🎙️ EP 77: Failing at Coaching

Let’s talk about FAILURE and COACHING. It’s a tricky and uncomfortable topic. It’s also so wide that I make this a 2-part episode and I will address 2 separate aspects: ‘Failing at Coaching’ and next week ‘Failing as a Coach’. Sounds similar, but the first is about the practice of coaching, while the latter is about succeeding professionally.
In this episode, I will share what it means to fail at the practice of coaching.
On a very basic level, coaching success can be measured in two ways: Outcome and Delivery.

What do I mean by that?

Outcome describes whether the coaching conversations helped the coachee achieve what they came for, i.e become a better delegator, manage own emotions better, etc. This is only partly in our control; we certainly influence it.

Delivery describes the coach’s ability to delivery the coaching process, i.e. listen well, ask powerful questions, share observations, invite accountability. etc. The advantage of this definition of failure/success it that it focuses on something that is completely in our control.

The main message? It’s more productive and helpful to define failure in the context of something we can control. It’s a vital mental health survival tool!