out there for a competency? What’s the evidence inside? How did it happen? And what’s the breakdown? On the journey of development, where’s the next emerging piece of work?

This brief dialogue illustrates some of the elements of self-assessment. We are consistently directing our attention back into our own experience. What’s the evidence

assessment. The search for this evidence, especially for behavioral outcomes that provide the core of most developmental coaching programs, is in itself an act of self-observation. The assessment process requires the client to self-observe, furthering self-generation. The resulting conversation often provides opportunities for the client to own the

One way that works well is to invite the client to review the coaching outcomes and assess his progress against each. We can request specific evidence to support this

coaching engagement is best done for a specific period of time and in service to the particular outcomes that were agreed on at the outset. This produces more accountability for both coach and client than open-ended engagements, in which it is up to the client to declare completion with a partner with whom there is likely great intimacy and trust.

COACH: So one place that coaching could support you in being an even stronger leader is by helping you discover how to be more intentional and skillful at building relationships with people in order to lead and motivate them.

COACH: So here’s the first answer to your question. As a coach, I can help you become more aware of what happens inside you in specific situations. Of how you affect others. In the first few minutes of this conversation, I experienced you as pretty tough and inaccessible. And now you’ve invited me to a real conversation. You were competent [a value

Recall the three structures of development: engagement with a competent partner, generative practices, and outcome-specific fieldwork.

The stability of our presence is a powerful support for the client as she learns to self-regulate.