Coach Entry 1

Laura White and I had a great conversation about coaching that lead into some of our more immediate experiences around conversation. I met as a coach with Laura after meeting with Kate as a coachee, so I tried to feel and understand how the two roles are different. As a coachee, I think that I talked a lot more, using my coach as a sounding board. As a coach, I tried to talk less and speak more in question form, as well as attempting, or hoping, to make anecdotes that were not only confirming of my coachee’s experience, but helpful.

            One thing we talked about was the emotional and cognitive exchange that takes place when a conversation is perceived to be going off the rails, and possible strategies to maintain a productive internal state when that happens. Managing the emotional “tax” of suddenly taking responsibility for the process of the conversation, when often times the content is also at stake, has become a place of possible investigation in later sessions.

This part of the conversation led me to consider that, as a coach, there is a much broader definition of “going off the rails.” Coaching feels like an organic experience that intrinsically values process over content, so I made a note not to get fixated on any one element, or even goal, of a conversation while information exchanges are taking place. I feel that a coachee should be allowed, even encouraged, to jump from rail to rail while they are speaking, and maybe, as a coach, looking for connections, asking about connections, between them could be a way to be helpful.