I have recently started down the path of certification with Co-Active Coaching as I wanted to improve my coaching skills; to know more about what great coaching looks like, to immerse myself in a community that will help me improve my abilities and to have credibility in my own mind about my own skills.
Co-Active Coaching has 4 cornerstones that underpin the coaching relationship between coach and coachee.
- People are Naturally Creative Resourceful and Whole
- Dance in This moment
- Focus on the Whole Person
- Evoke Transformation
The points below are taken from Co-Active Book in order for me to understand what each cornerstone is supporting - I thought I'd share them with you.
People are Naturally Creative, Resourceful and Whole (NCRW)
- Truly holding the client naturally creative resourceful and whole can be paradoxical at times. The coach lets go of problem-solving or being nice in favour of telling the hard truth or witnessing a client who is in pain.
- When we take a stand for others NCRW we become champions on their behalf, not worried hand-holders.
Dance in THIS moment
- Dancing in this moment is about the coach's ability to be completely present. Present to notice what is going on in each moment; agile, flexible. nimble to move as needed.
- Dancing in this Moment calls the coach into a deep connection with Level 3 listening, continuing to discover what is present, what is needed, what is called for in each moment.
- It is about developing the ability to respond, rather than react.
- Every conversation creates tone, mood, nuance. There is as much information, sometimes more, in "how" the words are said versus the words chosen.
- To dance in this moment is to be very present to what is happening right now and respond to that stimulus.
Focus on the whole Person
- The person is more than the problem at hand - or the goal, the dream, the tasks. This is a whole person: Heart, mind, body and spirit.
- The issue, whatever it is, is not neatly isolated. It is inexorably entwined in the coachee's whole life.
- The key is increased awareness because no topic exists in isolation. A decision in one area of life inevitably ripples through all areas of life.
Evoke Transformation
- A coaches role is to create space for them to grow.
- Evoke Transformation points the coaching away from saboteur conversation and limiting self-talk and calls the coach's attention to the authentic and magnificent being that is the client.
- It can seem that the cornerstones could create a constricting box, however, the cornerstones create support, scaffolding, a play area in which a coaching relationship can live.
IT may seem that the cornerstones could create a constricting box, however, the cornerstones create support, scaffolding, a play area in which a coaching relationship can live. As a Scrum Master, as a coach, do you hold your coaching conversations with this support around them? If not, then maybe consider doing so...
My offer to you...
If you attend one of my courses, I'd like to offer you a complimentary coaching session with me - so that you can experience a Co-Active coaching session. Course details can be found at https://www.scrum.org/classes?uid=226040
If you can't see a course that you'd like to attend please have a look at my profile page to see the courses I can deliver - it could be that you've just missed the course that you're interested in - https://www.scrum.org/steve-trapps.
More details on the coaching can be found at https://www.theagiletrainer.com/coaching