Well-timed, skilful articulation of observations is the hallmark of the highly accomplished coach. Clumsy, ill-timed interventions can risk the safety, trust and confidence that are so vital to the working alliance.

the invitation would be to go to a place where there are no problems, and look at the issues from there. Suppose we dropped all the labels, such as: ‘This is a problem', ‘This is not the way it should be', ‘This is hurtful'. What if the situation just is? From the phrase ‘This is wrong’ we simply drop the word ‘wrong'. This is a different

Different cultures reflect different ways of being. Each culture provides a frame of meaning and associated assumptions about how to understand and behave in different situations. Business performance and productivity is built on people working together effectively (coordinating action) to reach objectives, which is underpinned by shared meaning.

Adults learn when they have a need to learn. Adults generally become ready to learn when their life situation creates a need to know or understand, for example when they need to cope with a life situation or perform a task. The more the coach can understand the interaction between the client's life situation and their readiness for coaching, the

Example: A client used her narrative coaching session to pivot from ‘I make the best of what is given to me' (old story) to ‘I choose to create what matters to me' (new story) – which she then started to use in suitable opportunities to attain more of what she wanted.

If a coachee has experienced frowns from a routinely disapproving parent, he/she may attribute to a frowning coach disapproval that was actually an expression of confusion. If a coachee has experienced a parent's preoccupation with time as somewhat rejecting, then the coachee may experience the coach's strict management of session times as

In terms of the beliefs about learning and the learning process, these managers considered learning to be important, ongoing and shared. Furthermore, learning was most effective when it was integrated with work, when feedback was provided and when learners (coachees) were encouraged to learn for themselves. In the final category of beliefs, beliefs

What are valid reasons for an organization to request coaching for an executive? Under what circumstances is it not appropriate to provide executive coaching?

Ask, don't tell: One of the most useful tools is the ‘Ask–Tell’ matrix (see Figure 3.2). The questions we ask as coaches lie on two intersecting dimensions: ‘Telling to Asking’ and ‘Why to How to'. Observe yourself as you coach. Which quadrant do you spend most time in? Do you spend more time telling people what to do? Or maybe you spend a lot of