In today’s episode we’re talking about how we can build teacher agency during coaching conversations – by providing structure to their thoughts.
This episode was inspired by a conversation with one of my clients in The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program when they were going through the “In Practice” module of the course. They were starting to have coaching conversations for the first time and realized that even though their conversations with me during the Office Hours in the program felt so natural, there was actually a structure and a process that I was following, even though it felt so seamless in the moment! (We have a few other episodes about the flow and structure of coaching conversations, which I’ll link here & in the show notes for you).
If we want our coaching conversations to feel seamless and natural, we need to create space for unpacking a lot of ideas, while at the same time providing structure – this is part of the art of coaching. Being able to make a complex conversation feel “easy”.
This begins right at the start of the conversation – when we’re transitioning from a busy school day to a (hopefully) slower paced coaching conversation.
Building consistency through structure like this in your coaching practice is part of Phase 2 of the Thrive Model for Sustainable Instructional Coaching: Implement Consistently, which we follow in The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program. If you want to build sustainable coaching practices and coaching program, head over to our website to get all the resources about the Thrive Model, you’ll find it at edurolearning.com/thrive and here’s one of my previous #coachbetter episodes that gives an overview to the model to get you started!
Making structure feel seamless in coaching conversations
Often when we’re working with our coaching partner, they come to us with a lot of things that they’ve been thinking about.
I know when I start a coaching conversation, I always ask some variation of: “what’s new, what’s been going on in your world since we last spoke?” and usually my coaching partners give me a brain dump of all the things that have been going on.
As coaches, it can be easy to get overwhelmed while this is happening. One of my clients in The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program who is just learning how to practice coaching conversations recently said:
- I didn’t know what notes to write down!
- I didn’t know if I was paraphrasing just to do it or if there was an intention behind it!
- I didn’t know if I should be trying to do classroom visits to collect data on all this information!
- I just didn’t know what to do next!
It’s totally normal to feel like you should have something to say or do after this, but actually the opposite is often true.
Coaching conversations are so valuable because…
- They give structure to our thoughts
- They demonstrate that we are heard and understood
- They help us navigate through all the different ideas in our head to find the right pathway forward
- They give us clarity
And actually a lot of the time, none of that involves solving a problem or giving advice.
It involves listening, summarizing (paraphrasing) and helping your coaching partner unpack their own thinking.
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Plus the Case Study Document includes:
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- Alignment with the THRIVE Model for a Successful Coaching Culture;
- Space for you to reflect & prioritize so you can take action immediately!
You’ll go straight to the Quiz, and get the Case Studies by email.
How does it work?
When get a brain dump of ideas, rather than trying to untangle those ideas yourself, you can actually support your coaching partner to do it for themself.
You can summarize their thinking into the big main ideas, and then ask: I heard you say XYZ, which would you like to start with
This:
- gives them agency in the direction of the conversation
- Allows them to prioritize what they want to address first
- Ensures that they feel understood
- Helps provide some clarity from the swirling thoughts in their head
- Takes many different intertwined thoughts and provides a clear choice in direction
Then, you can work through as many of the different topics as you have time for in this single conversation.
This is an amazing thing about coaching.
It’s not really about providing an answer or a solution, it’s about giving your coaching partner structure for their thoughts and helping them reveal what they already know.
At the end of a coaching call (when I ask them: “what as most helpful today?”) my clients have said:
Everyone deserves a coach. Just talking ideas out is so valuable. Bouncing ideas allows us to build off each other. That’s the beauty of having these kinds of conversations. This is why I wanted to be a coach. We can figure something out together.
“The overthinking in my mind is done during our sessions so that leaves room in my mind to think about other things.”
“These ideas have been percolating to the surface, but I was never able to put them together to make a plan. That’s why you work with a mentor, that’s the space you need to let those ideas grow into a plan.”
I have to verbalize and think out loud and that’s what we’re doing when we’re talking. It’s super helpful because it happens on a different level than anyone else in my professional working environment. It’s a dedicated hour all about me. Someone is listening to me and we’re figuring out my situation.
Every time I talk to you, I start out confused, but we uncover so many solutions or strategies to move forward that I feel like I have good ideas to get started.
