The Coach and Coachee relationship
The relationship between the Coach and the Coachee is founded on the Coach being non-directive. This is based on the principle that when ideas come from the clients themselves, rather than the Coach or Mentor’s suggestions, that they then own them and therefore, will be more likely to change them (Richardson, 2004). There may be times when Coaching verges into Mentoring, or vice-versa, but this should still not have the directive approach of: ‘this is what I think you should do’. Offering guidance, in general, should remain under the Mentoring umbrella, along with giving advice and instruction (100% telling them what to do).
Hawkins & McMahon (2020) outline the importance for the Coach or Mentor of never knowing first or best, but also
never withholding information which might be useful. For example, a Coach might sometimes ask if it is ok to offer their Coachee a suggestion, but only if they are sure that they have exhausted all of the options. It might be offered as something to consider as opposed to being the first or only thing they offer to their client. The spectrum of Coaching skills from ‘non-directive’ to ‘directive’ is highlighted below in Downey’s 2014
diagram below:
The Spectrum of Coaching Skills
The nature of being non-directive is not the same as being non-directional: i.e. moving towards options, solutions or outcomes. The idea is that the space between Coach
and Coachee is a free one where there are no right answers, where it is also acceptable to sit with the feeling of discomfort of not knowing, and this can be the case for both the Coach and Coachee. Traditionally, people have developed problem-solution
based skills, but in this environment, it is not the role of the Coach to solve the problem, but to park their knowledge and experience, hold a client in a person-centered space
in Unconditional Positive Regard (Rogers, 1959), and support them while they lead the session in using their own creativity and resourcefulness to find out for themselves.
©Fiona Wilson Coaching. All rights reserved.
We need your consent to load the translations
We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details and accept the service to view the translations.