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Articles by Matt Somers
Coaching Skills Training: The ARROW Questioning Sequence: How To Establish Aims
In a previous article I introduced the coaching ARROW. A questioning sequence designed to help coaches navigate a coaching session. This article examines the first stage - Aims - in detail.
Coaching Skills Training: How To Use The Coaching ARROW
This article guides readers through a model called the coaching ARROW. A questioning sequence designed to raise awareness, generate responsibility and build trust.
Coaching Skills Training: Watch The Gaps!
Effective coaching managers deploy all of their attitude, skills and knowledge to work on the same aspects in the people whom they coach. This srticle considers coaching around performance gaps in each of these areas.
Coaching Skills Training: What Knowledge Do I Need?
Alonsgside the skills of questioning and listening, what do managers need to know in order to be able to coach well?
Coaching Skills Training: The Three Levels Of Listening
Coaches put a great amount of effort into asking useful questions. Unfortuantely such efforts can be in vain if we fail to listen just as effectively. This article considers different levels of listening and their effect on a coaching conversation.
Coaching Skills Training: Key Skills: Formulating Coaching Questions
The two main skills of coaching are undoubtedly the ability to ask probing questions and the capacity for active listening. This article looks at asking questions.
Coaching Skills Training: How To Cope If Coaching Uncovers Problems With Sexuality
A coaching conversation at work can often take an unexpected turn and unveil a deeper concern. Managers are advised to become familar with the basics of psychology in order to spot signs of probelms that coaching may not reach. This article considers matters of sexuality
Coaching Skills Training: How Abnormal Psychology May Be Explained By Cultural Differences
Sometimes a perfectly innocuous coaching conversation may reveal a deeper problem. This article - from a series on coaching and abnormal psychology - considers the part that culture may have to play
Coaching Skills Training: How Do We Treat Abnormal Psychology?
Following on from the series of articles examining the signs of abnormal psychology of which managers are advised to be aware, this article considers different approaches to their treatment.
Coaching Skills Training: Awareness, Responsibility And Trust
There are numerous coaching models and questioning sequences out there, but they are all useless unless supported by an understanding of the principles on which they are built
Coaching Skills Training: Communication & Coaching Part 3
How does coaching fit with the standard, traditional styles of management communication?
Coaching Skills Training: Coaching And Communication Part 2
Continuing the theme of how differing communication styles can impact the effect we have on our teams and how coaching fits
Coaching Skills Training: Communication & Coaching Part 1
Coaching at work is surrounded by mystery and is leaving managers baffled by what they need to do. This article simplifies coaching by starting to examnine its place within an overall approach to communication.
Managers who coach need at least some knowledge of the psychology on which many coaching approaches are based. This article considers the contribution psychology has made to the area of personality disorder. An extreme condition but one not unknown to have been uncovered by coaching.
What starts as a coaching conversation regarding a simple works based issue may uncover a deeper concern. Managers who coach are advised to develop an awareness of the main causes and types of abnormal psychology. This article considers alcoholism and drug addiction.
How difficult is it to be a manager and a coach to the same group of people? Can a manager be a coach at all or is it best to hire in an external provider? The article examines the issues.
Coaching Truths Or Coaching Myths?
It is widely agreed that coaching is a much-misunderstood concept and it is perhaps not surprising that many myths have sprung up around the subject. Can you see any truth in the following for example?
Coaching draws on so may fields and approaches that it can be difficult to find a starting point. How can coaches in organisations adopt a simple stance that will enable them to choose from the bewildering array of models and theories? This article sets out a point from which our journey through coaching can begin.
Can there have ever been a more misunderstood term in organisations than coaching? It gets confused with sports coaching, gets used to describe all manner of management behaviour and for every manager who has received some coaching skills training there are twenty more claiming they are 'naturals'. This article seeks to establish the basics.
In What Ways Is Coaching Similar To Other Ways Of Helping People?
I've lost count of the numbers of times I have been asked to clarify the similarities and differences between coaching and things like mentoring and counseling. This article is intended to establish some daylight between them all so that we can be assured that we're giving people the help they need.
Phobias: What Coaches Should Know
What if a coaching session takes a turn towards unfamilar territory? What if we start coaching around a business issue and end up discussing personal issues? This article takes a look at a common form of abnormal psychology - phobias, so that managers who coach can spot any early warning signs.
How Coaching May Uncover Eating Disorders
Coaching may uncover deeper issues than are suggested by the initial reason for the coaching session. Whilst I would not advocate amateur psychotherapy, managers who coach would do well to familiarise themselves with some common conditions.This article focuses on eating disorders
How Coaching May Uncover Schizophrenia
The modern place of work is the scene of much stress and sometimes deeper issues may be revealed. This article considers the disturbing condition of schizophrenia and how managers who coach may notice the early signs.
Coaching at work may uncover deeper issues than first appears to be the case and we need to be able to spot the signs of a bigger problem. What, for example, should the coaching manager know about depression?
Does coaching have to be a long, drawn out affair or can it be done at the speed necessary for the modern business environment?
Coaching The Reluctant Speaker
Coaching on pressentation skills is one of the most popular and effective uses of coaching at work, but is it really possible that we can help people conquer their nerves?
The Story Of The Old Man And Motivation
Why is it so diificult to get people motivated? Why is it so difficult to keep them motivated once they are? Perhaps this old man has the answer in the way he uses motivational tools.
How can we use coaching to bring about an immediate improvement in motivation? It it true that performance improves merely by being more attentive to people?
Ways To Link Coaching Sessions
How can you avoid the 'stop/start' nature of coaching sessions? How can we make sure that one coaching session flows naturally into the next one?
Improve Focus, Improve Results
We all know that coaches ask thoughtful questions, but how can we formulate such questions ourselves and bring about the right effect. How can we make sure our questions and instructions are helping our people move forward and not just getting in the way?
What if it turned out that there were no 'difficult people', just difficult circumstances that need handling differently?
Mostly we think about using coaching as a means of developing the staff within our teams, but how can we use coaching to manage the behaviour of our boss?
Understanding How The Coachee Feels
For coaching to really take root we need always to understand exactly how the coachee might be feeling. This article shows you how.
How the Johari Window model can be used to build the trust so essential to an effective coaching relationship
We all know that as managers these days we're required to be effective coaches for our people, but where do we start. How can we learn the required skills. What if our beliefs and assumptions about people are getting in the way of all the models and techniques?