Coaching, Coaching Psychology and improving performance

Beyond GROW Dr Alison Whybrow Special Group in Coaching Psychology, British Psychology Society

Route Map

 Coaching – why and the how  GROW and similar models  Is there more to coaching than GROW?

 The Psychological underpinnings of Coaching – three frameworks  Practical tools  Reflections

Why? Improved effectiveness

     Increase practical skills Increase resilience under pressure Enable a focus on the outcomes Increase decision making and personal effectiveness Increase self-awareness

Coaching is….

….unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It’s helping them to learn rather than teaching them (Whitmore, 2000)

WILL

GROW

GOAL OPTIONS REALITY

The underpinning questions…

G What is it you are trying to achieve?

What does that look like?

How will you know when you’ve achieved that goal?

O What options do you have?

Who can support you to achieve this goal?

What information / training do you need?

R Where are you now? What is happening at the moment in relation to this goal? What is a realistic deadline for achieving the goal?

W What is the first step that you need to take towards this goal?

How motivated are you to achieve this goal?

What small action will you take when you leave this session?

 STRONG

Other models

 T-GROW  Any others

Some of the basic skills….

      Rapport / engagement Delivering messages Listening skills Questioning skills Process skills Self Awareness

Psychology and Coaching

A little exercise

   Spend 4-5 mins reading the story AND answering the 18 statements with ‘true’, ‘false’, and ‘don’t know’.

Add up the subtotal for each column Be prepared to share those results

There is no one truth or ‘right’ world view We don’t see the world as it is, we see the world as we are (Anais Nin)

More on perception

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Rational-analytical side, addressing preconceptions/ ‘mental models’ that people have about the world Acquiring the specific skills and capabilities to succeed in applying new practices, behaviours and processes Feelings and emotional about the world and about changes that they’ve identified in their heads?

Three Psychological Frameworks

 Gestalt – Existential Perspective  Cognitive Behavioural  Solutions Focused

Fritz Perls and Gestalt

     Full awareness in the moment Patterns of behaviour / thought in coaching sessions are mirrors of patterns outside sessions Mindful interventions – noticing a word, a pattern, a position Two chair work / meta mirror/ field experiments Exploit and explore the physical senses

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

 There are three core ideas we hold about the world that underpin our thinking patterns (Albert Ellis).

 Our beliefs about the world lead to situation specific responses that guide our choices (based on Aaron Beck)

We think like this because…

Ellis’s three core beliefs:  I must be perfect If I don’t do well then it is awful leading to stress, anxiety, depression, shame and guilt  Others must like me and violence If you do not then you / I deserve to be punished leading to anger, passive-aggressiveness  Life should be easy If not, I can’t stand it leading to self / other pity, procrastination, addictive behaviour, depression

Thinking errors

Specific thinking patterns that lead to situation specific Automatic Negative Thoughts including: All or nothing thinking Magnification Minimisation Personalisation Emotional reasoning Mind reading Labelling Discounting the positive Demanding-ness Focusing on the negative Fortune telling Overgeneralisation I-can’t-stand-it-it is Blame

What does this mean?

People are not disturbed by events, but by the view they take of them (Epictetus) Everything is but what your opinion makes it; and that opinion lies within yourself (Marcus Aurelius) Hamlet: Why then ‘tis non to you; for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so (Shakespeare)

The good news….

People can learn to notice and change their own thoughts with powerful emotional and behavioural benefits.

The Psychological Management Model

A – Activating event B – Beliefs C - Consequences D – Dispute E – Effective

Techniques

    Thinking skills – to create realistic (replacing the unreaslitic positive/negative thinking) Imagery techniques Self acceptance exercises Hard work and practice

“The Director makes me so angry”

“The lift gives me panic attacks” “My workload makes me feel so depressed”

Common Statements

“Company politics make me furious”

“Making an error makes me useless” “Giving presentations makes me feel dreadful”

Investment Fund Manager

PITs ‘this is a complete waste of time’ ‘I’m not doing particularly well’ PETs ‘I can do this, I’m good at this’ ‘The implications of making a mistake are not so bad’ ‘this is terrible’ ‘I will be seen as the junior guy who’s just come along for experience’ ‘Just because I’ve made one mistake, it doesn’t mean I’m entirely bad’

Joe, Climber

from touching the void SITs ‘I am going to die’ ‘This wasn’t in the game plan, this shouldn’t happen to me’ ‘I can sit here hoping for things to get better’ SETs ‘I am a fit 25 year old, who wants to climb the world’ ‘Look back and realise how scary the night had been’ ‘Could be sitting here for days’ ‘Have to keep making decisions – if you don’t there’s no hope.’ ‘Didn’t tie a knot in the end of the rope – then it would be quick’

Joe, Climber (Contd)

from touching the void SITs ‘you haven’t even started mate, it’s miles and miles and on really bad ground’ SETs ‘it occurred to me that I should set definite targets.’ ‘I can get to that crevasse in 20 mins’

Exercise

     Focus on one aspect of your performance that you’d like to improve Examine the thoughts that might be inhibiting your performance Write these down in the left hand column Challenge these thoughts: Are they realistic, Logical, Helpful? Write down any performance enhancing thoughts in the right hand column

Solutions Focused

  

Part 1: In pairs, decide who is A and B.

B – think of a time (sparkling moment) when you were at your best and spend 3 mins describing it.

A – Get as much detail as possible, observable, positive, concrete details. Listen carefully to and note what your partner says      What was it about the moment that made it sparkle for you?

What do you remember most about yourself as that moment?

What might others have noticed?

What did other say / do?

What else?

Sparkling moments

   

Part 2 Giving Affirms/ Identifying Resources

Based on what your partner has just said….

Reflect on what you now know about their excellent qualities, skills and resources as a person – thin for a moment.

Then tell them and wait for them to say ‘Thank you’

Sparkling moments

   

Part 3 – find small actions

Based on the discussion you’ve had so far A asks B – Choose a small action that will increase the likelihood of more Sparkling moments happening at work in the following days and weeks Make sure the action is small and specific.

Solutions Philosophy

“Problem talk creates problems…. Solution talk creates solutions.” (Steve de Shazer)

Bringing coaching and psychology together

 Psychologically based tools and techniques are used everyday by coaches, line managers and individuals to enhance their performance and effectiveness.

 The tools and techniques discussed here today can be easily applied.

 Psychological understanding is particularly helpful for coaches.

Ethical practice

 Working to improve individual performance at work can take unexpected directions  Whatever tools and techniques used, there are boundaries to competence, where reference to a psychologically trained / more experienced coach, a counsellor, or therapist is the best next step

References

      Lee, G Leadership Coaching: From Personal Insight to Organisational Performance: CIPD Neenan, M. & Dryden. W. (2002). Life Coaching: A Cognitive Behavioural Approach. Hove: Brunner-Routledge.

Palmer, S., Cooper, C., & Thomas, K. (2003). Creating a Balance: Managing Stress. British Library, London Peltier, B. (2001).The Psychology of Executive Coaching: Theory & Application. Brunner-Routledge Szarbo, P and Berg, I.K (2005) Brief Coaching Pemberton, C (2006) Solutions for Managers.

Contact Details

Dr Alison Whybrow [email protected]

Tel: 020 8390 7717 Mob: 0777 3340761