Did you know that the power of Deep Coaching is when most coaches on the planet would hesitate, pause or stop – you are not afraid to go deeper. And deeper. And deeper…
And there are 3 ways to do this:
- Be silent
- Ask, “What else?”
- Get coached!
1. BE SILENT
The word LISTEN has precisely the same letters as the world SILENT.
If you want to be a great coach, listen to your clients. Have them feel fully heard.
You see, silence is one of your most powerful coaching tools.
It’s possible to get so quiet and present that you can even sense a shift in their breathing. And the simplest way to do this is that when your client is speaking, press your tongue gently against the roof of your mouth, just behind your front teeth.
This will literally slow down your thinking because it stops your tongue making the micro-movements it would usually be making, when your mind is preparing what it is going to say next, rather than listening deeply.
When needed, say nothing.
Make silence your default, rather than the exception.
2. ASK “WHAT ELSE?”
This is my single favorite coaching question.
It is the key to going deeper than most coaches will ever go.
Ask your client, “What do you want?”
And then say nothing.
When they answer, simply say, “What else?”
Or “Uh huh…” or “Mmm hmm…” or “Tell me more about that…”
This combination of curiosity and safety allows them space to get to the heart of what they really, really, really want.
And that is the power of Deep Coaching!
3. GET COACHED!
The single most common factor amongst the world’s very best coaches and leaders is that they are very coachable. Great CEO’s, like Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, and Bill Gates, all sought out great coaches to help them up their game.
In a survey of CEO’s and senior executives, Stanford’s School of Business found that one third of CEO’s now receive coaching or leadership advice from outside sources.
Great coaches see what you can’t see and say what you can’t say.
If you want to be a great coach, or a great leader, get yourself a coach.
Dive Deep
If you’d like to be coached by me for three days straight in a beautiful location, we have a few spots available to join me in LA in June or Toronto in September. Plus… we have just added a Deep Dive in Croatia in July.
Pula is Croatia’s best-kept secret. It has narrow cobbled streets, magnificent Roman buildings and beautiful beaches. It’s a great place to be coached… We’ll be less than two hours from London by plane, and just three hours by ferry to Venice – the perfect day trip!
Love. Rich