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 Wellness Inventory Certification Training, 2006-2017, www.wellpeople.com
Coaching Basics
Whether you are an experienced or novice coach, it is always helpful to review the
coaching fundamentals that support the coaching relationship/partnership.
Coaches Do: Coaches Do Not:
Coaches are partners to their clients, with
the deep understanding that the client is
already creative, resourceful, and whole.
Coaches do not show up as an expert,
giving advice, telling clients who they are or
should be.
Because coaches are partners, and not
experts, they are willing to be stumped.
They are willing to take a pause and
reflect on how they can best serve their
client. They are willing to share their
process with the client so the client can
guide them into the most useful direction.
Coaches, to the best of their ability, focus
their attention on their client, not on their
“performance.”
Coaches are not focused on being smooth
or on how they are appearing to the client.
Coaches use reflective listening. Skillfully
mirroring what they’ve heard and getting
to the bottom line helps the client to see
things more clearly. This skill comes with
practice. Notice how other coaches do it.
Active listening is not repeating over and
over what the client has said in a rote
manner.
Coaches use skillful open questions.
(See below). Powerful questions are
those that help a client to make a leap in
awareness. Often the most powerful
questions are the result of the coach
being in learning mode and simply
following his/her curiosity. Notice how
other coaches do it.
Coaches use few closed questions, though
they are at times useful when applied
skillfully.
Remember that as the coach you can’t
know everything that the client does.
They are the only experts in their life.
Your questions should help them
advance their awareness toward what is
most important to them now and in their
future. When you ask questions, ask
yourself if you are asking for yourself or
for your client.
Asking for all the details can lead a client
into their old worn out story that they’ve told
a hundred times. The old story doesn’t have
life in it. Their curiosity and new awareness
has life in it. It’s unmistakable when they
reach it.
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 Wellness Inventory Certification Training, 2006-2017, www.wellpeople.com
Coaches follow the client’s lead
concerning what the client wants to work
on. The client sets the agenda and the
coach structures the session. The client
is the only expert on his/her life. The
coach can make suggestions about ways
to explore the client’s agenda for the
session, but the client always has the
final say. Coaches request permission to
explore new territory or propose
experiments.
Coaches do not tell clients what they should
do or lead the client with the coach’s
agenda. As the coach, you may think you
understand what the client should be, do, or
have. Even if you are right (though you are
probably dead wrong) it’s not helpful to the
client. The best way is to open the space for
the client to discover for themselves what is
right for them. Remember, it’s the client’s life
and it’s their session.
Clients do the work and the majority of
the talking. If you find yourself talking a
lot, you probably are not coaching. In
Wellness Coaching, there is the proviso
that there are times when the coach
imparts information to assist the client to
achieve his/her goals. But it is only with
the permission of the client.
Coaches can also share personal
experience as long it is infrequent and in
the service of the client’s goals and with
permission. Remember that coaching
works because the coaches use their skill
to help the client be in learning mode.
Deep listening and inquiry opens that
pathway. Lecturing closes it.
Coaches do not lecture clients. Remember
that the natural human tendency is to push
back if you are being pushed. So if you are
pushing your client in a direction, he/she will
naturally resist or push back. That doesn’t
help the client to achieve his/her goals. Both
are a result of protecting mode.
Coaches assist clients to design action
steps that support them in their goals. A
good ending question from which action
steps arise is “What are you taking away
from the session?”
Coaches do not assign action steps.
Coaches assist clients to design methods
of acknowledgement or accountability
concerning their action steps. If action
steps were completed, the coach
acknowledges it appropriately. If action
steps were not completed, the coach
acknowledges it appropriately, keeping in
mind the client’s stated goals. The coach
does his/her best to stay in learning
mode, without judging the client. Inaction
is fertile territory to explore and is an
opportunity for the client’s deeper
awareness.
Coaches are not action step cops.
Remember that shame is the greatest
impediment to wellness and lifestyle
change. We change when we have set up
enough support and are focused on strong
motivations for change. Shame completely
dismantles all of that.