The funny thing about offering coaching as a service is the need to remain curious throughout for the benefit of the other person or the group that you are working with. The upside of this, is that it allows the person/people that you are working with the space to think/work/acknowledge/recognise what it is they actually need to work on, rather than providing them with answers/guidance/advice. This in turn allows the person/people to really consider what it is that needs to change or is a challenge for them and they can continue to grow and develop as a person.
This is the polar opposite of being the expert in the situation, which is often what people want, they want you regardless of your role to tell them what to do or how to do it. By remaining curious on behalf of the person you allow them to be the expert in their current situation. This is not to say that other times there will be requirements for advice or expert opinion depending on the situation or occasion. However, the purpose of staying curious for the other person is to further empower, motivate and promote growth in them. This in turn encourages the intrinsic motivation within that person or people to make the changes that they require.
Remaining curious regardless of our role, position or situation can be established by various ways:
- asking more questions
- allowing time and space for the person to think about the answers to those questions
- keeping those questions open ended (you can look this up if you are not sure)
- knowing that remaining curious for a little bit longer will assist the other person further
- take the pressure off from having ”all the answers” – no one does.
Try it and see what outcomes you get.
