Why "Mastery" Matters in Coaching
Posted on July 31, 2018 by Winsor Jenkins, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
Coaching "mastery" matters in serving clients' needs.
Some time ago, I attended the Hudson Institute of Coaching’s Annual Learning Conference in Santa Barbara, California. The theme for the conference that year was “Mastery Matters.”
Understanding that mastery matters is something that can be taken for granted by coaches without reminders in the form of ongoing training, education and the like…all directed at building both coaching knowledge and skills. After all, “the coach’s ability to adeptly use self as the most important instrument in facilitating change will increasingly become the gold standard in masterful coaching, ”writes Pamela McLean, PhD., co-founder and CEO – Hudson Coaching Institute, in her highly acclaimed book, The Completely Revised HANDBOOK of COACHING (2012, Jossey-Bass).
The Hudson Conference served as a humble reminder for me that leveraging self in coaching others is a challenge that carries a lifetime commitment to personal development and learning. That fact that there is “more to learn” is an attitude that we must embrace if we aspire to become the gold standard in masterful coaching. Being an “agile leaner” is a key competency in coaching development…that includes seeking new knowledge, being curious and practice. Here I would include the commitment to pursue professional certifications in coaching.
Placing an emphasis on self in coaching, where we leverage relationship first, demands that we may need to push back on technology (i.e., battery of techniques, 360s and the like). Why? I would argue that technology is typically overused…especially as the “default” choice by coaches when starting a coaching assignment. This choice has the potential for avoiding the interpersonal conversations necessary for building trust, for example. And, as we all know, building trust with the client is the foundation to effective coaching.
Moving forward, “transcending” technique and dealing with clients on a relationship basis should be the default choice!
