Coaching Tools: The Inquiry Process
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Our commitment is to give you as many tools as possible to use with your clients. Some of the tools may be new to you, and some may be familiar tools used a little differently. We invite you to start with the three Ps (Prepare, Polish, and Perfect) to plan, design, and implement the best solution to your client’s needs. Helping our clients plan effectively has become one of the highest value actions we can take with them.
Imagine the future. Assume that the probable happened. What happened that the best didn’t happen?
If you want better than the probable to happen, what must happen to move the final outcome toward the best category? What actions will you take?
Imagine the future once again. Assume you didn’t take those actions. What happened that you didn’t take those actions? What structures can you put into place to ensure that those actions will be taken?
If only the probable happens, can you live with it?
If the worst happens, can you live with that?
We have found that after a thorough and honest examination of these questions, the client is better prepared to win—which is what coaching is about, is it not? Projects that sounded good at first blush are sometimes dropped. Ventures that are undertaken are done so with greater clarity of the path ahead, better structures in place to ensure success, and more confidence in actions taken.
In addition, it is possible to use these three questions—Best? Worst? Possible?-to examine any possible action a person might take. This is especially appropriate when the risks associated with the action are high.
Article author
About the Author
Germaine Porché is an executive coach, consultant, co-founder of Eagle’s View Consulting and the co-author of the “Coach Anyone About Anything” book series.
Germaine specializes in working with organizations to produce performance breakthroughs in productivity and leadership. Her 15-years consulting experience is in coaching executives, individuals and groups at all levels to deliver high-impact business results. Germaine is a resourceful and innovative designer of consulting interventions. She is a dynamic deliverer of training programs that incorporate clients’ specific developmental needs, such as work redesign, productivity breakthroughs, time transformation, coaching and communication skills. Germaine’s consulting work has been multicultural including work in Europe, Indonesia, Israel and Canada. She is President & co-founder of Eagle’s View Consulting, an international coaching and management consultancy. Germaine is co-author of “Coach Anyone About Anything: How to Help People Succeed in Business and Life,” listed among Amazon’s Top 100 Business Books for 2003.
She works with organizations to produce performance breakthroughs in productivity and leadership. She is a dynamic deliverer of training programs that incorporate clients’ specific developmental needs.
Her coaching and consulting career has included work in the real estate, insurance, sales, forest products, law, manufacturing, mining, and energy industries. She has also coached teams of labor and management personnel to produce breakthrough results.
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