LittleBookOf_Coaching

The Little 

Book of 

Coaching 

Presentation 

Skills 

Skills

Contents 

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This booklet explores 

different types of coaching, 

key approaches, styles, and 

the kinds of questions to 

ask. 

What is coaching? 

Types of Coaching 

Key Approaches 

Coaching Styles and 

Models 

Coaching Questions 

99% 

99% are satisfied with 

the overall experience of 

coaching.

Why coaching works 

Coaching is not new, it’s been around since the 

1800’s, derived mostly from sports coaching, but 

becoming more popular in a business 

context in the 1970s and 80s. 

Coaching has seen measurable results. 

Most formal, professional coaching is carried out 

by qualified people who work with clients to 

improve their effectiveness and performance, and 

help them achieve their full potential. However, 

managers and leaders in the organisation can be 

just as effective as externally hired coaches. 

Managers don’t have to be trained formally as 

coaches. As long as they stay within the scope of 

their skill set, and maintain a structured approach, 

they can add value, and help develop their 

people’s skills and abilities. 

Increased Productivity 

Professional coaching explicitly targets maximising 

potential and in doing this unlocks latent 

sources of productivity and effectiveness. At 

the heart of coaching is a creative and thought 

provoking process. 

Positive people 

In the face of uncertainty caused by workforce 

reductions and other factors, expectations remain 

very high. Restoring self-confidence and self-trust 

to face the challenges is critical to meet 

organisational demands. 

Return on Investment 

The coach/client relatiosnhip generates learning 

and clarity for forward action with a commitment to 

clear measureable outcomes. 

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© GroupM University - 2018 

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© GroupM University - 2018

What exactly is coaching? 

Coaching is a useful way of developing people’s 

skills and abilities, and of boosting performance. 

It can also help deal with issues and challenges 

before they become major problems. 

A conversation between the coach and the 

coachee focuses on helping the coachee 

discover answers for themselves. 

Coaches in the workplace are not 

counselors, psychotherapists, 

gurus, teachers, trainers, or 

consultants – though they 

may use some of the same 

skills and tools. 

Coaching is considered to be a positive and 

proven approach for helping others explore their 

goals and ambitions, and then achieve them. 

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How many types 

of coaching do 

you know of? 

Performance 

Coaching activities here are aimed at 

enhancing an individual’s performance in their 

current role at work, to increase their 

effectiveness and productivity at work. 

Generally, performance coaching derives its 

theoretical underpinnings and models from 

business and sports psychology as well as 

general psychological theory. 

Skills 

This form of coaching focuses on the core 

skills an employee needs to perform in their 

role. Skills coaching provides a flexible, 

adaptive, ‘just-in-time’ approach to skills 

development. 

Coaching programmes are tailored 

specifically to the individual and are 

generally focused on achieving a number of 

skill development objectives that are linked to 

the needs of the organisation. 

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Career 

Coaching activities focus on the individual’s 

career concerns, with the coach eliciting and 

using feedback on the individual’s capabilities 

as part of a discussion of career options. 

Executive 

One to one performance coaching is 

increasingly being recognised as the way for 

organisations and individuals to improve 

performance. 

The process should lead to increased clarity, 

personal change and forward action. 

By improving the performance of the most 

influential people within the organisation, the 

theory goes that business results should 

improve. 

Personal / Life 

This form of coaching provides support to 

individuals wishing to make some form of 

significant changes happen within their lives. 

Coaches help individuals to explore what they 

want in life and how they might achieve their 

aspirations and fulfil their needs. Personal/life 

coaching generally takes the individual’s 

agenda as its start point. 

Executive coaching is often delivered by 

coaches operating from outside the 

organisation whose services are requested for 

an agreed duration or number of coaching 

sessions. 

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Coaching is not mentoring, nor is it counselling. 

Mentoring is a long term relationship based on 

offering life experience, knowledge, skills and 

advice. 

Six Golden Rules of Coaching 

Confidentiality and Trust 

Counselling is helping someone deal with 

something from the past (and should always be 

dealt with by a qualified professional). 

