Accredited Coach Training with In Good Company

Some of the most powerful coaching results will never appear on a performance dashboard.

A client may not achieve the outcome they originally expected.

Yet they may:
• Learn to trust themselves
• Stop people pleasing
• Set healthier boundaries
• Recognise that a role conflicts with their values
• Make a decision they had been avoiding

Progress is not always immediate, external or easy to measure.

Sometimes the real result is a different relationship with yourself.

Listen to Episode 258, Coaching and Client Results, to explore what meaningful progress can look like.

Listen here: https://podfollow.com/the-coaching-crowd

A coaching goal can be SMART and still be a poor coaching goal.

“I will secure a promotion within six months” may sound specific, measurable and time-bound.

But another person still has to award the promotion.

Strong coaching separates:
• What the client wants
• What the client can influence
• What remains outside their control

That distinction can prevent disappointment, improve contracting and keep both coach and client focused on meaningful action.

Listen here: https://podfollow.com/the-coaching-crowd

Are you working harder than your coaching client?

That can be a warning sign.

When coaches become overly responsible for results, they may begin to:
• Rescue the client
• Offer more advice
• Push towards a preferred outcome
• Lose curiosity
• Carry the client’s progress between sessions

We can care deeply about our clients without taking ownership of their choices.

The coach owns the quality of the process.

The client owns the action.

We explore this balance in Episode 258, Coaching and Client Results.

Listen here: https://podfollow.com/the-coaching-crowd

What happens when a client does not achieve the results they expected from coaching?

It is a question that can feel uncomfortable for coaches.

Clients invest time, money, trust and emotional energy because they want something to change. Yet coaches cannot guarantee a specific result because the client is the person who must make the choices, take the action and do the work.

In our latest episode, we explore the tension between coaching and client results.

We discuss:
• What coaches are responsible for
• Why client readiness and willingness matter
• How clear contracting supports better outcomes
• What happens when a coach becomes too attached to progress
• Why some of the most meaningful results are difficult to measure
• How supervision can help coaches manage pressure and self-doubt

A client may enter coaching wanting a promotion and leave with a deeper trust in themselves. They may arrive focused on career progression and discover that their current role no longer aligns with their values.

The result may be different from the original goal, but that does not make it less valuable.

As coaches, we cannot manufacture change for another person. We can create the conditions in which change becomes possible.

Listen here: https://podfollow.com/the-coaching-crowd

Your client says, “I don’t know what I want to focus on.”

What do you ask next?

One option is:
“What conversation have you been avoiding with yourself or someone else?”

It is a strong question.

It may reveal:
• A decision the client has delayed
• A difficult conversation with a colleague
• Something unspoken in a relationship
• A truth they have avoided acknowledging
• An internal conversation that keeps repeating

The coach does not need to rescue the client from the silence that follows.

Sometimes the silence is where the real coaching begins.

Hear more powerful coaching openers in our latest episode:
https://podfollow.com/the-coaching-crowd

Your favourite coaching question may be limiting your sessions.

Most coaches have a trusted opener:
“What would you like to focus on today?”

There is nothing wrong with it.

The problem comes when it becomes automatic.

Different clients need different invitations.

A busy client may need help sorting competing priorities.

An overwhelmed client may need to focus on one area of progress.

A guarded client may need permission to explore something unresolved.

A reflective client may respond more deeply to:
“What feels most alive for you today?”

The quality of a coaching conversation can change when we stop reaching for the familiar question and start choosing the right question.

We explore this in our latest episode, Ten Questions to Open Coaching Conversations.

Listen here: https://podfollow.com/the-coaching-crowd

The first question we ask in a coaching session can shape everything that follows.

It can influence:
• Where the client places their attention
• How quickly they become present
• What they feel able to discuss
• How much courage they bring into the conversation
• Whether the session creates insight, action or meaningful progress

Yet many of us develop habitual opening questions.

We find one that works and begin using it with every client, in every session, regardless of how that person is arriving.

In our latest podcast episode, we explore a collection of questions that can help coaches open conversations with greater intention.

Questions such as:
“What feels most alive for you today?”
“If we were courageous today, where might this conversation take us?”
“What part of you most needs a voice today?”
“What would you like me to be particularly mindful of as your coach?”

Each question creates a different invitation.

One supports focus.

Another connects with energy.

Another opens the door to vulnerability.

Another strengthens the coaching alliance.

The aim is not to collect clever questions or deliver them mechanically. It is to broaden our coaching toolbox so we can choose an opener that fits the client, the relationship and the moment.

Listen to Ten Questions to Open Coaching Conversations: https://podfollow.com/the-coaching-crowd