This document provides an overview of professional coaching based on co-active coaching principles. It defines coaching as a thought-provoking process that inspires clients to maximize their potential. The coach's role is to help clients discover what they want to achieve, encourage self-discovery, elicit client-generated solutions, and hold clients accountable. Key coaching skills discussed include listening, asking powerful questions, and time-boxing sessions. The document also covers the three levels of listening, examples of powerful questions, and tips for practicing coaching skills with a partner.

1. PROFESSIONAL COACHING DOJO
Based on principles of Co-Active Coaching
Offered by: Georg(e) Fasching - @geofas
Real Listening & Powerful Questions

2. DEFINITION
The International Coach Federation defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-
provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional
potential, which is particularly important in today’s uncertain and complex environment. Coaches
honor the client as the expert in his or her life and work and believe every client is creative,
resourceful and whole. Standing on this foundation, the coach's responsibility is to:
• Discover, clarify, and align with what the client wants to achieve
• Encourage client self-discovery
• Elicit client-generated solutions and strategies
• Hold the client responsible and accountable
This process helps clients dramatically improve their outlook on work and life, while improving
their leadership skills and unlocking their potential.
Source: www.coachfederation.org

3. COACHING CONVERSATION ARC
Environment
Agenda
Explore
Explore Explore
Actions
Commit

4. COACHING SKILLS
• Listening
• Powerful Questions
• Measured intrusion
• Time-boxing
• Acknowledgment/Empathy
• Self-Management
• Playing back
• Measured challenging
• …
In this Dojo

5. 3 LEVELS OF LISTENING
• Level 3: I’m here for you, and aware of
our surroundings.
• Level 2: I’m here for you, and just you.
• Level 1: It’s all about me. Me, me, me.
Focus
The Coach’s Zone

6. TIPS FOR LISTENING
• RELAX! Clear your mind for the coaching conversation.
• When you notice you’re in level 1, simply let go and focus back on the coachee.
Practice, practice, practice.
• Noticing your own voice in your head?You’re in level 1.
• Feeling disconnected from the coachee?You’re in level 1.
• To return to level 2 try: focussing on the coachee’s voice, words, eyes, energy, or a
combination.These hooks are quite personal.

7. WHAT ARE POWERFUL QUESTIONS?
• Open
• Non-leading
• Short
• Make you think
• Not looking for “the” answer
• Come from curiosity

8. POWERFUL QUESTIONS AREN’T:
• Yes or No Questions
• Questions that have people prove or explain (e.g. most Why Qs)
• Questions that come with a coaching agenda or strategy (those are a
sign of level 1 listening)
• Information gathering

9. SOME POWERFUL QUESTIONS:
• What do you want?
• If I were to give you an extra hour a day,
what would you do with it?
• How is that aligned with your values?
• How come?
• What will that get you?
• What do you think is the moral of that
story?
• What am I not asking you that you really
want me to ask?
• What would happen if you could?
• What would your biggest role model do?
• How will you know that you’ve got it?
• What holds you back?
• What would a safe version look like?
• What would a crazy version look like?
• If I was in your shoes, what advice would
you give me?
• What’s the first step?

10. SOME MORE:
• What other angles can you think of?
• What would you try now if you knew
you couldn’t fail?
• How might it work?
• Is what you’re doing helping you follow
your joy?
• What would that look like?
• Could you tell me more about that?
• What is the opportunity here?
• How would your ideal self create a
solution?
• What do you think?
• If your money could talk, what would it
say to you?
• What is the essence of that?
• What are you waiting for?
• What else?
• What part of this could be an assumption?

11. PRACTICE TIME

12. PAIR - 2 PEOPLE VERSION
• Coach coaches coachee
• Environment: confidentiality, permission to coach
• Agree a topic
• Coach: practice listening in level 2 (when you catch yourself in
level 1, just let go and go back to level 2), ask powerful questions,
skip ‘Actions’ and ‘Commit’ in the beginning
• Coachee gives feedback to coach (“When you asked …, the impact
on me was …”, similarly for facial expressions, body language, etc.)
• Rotate if wanted, so everyone gets a turn.
Coach
Coachee

13. TRIAD - 3 PEOPLE VERSION
• Coach coaches coachee
• Environment: confidentiality, permission to coach
• Agree a topic
• Coach: practice listening in level 2 (when you catch yourself in level 1, just let go
and go back to level 2), ask powerful questions, skip ‘Actions’ and ‘Commit’ in the
beginning
• Coachee gives feedback to coach (“When you asked …, the impact on me was …”)
• Observer gives feedback to coach (“When you asked …, the impact on me was …”,
similarly for facial expressions, body language, etc.)
• Rotate twice, so everyone gets a turn.
Coach
CoacheeObserver

14. BONUS PRACTICE - FOR 1 PERSON
Practice level 2 listening with anyone you speak with.
People really like being listened to. :)

15. • Agile Coach with product focus,
learning, practicing, coaching, and
training Lean & Agile since 2010
• Converted to Lean & Agile in 2010
after 10 years of traditional Product
Management
• Here are the tokens I collected on
my journey so far:
THIS IS ME.

16. Send any comments, questions or suggestions to:
george@geofas.com or @geofas
Connect at http://linkedin.com/in/geofas/
by referencing this deck.
THANKS!!
www.geofas.com
Fancy a read?
Public reading list at: http://geofas.com/library
My thanks go to my mentor coach Geoff Watts (learned about coaching
from him in June 2014), and the great folks at Agile Coaching Institute.