opportunities for coaches and coachees

KaterinaKanelidou

Coaching in !another language:!

KaterinaKanelidou,PCC

Introduc2on

Cancoachinginanotherlanguageprovideanopportunityforthecoach'smastery?Canitbeavehicleforthecoachee'sgrowth?Usually,whenwetalkaboutcoachinginanotherlanguagewefocusonthechallenges; how to be authen2c in a non na2ve language. We also talk about the opportuni2espresentedfromabusinessperspec2ve.Buthowcanitbeanopportunityformasteryandgrowth?

IamKaterinaKanelidou,aleadershipcoach,trainerandmentor.In2009IfoundedmyowncoachingandtrainingcompanyinGreeceanditwasverycleartomefromthebeginningthatIwantedtoworkglobally,withoutgeographicalorotherlimita2ons.Immediately,Istarted par2cipa2ng in interna2onal projects and since then, I coach, train andmentor people fromaround theworld. I also became associate director at Pivomo (UK based company), an associate atAsterys,amemberoftheHBRadvisorycouncilandamemberoftheglobalfacultyoftheInterna2onalCoachAcademy.

The ability to coach, train and mentor in English, Greek and Spanish brought many wonderfulopportuni2es.But thispresenta2on isnotabout thebusinessopportuni2es that coaching inanotherlanguagecanbring. It isaboutexploringtheopportuni2estogrowascoachesourselvesand increasetheeffec2venessofourcoachingconversa2ons.

KaterinaKanelidou

Duringmyowncoachingjourney,Idiscoveredthatcoachinginaforeignlanguagecangiveusmanyopportuni2esthatweprobablywouldn’thavewhencoachinginourna2velanguage.Butmaybethatwas my perspec2ve only. In order to test this assump2on, I did a survey consis2ng of twoques2onnaires:a)  Aques2onnaire for coacheswhocoachorhavecoached inanon-na2ve language (either theirs,

theircoachee's,orboth)b) Aques2onnaireforcoacheeswhohaveexperiencedorareexperiencingcoachinginanon-na2ve

language(eithertheirs,theircoach's,orboth)

TheresultsofthesurveywerepresentedattheInterna2onalCoachingConference“CoachingWorldWithoutBorders: ChangingYour CoachingMindset from Local To Interna<onal” (February 2017),withtheaimofexploringtheopportuni2esthatcoachinginanotherlanguagecanbringtothecoachandthecoacheeandtheeffec2venessoftheirworktogether.

46coachesand21coacheeswithexperienceincoachinginanon-na2velanguagepar2cipatedinthesurvey.Asummaryoftheresultsarepresentedinthefollowingpages.

Thesurvey

KaterinaKanelidou

46 coaches !Coaching in my native

language!

in a non-native language!

in my coaches’ native!language !

in my coachee’s !non-native language!

21 coachees!

Coached by non-native speaking!coach in native language !

Coached in my non-native!language!

Both coach and coachees are !non-native speakers!

KaterinaKanelidou

Percentage of coaches who reported that coaching in a foreign language has a positive impact on the core competencies: !

  Establishing the coaching agreement: 50%!  Establishing trust and intimacy: 52%!  Coaching presence: 63%!  Active listening: 80%!  Powerful questioning: 63%!  Direct communication: 65%!  Creating awareness: 59%!  Designing actions: 49%!  Planning and goal setting: 43%!  Managing progress and accountability: 41%!

KaterinaKanelidou

The coachees!

Establishingthecoachingagreement

• Thereisaneedtobeabsolutelyclear;weassumelessthecoachee’sunderstandingand“goeswithoutthinking”.

• Wepaymorea^en2ontothecontent,tothewordsandtermsthatweuse,wecheckunderstandingwiththecoachee.

• Allthatleadto:- aneaseinalignment- moreaccuratelyregulatedexpecta2ons- clarity- simpleandmemorableagreement

KaterinaKanelidou

How coaching in a foreign language has a positive impact on the ICF Core Competencies:

“If you want to do a good job in coaching

you must experience THIS challenge”

Establishingtrustandin<macy

Theclarityandthea^en2ongivenwhencrea2ngthecoachingagreement,alreadyhasanimpacton

trustbetweenthecoachandthecoachee.Addi2onally:

• Deepercuriosityandexplora2on.• Respecttothediversity.• Thecoachshowshis/hervulnerability.• Weestablishrapportnotonlywithwords,butalsowiththetoneofvoice,pace,allthenon-

verbalcues.

