Yep! That’s the feedback I got tonight from an observer of my coaching style.
Along with about a dozen other coaches I was attending a meeting of the International Coaching Federation’s (ICF) Tokyo chapter. (That was a good turnout for a wet and cold Friday night.)
Get a bunch of coaches together and some are likely to start coaching each other – with consent, of course. I’d dread to see non-consensual coaching haha!
Anyway, we were doing some practice in one of the ICF’s 11 core coaching competencies. And tonight’s was all about “Setting The Foundation“.
In groups of three, we each had 1 minute(!) as a coach, a client and then as an observer. This was laser coaching at warp speed!
Unbeknown to our coaching groups at the time, there was another person who was observing the body language and facial expressions of each person while coaching.
She was taking notes too! And when our meeting organizer, Anthony, asked her to give helpful feedback on all of us… High drama ensued!
I’d no idea I would come across with a “majime-na kao” – or serious face 
But that’s what was seen and I’m grateful to know.
As far as “changing height” goes, it seems I was matching the height and posture of the practice client – yes, I know! In 60 seconds or less – must be all those NLP books haha!
As a freelancer I spend a lot of time on my own – with only a digital connection to writing and coaching clients. Yes, I can sometimes hear their voices. But it’s also very helpful (and a lot of fun!) to mix it up with a bunch of folks in person.
People who share a similar passion – and who really enjoy helping others improve.
Such is the beauty of coaching.
- Mark McClure
One Comment
Hi Mark – interesting story. You didn’t say whether the changing height behavior was a good thing or a bad thing. Which is it?