The Nine Principles of Coaching

 As part of developing our coaching skills we need to understand and develop our abilities to facilitate the nine principles of coaching:

Awareness: everything the coach says and does is focused on raising the coachee’s own awareness and self-knowledge.

Responsibility: self-responsibility – or taking ownership of our decision – we learn better when we discover things for ourselves than when others tell us.

Self-belief: there are two components to building people’s confidence – allowing them the space to practise, stretch themselves and make mistakes and giving them recognition for their achievements.

Blame free: mistakes are viewed as learning experiences – not reasons to look for a scapegoat. 

Solution focus: when we dwell on a problem it gets bigger. When we focus on the solution, the problem becomes manageable and we find more energy to deal with it. 

Challenge: Most of us like to be challenged and stretched within a supportive and encouraging environment.

Action: Coaching uncovers new perspectives and awareness.  In this way, coachees gain new insight, which leads to more options, which in turn lead to a desire to take action and change.

Trust: without trust between the coach and coachee, it is not possible for coaching to take place.  Trust is fundamental to the coaching relationship. 

 Self directed learning: This is the core principle of coaching: a coach or a leader who is managing in a coaching style focuses on empowering their people to identify and develop their own resources so that they may achieve their potential in a fulfilling and stimulating way. 

 The big question is how do you develop the skills to really ensure these principles are embedded in your work.    If you have any ideas of ways to develop coachees or mentees in any of these areas why not post them and we’ll compile a list of good ideas for development.

 The next ‘Coaching as a Leadership Tool’ course will be held in the New Year.  Please e-mail carol.brooks@derbyshire.gov.uk if you would like to be advised of forthcoming courses.