Great coaching goes beyond asking powerful questions.
You know to be able to create
a deep impact with your clients,
you might have to go beyond deep listening
or asking powerful questions.
You have to lean into some things that
we call coaching techniques.
While it helps to be able to listen deeply
and ask powerful questions,
it also helps if you have the right coaching techniques
to help you navigate your client's success.
Hi, this is Ajit Nawalkha
and today I'm sharing with you
four powerful coaching techniques that you can use
in your coaching practice almost immediately.
Let's get straight into it.
The first coaching technique
I want to talk about is called
the perfect day exercise.
Most of the clients that we get
are clients that are living a routine life.
They live the same life every single year,
year after year, as if it was Groundhog Day.
The older we get, the harder it becomes
for us to daydream like kids.
We forget about our hopes and dreams,
and we start to believe that what we have right now
is all that we can have.
But we all know that's not true.
This exercise is perfect to bring out
the inner dreamer in your client.
Go back to "what do you want to be when you grow up?"
and "how do you want to live your life?"
type of questions.
Ask your clients to visualize their perfect workday.
It's got to be the workday because if it's not a workday,
we know how that unfolds,
we know how we are going to plan that out.
So much time and so little I need to do.
Make them dig deep to really
tap into what they truly desire.
What is it that would make that workday,
the perfect day?
Ask them, what time would they wake up?
What kind of work do they do?
Would the work be the same
that they're doing right now?
Would it be a different type of work?
How much time they would be spending
with their family, with their friends,
and learning and traveling?
What kind of colleagues would they like to have?
Ask your clients to write down their perfect day
like a calendar schedule, hour by hour.
This will allow them to have a detailed view
of how they want their workday to unfold.
By writing it down, instead of just thinking about it,
will help your client get more clarity
and they will also be able to see
how they can make this dream a reality.
The idea of this exercise is not only to create
a dream for what is possible in their future,
but also for them to realize that
they need to shift their behavior.
After they finish, ask your clients as to
what stops them from living that ideal perfect day?
Asking this question might trigger
a dramatic change in how your clients show up,
how they show up at work,
what do they do,
what are they looking for,
and might cause a tectonic shift in their work life.
The second coaching technique
that I wanna share with you today is called
the Coaching Journal.
According to experts, the human mind
has anywhere between 60,000 to 80,000
thoughts per day.
That is about 3,000 thoughts per hour.
Isn't that an insane amount of thoughts
that we process?
But here's the thing.
We forget almost all of these thoughts
as quickly as they come.
So how do we make it a point
that our clients remember the insights and thoughts
they got during the sessions
that could be vital for their lives?
Well, the answer is a coaching journal.
Okay, here's the deal.
This is not a diary, it's a journal.
This coaching technique allows your clients
to have a moment.
A moment to really think about the thoughts,
the challenges, the perspectives,
the insights that may have happened
during your coaching sessions.
Especially those thoughts and insights
that might be a little bit hard for them
to process and express out loud.
Another reason why you want your clients
to maintain a coaching journal is because
often they would want to revisit a certain conversation,
ideas or insights.
I took my deaf friend to the Sheila E. concert
so she could really feel the music.
She was so grateful.
I didn't smoke pot because I was afraid
there wasn't enough for everyone.
Oh, come on.
I miss those goddamn glory days.
Well, clearly we had different experiences.
It can be transformative for your clients
to see what their thoughts were
when they started the coaching experience
to where they are now
and how they've grown.
Here is one better.
Ask your clients to share
their coaching journal with you.
You, as a coach, that way can see
what are the insights that they really took away
from the coaching session.
It also helps them be accountable.
Have you ever used the coaching journal technique
with your clients before?
If you have, share that with me
in the comment section below
and tell me what your experience was when you
asked your clients to maintain a coaching journal.
The third coaching technique I want to talk about is
check-ins and check-outs.
This is such a simple technique and so obvious,
but, often as coaches, we forget to utilize it.
How you start your session
and how you end your session
can sometimes be the reason why
you're able to create a transformation
in your client's life.
When you begin your session with a powerful check-in,
it allows your client to drop in and be present
with you during the session.
Give your client the space to put away
any worry, tension or anger
that they might be bringing to the session.
A good check-in will allow you
to understand where your client is coming from,
what they're feeling,
where they've been,
which will allow you to help them navigate
those emotions and those challenges
as the coaching session unfolds.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that,
now that I'm married,
I'm definitely feeling a little freaked out
about the fact that I'm gonna have sex
with only one person for the rest of my life.
In a similar fashion, check-outs are important.
What are the exact action steps
that your clients are going to take
once the session is over?
Without a proper check-out,
without those action steps,
your client might leave the session
really pumped up and really hyped up,
but, as life happens, they might lose the momentum
and might not have the transformation
that they could get if you had a strong check-out.
So, instead of just leaving your client on a real high,
ask your client what is it
that they got out of the session?
What were some of the big insights?
What were some of the action steps
that they are going to take after that session?
You can also combine this with the second technique
that we talked about, coaching journal.
Ask your client to summarize the session for you.
Ask them what are the key takeaways they got from it
and how will it translate into real action in their life.
Ask them to write those steps down
in the coaching journal
and then send them over to you.
If you want to learn
a little bit more about coaching structures,
we have a video in this coaching series called
how to hold a transformative coaching session.
You can find that video on the link here,
you can go ahead and check it out
for more coaching structures.
Which brings me the last technique
that I want to share with you today.
The fourth coaching technique
I want to talk about is
what scares me list.
This technique I first learned from a
phenomenal coach called Rich Litvin.
He's also an author on our platform, Evercoach.
This technique is simple but really powerful.
Simply ask your clients to write down
all the fears that they have.
We're talking about deep-seeded fears,
not the fears that are more surface level
like spiders or clowns.
Hi, Georgie.
What a nice boat.
Do you want it back?
Okay, maybe the creepy clowns can still make the list.
Consider this technique as an assessment.
An assessment of how much your life is driven by fear.
You see, 95% of our life
is driven by our subconscious
which means you're mostly in a reactive mode.
And if we are in a reactive mode
and we are not aware of the fears,
we may not know what are some of the actions
that we are taking that are essentially driven by fear,
instead of hope.
To change our behavior,
we must first understand
what are some of those deep-seeded fears
that are influencing our actions.
And as Rich says,
underneath every fear, there is a desire.
Fear is just a mask to protect yourself
from things like failure, embarrassment
or even success.
So help your clients dig deep.
Is it the fear of public speaking?
Is it the fear of success?
Is it the fear of embarrassment?
Is it the fear of standing up against
something that you really stand for?
Well then, how come you're still at a job that you hate?
I mean, why don't you quit and get "the fear"?
Because I'm too afraid.
Once this list is done,
once you have a list of fears
that they may be experiencing on daily life,
consciously or unconsciously,
you can start to tackle these fears
one at a time.
We can take tiny steps to make progress
towards getting past these fears
and finding more and more courage.
Soon enough, you'll find that
your clients have more courage
and more confidence,
and tackle more of their fears,
helping them live better lives.
Which one of these techniques is
your favorite coaching technique?
Is there a coaching technique
that you would like to share with us?
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Thank you so much for watching
and have a phenomenal day.