition, I have a whole bunch of assessments and graphic aids, all designed to help clients achieve their goals in a manner suited their needs, expectations and capabilities. I am therefore of the view that coaching is a craft, which requires to be worked on constantly to attain mastery.

So, how can we raise what we do as coaches from a mere mechanical process, to the level of a craft? To do this, we must first understand what exactly constitutes craftwork.

 What defines Craftwork?

Howard Becker , an American sociologist known for his studies on occupations, identified three criteria for an occupation to be termed as craftwork:

1. Craftwork should produce a useful product or service.
2. Craftwork should be done for, or on behalf of someone else to fulfil that person's need for a useful product or service
3. Craftwork in addition to function and focus on the end user, should involve innovation 

Let us explore each of these criteria individually;

1. Craftwork should produce a useful product or service: Becker defines this dimension as a "body of knowledge and skill that can be used to produce useful objects." For practitioners, examples of craftwork could be of park construction to provide aesthetic experiences and opportunities for physical activity and supplying clean drinking water efficiently.

For coaches to elevate their coaching to a craft would require acquiring and perfecting a body of knowledge and skill which can be used to produce successful client interventions.

         

2. Craftwork is done for, or on behalf of someone else to fulfil that person's need for a useful   product or service: Becker describes this as consisting of the ability to perform in a useful way to suit individual needs..

In coaching, the clients are diverse and the perception of usefulness of the coaching intervention depends on the coachees'  goals and different notions of how to achieve their goals. A coach is required to make a diverse set of  people and groups identify a not the, strategic goal and move them toward, and implement it successfully.
Secondly, according to Becker, for an activity to be called craftwork, requires it's usefulness to  be          evaluated externally - by     individuals and groups of people.

For coaches to raise their work to a craft would require them to explore different ways and means to successfully guide their clients toward achievement of their goals. Positive client feedback should be the only measure of the coach's success.

3. In addition to function and focus on the end user the work should involve innovation: Many years are required to master the physical skills and mental discipline of a first-class practitioner. An expert, or one who has mastered the skills is one who:

• has great control over the crafts material, can do anything with them,
• can work with speed and agility,
• can do with ease the things that ordinary, less expert craftsmen find difficult or impossible.

To elevate their coaching to a craft, coaches have to acquire an extraordinary control of material and techniques and be able not only to do things better than most others, but also to do more things.

Now that we have understood what a coach requires to do to raise the level of his coaching to a craft, let us see how he can go about doing it.

The Road to Coaching Mastery 
The following is a suggested 3 step process to transform your coaching approach from a mechanical process into a craft, and attain mastery of it.

Three Steps to Coaching Mastery 

Step 1

Follow the Rules:  Begin by choosing a coaching model - either the one you have been trained in by your coaching school, or one of your choice. Follow and practice this model thoughtfully and rigorously. After each coaching intervention, check with clients on the benefits they have derived from the session and reflect on the  clients' as well as your own experience. Study the method in the light of this new found understanding and factor the knowledge into your subsequent coaching interventions.

Step 2
Break the Rules: Over a period of time with rigorous use and observation of the results of the practice of the chosen coaching model, you will begin to build up a body of understanding of what works and what needs to be improved further. Factor the insights and experiences into your subsequent coaching interventions and carefully monitor the success of your improved model of coaching. Keep a close watch on the impact made on clients by constantly taking their feedback.

Step 3
Ignore the Rules: To recap, you began with your chosen coaching model, progressed to factoring your insights and experiences into your modified version of the coaching model, and continulusly validated its impact. You have have now arrived at a point where you can start ignoring the rules. So rather than relying on someone else's method, you can now confidently begin to incorporate your individual perspectives, skills, knowledge, experiences into devloping your own coaching model/s. You could also start to explore ways of incorporating the knowledge and understanding of your culture to influence your coaching orientation.

For instance, the Indian cultural dynamics are quite different from that of the the West (see my blogpiece Decoding the Desi Dynamics). You can begin to examine how you can factor these into your own coaching model. As an Indian, it would be also be useful to look at using Krishna as a useful model of a coach, mentor and facilitator.

Apart from using your model with your client, you could also use it as a personalized tool for reflecting on your coaching process and practice. This should facilitate continuous learning and improvement of your coaching effectiveness.