Structured Coach: Silence

You ask a question, and the coachee goes quiet. Five seconds. Ten. What happens inside you? Michelle begins a new week of Five Levels in Real Coaching Conversations by walking one silent coaching moment through all five levels. The coachee is successful, respected, and secure, and she isn’t sure she wants another five years of the same work. When the coach asks, “What do you want instead?” she goes silent. At Level 1, the Structured Coach can feel the process stall and rush to fill the space with more questions, examples, and options. Michelle explores how what feels like helping issometimes the coach easing their own discomfort, why progress can be happening internally even when the conversation looks still, and how to give the originalquestion a chance to work. She offers simple ways to check in with a coachee who is truly stuck without replacing the question, and invites listeners to notice what silence activates in them. Have a question or a coaching moment you’d like Michelle to explore on the podcast? Email [email protected]. Ready to grow more comfortable with the quiet moments that matter most in coaching? Join us for the Grow By 1 Coaching Academy starting in January. Learn more atCA.GrowBy1.com. Reflection Questions What happens inside me when a coachee goes silent after a question? When have I filled a silence with more questions, examples, or explanations, and whose discomfort was I easing? What might a coachee be thinking, feeling, or connecting during a silence that I cannot see? How long can I comfortably wait after asking a question, and what would help me wait a little longer? How could I check in with a coachee who seems stuck without replacing the original question?