Coaching is about where you are now and where 

you want to be. You cannot coach someone who 

is being counselled as they can’t move forward 

until they have dealt with or accepted the past. 

The Solution Lies Within 

No Judgement or Fixed Agenda 

Focus on the Whole Person 

You are Equal Partners 

Look to the Future and Next Actions 

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Key approaches 

used in 

coaching 

Structured Coaching 

Most coaching is achieved by asking the right 

questions – the types of questions that coachees 

would ask of themselves. 

Active Listening 

Listen actively so that you pay attention to the 

fine detail of what coachees are saying, and how 

they’re saying it. 

Summarising and Repeating 

During a coaching session, summarize where the 

coaching conversation, or part of the conversation, 

has led. 

Checking in with the Coachee 

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During a coaching session, it really helps to 

confirm with coachees that the session is going 

well for them and that it’s covering what they want 

it to cover. 

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Coaching styles 

and models 

Coaching models and styles because this is very 

subjective. It’s good to be aware of your preferred 

default style, so that you can flex if needed as well 

as knowing the different types of coaching model. 

Oskar / Getting results by focusing on solutions. 

O utcome 

S cale 

K now-how 

A ffirm and action 

R eview 

Positive: Getting people excited about their goals. 

P urpose 

O bservations, 

S MART, 

I nsight 

T eam 

I nitiate 

V alue 

E ncourage 

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Practice: Finding the best solution to specific 

problems. 

P roblem 

R ealistic 

A lternative 

C onsider 

T arget 

C hosen 

E valuate. 

A good coach will make 

people see what they 

can be, rather than what 

they are. 

Grow: a simple process that brings structure to 

coaching. 

G oal 

R eality 

O ptions/obstacles 

W ill/way forward 

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Good coaching questions 

(and some not so good) 

Tip / Ask open questions. Why questions can also 

create defensiveness. You always want to maintain 

rapport with your clients and an atmosphere of safety 

and trust. 

So when you feel the urge to ask a why question, see if 

you can rephrase it to What is it about….. 

“Why are you upset about this?” Rephrase to: “What 

is it about this situation that upsets you or you find 

upsetting? 

? 

? 

? 

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Confusion ways to question 

Stacking 

Do you sometimes have so many questions to ask 

you just don’t know which one to ask first and so 

you decide to ask them all…. one after the other? 

Ask one question, let that question be heard 

and processed. It is important for you to be 

comfortable with silence and pause to allow your 

client to be with the question and allow their 

brilliance to shine. 

Convoluted 

Questions like: “How do you know that you are 

not a good writer because I heard you say that you 

have written lots of good articles and you know 

that writing articles is not one of your strengths but 

you did it, so what else might it be telling you about 

your ability to write well or even if you are a good 

writer and what if you could write well, what would 

you do differently?” - “huh?” 

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Rhetorical 

Are rhetorical questions the kind of questions 

you ask but don’t really want an answer? When 

you feel the urge for a rhetorical question coming 

on… STOP! Take a step back and self-manage 

your interpretation of the issue. 

Leading 

As a coach, you trust that your clients have the 

answer but how many times do you have the 

urge to just tell them what to do? Instead, you 

might just ask a question that might lead them 

to what you have in mind. 

Really trust that the client knows what to do and 

how to do it. Stay just with what the client is saying 

and ask your questions from there. Trust the 

coaching process and resist the urge to lead them 

in a certain direction. 

Close question 

Close-ended questions are limited and access only 

the left side of the brain to elicit a yes or no answer. 

To be brilliant at what you do, your questions have 

to be open-ended, empowering, powerful and 

thought provoking questions that probe, inspire, 

motivate and create greater self-awareness. 

It’s still a question, right? Yes, but not a very 

empowering one. Leading questions are just a 

clever way to direct the client’s thinking or 

perspective on an issue in the way that you 

think they should consider. The client hasn’t 

referenced it himself and you think it is just what 

he needs to do. 

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Remember! 

The key elements in this booklet may seem 

a little focused on ‘formal’ coaching, but the 

principles behind it all are that as a manager, 

adopting a coaching style with all your team 

will help you get the most out of them, as they 

will become used to finding the answers for 

themselves. 

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