aryotejo

what definition A coach, by definition, is someone in whom you can place your trust, and therefore, from the very beginning of the coach/coachee relationship, they have an insidious power. The coach is aware of this (some more aware than others) and the coachee, desires this . The coachee having after all, for whatever reason, decided to hold up their hands and acknowledge the need for help. There is also an assumption that the coach will possess the necessary credibility, experience, sensitivity and skill to handle the coachee, who more often than not, initially feels disempowered, vulnerable and apprehensive. As we all know, assumption is dangerous.

I recently caught up with a friend of mine, a fellow communication skills coach, and she told me about an experience that really highlighted the potential for abuse of power in this coach/coachee relationship. The situation was that my friend was shadowing a very experienced coach/company owner, with a view to eventually being taken on as an associate. They were doing a 2 day group coaching session, with 4 participants from a global management consultancy.
The session started with a diatribe on the whys and wherefores of good communication, with the company owner majoring on the monologue, failing to see the irony when talking about creating a balanced dialogue and authentic connection with your audience.

My friend’s first major contribution was filming the participants in action, who stood addressing the camera, talking about their roles within their company. During the exercise debrief, the experienced coach did the double whammy of character assassination, in the way that she criticised the participants and then criticised my friend for the way she had filmed them. Admittedly she is no Spielberg, but her camerawork was perfectly acceptable. The participants had come to get their communication skills improved, and so far the feedback method used was patently destructive. So far, so bad, and there was worse to come.

A coach, by definition, is someone in whom you can place your trust, and therefore, from the very beginning of the coach/coachee relationship, they have an insidious power. The coach is aware of this (some more aware than others) and the coachee, desires this . The coachee having after all, for whatever reason, decided to hold up their hands and acknowledge the need for help. There is also an assumption that the coach will possess the necessary credibility, experience, sensitivity and skill to handle the coachee, who more often than not, initially feels disempowered, vulnerable and apprehensive. As we all know, assumption is dangerous.

I recently caught up with a friend of mine, a fellow communication skills coach, and she told me about an experience that really highlighted the potential for abuse of power in this coach/coachee relationship. The situation was that my friend was shadowing a very experienced coach/company owner, with a view to eventually being taken on as an associate. They were doing a 2 day group coaching session, with 4 participants from a global management consultancy.
The session started with a diatribe on the whys and wherefores of good communication, with the company owner majoring on the monologue, failing to see the irony when talking about creating a balanced dialogue and authentic connection with your audience.

My friend’s first major contribution was filming the participants in action, who stood addressing the camera, talking about their roles within their company. During the exercise debrief, the experienced coach did the double whammy of character assassination, in the way that she criticised the participants and then criticised my friend for the way she had filmed them. Admittedly she is no Spielberg, but her camerawork was perfectly acceptable. The participants had come to get their communication skills improved, and so far the feedback method used was patently destructive. So far, so bad, and there was worse to come.