Socrates was a philosopher… NOT a life coach!
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Here is a PDF of the slide deck
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Notes from this episode:
1) Great Coaching is not determined by questions or answers
The Socratic Method of only asking questions and the directive method of only giving answers are styles of coaching. You can be a great coach or a bad coach with either style!
Coaching greatness comes from presence, permission, purpose, personalization and ultimately Partnership.
The best way is the middle way! Find your sweet spot on the spectrum and then move according to the needs of your player in the moment.
2) Poverty of Socrates
Socrates is one of the most influential humans in recorded history… mostly thanks to Plato. But he was not a life coach! He was a philosopher who chose to live in poverty. So I don’t think his method should be the foundation of a business model!
3) The Coaching Journey
It’s like crossing the Grand Canyon!
The path from figuring out how to do something yourself to being able to help others do that thing appears easy at first, but it is a long and bumpy journey.
4) The Coaching conundrum
What you figured out for yourself as a player is probably not going to work for another person without major modification. Being able to do something well is the starting point of becoming a coach, but it is only the start.
5) The Coaching Relationship includes many kinds of sharing
Coaches are supposed to share: perspective principles, experiences, concepts and solutions. BUT you have to learn how to share as a co-creating partner NOT as the know-it-all director.
6) The Support / Challenge Spectrum
Art of challenging has been almost completely lost on the field of Life Coaching due to the ICF insistence that “the client has all the answers” and “always follow the clients agenda”. We need to bring the respectful challenge back. It is what people truly expect from a great coach.
7) All IN Coaching Relationship
We have to stop thinking about coaching as a series of transactions; Stop thinking about your “hourly rate”. Think about what you can do to create a deeply connected partnership using all of YOU and all of the technology that is now available to us.