Co-Active Coaching (2011) is about designing an effective, empowering relationship between the client and the coach. The authors outline the cornerstones of collaborative coaching, providing applicable examples of how to achieve a successful and trusting coach-client relationship.
Henry Kimsey-House, Karen Kimsey-House and Laura Whitworth are the co-founders of The Coaches Training Institute, the foremost coach-training school in the world. Phillip Sandahl is the co-founder and principal of Team Coaching International and a former senior faculty member of CTI.
Upgrade to Premium now and get unlimited access to the Blinkist library. Read or listen to key insights from the world’s best nonfiction.
Upgrade to PremiumThe Blinkist app gives you the key ideas from a bestselling nonfiction book in just 15 minutes. Available in bitesize text and audio, the app makes it easier than ever to find time to read.
Start free trialGet unlimited access to the most important ideas in business, investing, marketing, psychology, politics, and more. Stay ahead of the curve with recommended reading lists curated by experts.
Start free trialCo-Active Coaching (2011) is about designing an effective, empowering relationship between the client and the coach. The authors outline the cornerstones of collaborative coaching, providing applicable examples of how to achieve a successful and trusting coach-client relationship.
Every effective coaching relationship is built on collaboration and trust. And in the upcoming blinks, you’ll learn exactly how to build such a relationship with your client.
The authors use the term co-active to describe a process in which both the client and the coach actively collaborate together: both are involved in the process.
Ultimately, co-active coaching is not centered on problem-solving, but on conversation. Of course, you’ll be addressing issues and finding solutions, but the process is primarily about awareness, discover and choice. That process starts when you familiarize yourself with the four cornerstones of the co-active coaching model:
First, you have to begin by assuming that all people are inherently creative and resourceful. We are all capable of finding answers, making choices and learning from our mistakes.
Secondly, remember that there’s more to a coaching relationship than just problem-solving. Try to see the bigger picture: there are many different factors that impact a client’s life – things like work, family, emotions and so on.
Third: when you’re talking to your client, make sure you pay attention to subtle details like tone, mood and body language – and not just on the content of the conversation. The co-active conversation can only work if you create a safe, trusting space that allows for vulnerability; such a space depends on your being tuned into your conversational partner.
And finally, encourage transformation. Even if your client hired you to work with them on one specific area, having a broad vision will allow you to nudge them toward more holistic, and therefore valuable, change.
So, all in all, the world of co-active coaching isn’t about “fixing” clients; it’s about helping them discover and develop their true selves.