Coaching Leaders: Guiding People Who Guide Others

Chapter 3

The Nature of Coaching

To facilitate the leader's development, the leader and coach need to develop a unique relationship, one that is truly different. Their relationship needs to be both comfortable enough for the client to trust and understand the coach and different enough to interrupt the client's normal thinking patterns. Ideally, it has some features of a friendly, supportive business relationship—aspects such as using familiar language, focusing on goals, and occasional humor. These familiar aspects create a sense of comfort that enables the client to relax and explore behavior and motivation. The different aspects of the relationship create the opportunity to engage with someone who has a unique view of the world. The discussion ...