ESSENTIAL COACHING SKILLS

Coaching has come a long way in recent years.  It is now used by many levels of manager or leader.  The International Coaching Federation (ICF) specifies 11 key competencies under four cluster headings:

CLUSTERS	COMPETENCIES
SETTING THE FOUNDATION	Meeting ethical guidelines and professional standards Establish a coaching agreement
CO-CREATING THE RELATIONSHIP	Establishing trust and intimacy Coaching presence
COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY	Active listening Powerful questioning Direct communication
FACILITATING LEARNING AND RESULTS	Creating awareness Designing actions Planning and goal setting Managing progress and accountability

research conducted by the Worldwide Centre for Organizational Development (both in the US and UK) over the past 10 years found that executive coaching in particular needs seven essential core competencies:

1. Empathizing Ability
2. Listening Skills
3. Capacity to Confront & Challenge
4. Problem Solving Ability
5. Feedback Giving Skills
6. Capacity to Empower
7. Mentoring Skills

 

The seven competency areas are deployed in the order in which they appear.  An effective coach needs to demonstrate empathy at the very earliest stages of the relationship with a coachee.  Listening skills are needed so that the coachee feels sufficiently safe to open up and to be confronted and challenged about what is possible in the future.  The Coach then engages in problem solving discussions and gives feedback to the coachee about behavior and performance.  Over time a coach can increasingly empower a coachee to take more risks or to do things differently and finally moves into a mentoring type of role.

 

Shared from:

http://blog.readytomanage.com/business-coaching-training/

Coaching Skills

January 11, 2013 by Dr. Jon Warner