The idea is to help your coaching partner feel understood – and you can do that by providing structure for their thoughts, and then giving them agency to determine their next step.
To recap, the way we can do this in our coaching conversations (which is exactly the model we follow in all of our Office Hours in our courses for coaches, including The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Progam) is to:
- Provide space for our coaching partner to share all of the different topics they’ve been thinking about (this can be like a brain dump of ideas)
- Create a list of all the topics your coaching partner has raised and ask: which one of these feels most important for you right now in this conversation
- At that time you may also reference their goal for this coaching cycle to help remind them of what they are trying to achieve
- Work through the topic they identify first with a coaching stance
- Continue through each item they named at the start of the call, reconfirming along the way that this is the topic they want to focus on for today.
We want our coaching partners to feel like they have clarity around their thinking, and that they know what their next step is. This way they leave the coaching conversation feeling ready to take the next step forward.
When you hear these steps, the process may sound easy, but it’s not always that easy in the moment (just like the story I shared about my client in The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program). Making something look and feel easy is often much more challenging than it seems!them to feel “yes, this is it, now I can move to the next step”
So, if you’re finding yourself getting tangled up in the process of a coaching conversation, you’re not alone. Many coaches feel this way – new and experienced coaches alike. Coaching is complex. Making it feel seamless, easy and natural while allowing your coaching partner to determine the direction of the conversation with agency is hard. It takes a long time to build these skills, and we’re always growing and seeing potential for improvement.
If this sounds like you, we can help!
Build Seamless Coaching Conversation Skills in The Coach!
Developing consistency in your coaching practice is the focus of Phase 2 of: The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program, called Implement Consistently. This Phase focuses on the act of coaching and the art of navigating coaching conversations. And the wonderful thing about The Coach is that it’s designed to be differentiated for your skill and experience level. So, if you’re new to coaching, you’ll learn everything you need to have successful coaching conversations. But if you’re an experienced coach, you’ll uncover what you can do to continue to hone and improve your coaching skills.
As part of the program, you’ll conduct a coaching cycle with a colleague in your setting to deepen your practice and put all of your learning into action – this is always a key highlight for program grads. If you want to hear some of those stories, check out some of our case study episodes from previous seasons of the show, and make sure to stay tuned this season because we have some very powerful episodes coming up including one with a coach and their coaching partner). Make sure to subscribe to catch the upcoming shows!
The Coach is our academic-year-long course and global community designed for instructional coaches or educators who are ready to build a thriving coaching program and deepen their coaching practice.
The Coach is unique because we support the development of your practice at the micro and the macro level. We dive deep into your coaching practice at the micro level, to help you upskill from wherever you are today (the program is highly differentiated for all levels of coaching experience) AND we unpack the development of a coaching program from the macro level so you can see how to make coaching thrive sustainably in your school setting.
That’s because in The Coach, we work through the Thrive Model for Sustainable Instructional Coaching so you are focused on building a coaching culture within your school, while you’re developing your coaching practice as an individual coach. We use the three phases of the Thrive Model: Clarity, Consistency and Community, to help you reflect on your practice and program from both a macro and micro lens, with a systems view to ensure you’re building in sustainability from the start.
The program is truly personalized – because we know you’re coming to The Coach with your own experience and expertise, and your own needs in your unique school setting. So wherever you are in your coaching journey, we can support you in taking the next step forward.
Plus, inside our private community, you’ll learn with a global cohort of coaches from schools around the world, so you can see how coaching really works in other schools – and build your network of coaches.
Our global cohorts open only once a year (and if you’re listening to this episode as it airs, it’s happening RIGHT NOW!) – get all the details and join the waitlist for our next cohort at edurolearning.com/coach
If you’ve made an intention to develop your coaching practice or your coaching program this year, The Coach will support you in taking the next step. Head over to edurolearning.com/coach to get all the details before registration for this cohort closes!
Wherever you are in your coaching journey we can support you!
Watch the Episode!
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You can them all on our coachbetter website at coachbetter.tv/workshops
If you’re curious right now, you have questions, please reach out. You can leave a comment below, join our #coachbetter Facebook group, or find us on social media at Eduro Learning and send me a DM. I’d love to support you on your coaching journey. See you next time!
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