Reflections on 'Advanced Coaching Practice'

I’ve just finished this book. ‘Advanced Coaching Practice‘ by Christian van Nieuwerburgh and David Love. I highly recommend it for experienced coaches who are hoping to delve deeper in their practice. I especially liked the accompanying videos that help to illustrate the text within the context of coaching conversations (accesss given when you buy the book). I also highly recommend reading it as a book club. Discussing each chapter with @lv_white really deepened my understanding of the text and also gave me another perspective to consider.

At the end of the book, the authors pose five questions to reflect on after reading the book. Here are my responses:

What do you know for sure about coaching?

1. 
   

2. That trust and relationships are crucial for successful coaching to occur.

3. That coachee-centered cycles have a high impact on student learning.

4. That coachee autonomy is paramount for success and sustainment of coachee motivation.

5. That coaching is creative. Maybe that is why I love it so much!

6. That coaches need to be authentic and stay true to themselves, while also being responsive to the needs of the coachees.

7. That reflective practice for myself as coach makes me a better coach.

What are you becoming more curious about?

1. 
   

2. Exploring connections between creativity and coaching. Creativity and play have always been important to me in my work as an educator and in my life as a human being. I’m excited to learn more about how creativity and coaching come together, and how coaches can better support creative thinking.

3. How understanding and using positive psychology theories can help coaches to prioritize the wellbeing of coachees. I find the idea of building positive psychoplogy interventions into coaching conversations fascinating and definitely want to learn more about this.

What do you still need to consider and explore?

1. 
   

2. Being more aware of providing challenges for coachees using careful questioning. KNOW your coachee! Strive to maintain a balance between the strength of the relationship and the degree of challenge. Also know when to let things go.

What is unique about your own way of being as a coach?

1. 
   

2. Putting the coachee at the centre of a coaching cycle comes very naturally to me. I embody a ‘less me, more them’ approach to pretty much everything in my life.

3. I wouldn’t go as far as calling myself an empath, but I have always been sensitive to the emotions of others. This is a definite advantage when having a dialogue with a coachee.

4. I am warm and approachable. People feel safe talking to me.

5. I am comfortable with my own vulnerability. I place myself shoulder to shoulder with my coachees and am completely open with them. Interestingly, I have never minded saying “I don’t know” and I usually follow that with “but I’ll help you find out”. The growth mindset is strong in me!

6. I realized, through reading the book, that every coach will be different and unique. More importantly, for my sanity, I need to stop comparing myself to other coaches.

What is important for you?

1. 
   

2. Keep growing and learning – I am never, ever, satisfied with the status quo.

3. Keep practicing and refining my art – be the very best coach I can be.

So what’s next?

Well, one book usually leads me to another… and another… Jen Gash’s ‘Coaching Creativity’ was referrenced in the book and I felt drawn to it. I will start reading as soon as I finish this post. And… I’ve already loaded my Kindle with even more books for the December break. Yep, I have a book problem!

#Coaching #Reflection #coach #ChristianvanNieuwerburgh #DavidLove