• Resourcefulinwaysofcommunica2on.

• Someclientsarerelievedtohaveacoachoutsidetheirculture

Theaboveleadto:

o Connec2onatadeeperlevel

o Addi2onalpowertotherela2onship

o Strongersenseofin2macyandtrust

o Safespacewherethecoacheeopensupfaster

o Lightness

o Reinforcedcoopera2on

KaterinaKanelidou

Coachingpresence

Coachesreportedthattheyaremoremindful,alert,focused,a^en2ve,engagedandconcentrated.Thereisan“extraeffort”fromthecoach’spart.Theyaremoreopentonotknowingandtappedtotheirintui2on.

Opportuni2esfor:- Be^erconnec2on- Lessdangeroffallingintorou2ne- Increasedlevelsofmindfulness- Coach’sdevelopment

Ac<velistening

• Ac2velisteningtoolsaremoreconsciouslyapplied:paraphrasing,rephrasing(whichbecomesnatural),summarizing,reflec2ngandcheckingunderstanding.• Coachesaskmoreandassessless.• Theylistenatmorelevels:whatissaidandwhatisnotsaid,bodylanguage,emo2ons,energy;beliefs;theylistenforintentratherthanrelyingonassump2ons(“whichhappenswhenbothna6vespeakers”).• Thereisanefforttolistenandunderstandindepth.

Opportuni2es:- Clarifica2onisswigerandeasier(contrarytothebeliefthatitwouldbeharder)- Morefocus,asitislesseasytohavethemindstartwondering- Elimina2onofchit-chatfromthecoachee.He/shegoestothebo^om–lined- Culturaldistancethatbringslessassump2ons,prejudiceandjudgment

KaterinaKanelidou

Powerfulques<oning

• Ques2onsaremoreclean,open,simpler,shorterandmoreprecise(“lesswords,extraa;en6onforchoiceofwords”)• Ques2onsaretothepoint,cukng-through.• Mindfuloftheculturaldiversity,ques2onschallengethecoachee’sbeliefsandframesofreferenceinacuriousandrespeclulway.

Reminders/Learning:1.Theeffec2venessofKISS(keepitsupersimple)2.Lesscouldbemore3.Toadoptthesamestancewiththeotherclients

Directcommunica<on

• Notonlytheques2onsaremoreclearandprecise,buttheoverallcommunica2onaswell.• Languageusedisthoughlullyselectedandclearer.• Coacheshaveincreasedawarenessoftheimpactofourwordsandusemoredirectvocabulary.• Thelimita2oninwords(“whenwedon’tspeakperfectlyalanguage”)makesthecoachortheclienttospeakdirectly,withoutany“decora6ons”.• Coachesstepoutofculturalcodesandbringmoreobjec2vity.• Theytalkless.• Givemorespacetotheclient.• Communica2onflows.

Reminder/Learning:“Nottofoolaroundeveninthena6velanguage”

KaterinaKanelidou

Crea<ngawareness

• Coachesgetoutofthewaymore,allowingthecoacheethespaceforawarenesstoemerge.• Asthereflec2onismoreintenseinsearchingpreciseexpressionofideasandfeelings,wethinkmore.• Culturaldiversity(“foreign”perspec2ve)–eventheuseofaforeignlanguagebythecoachee–helpsseethingsfromdifferentpointofviews,andfacilitatesawareness.• Thea^en2onatthenon-verbalcommunica2onandthelisteningfortheenergy,thetoneofvoice,etc,makesiteasytodetectincongruences.

Opportunity:broaderawareness

Designingac<ons

• Withtheawarenessthat“wordscreateworlds”thingsarear2culatedcarefullywhendesigningac2onstoo.• Moreclaritycheckingofdifferentop2ons,choosingstepsandfindingownway.• Simpler,bolder,andstraighlorwardac2ons.• Increasedcommitment.• Take2metofindoutwhatisculturallyacceptableandtheimpactonothers.• Keepitsimpleworksverywellheretoo.

“We become a true apprentice of our coachee’s mental map.”

KaterinaKanelidou

PlanningandgoalseGng

• Simpler,directgoals,clearlydefinedandexplored.• Datesaremorefocused,asbothcoachandcoacheetendtobeprecise.• Intui2onispresentheretoo.Coachesfacilitatetheprocessandtheunderstandingofitwithintui2onandsimplelanguage.• Easierforthecoacheetoowntheac2ons.Thecommitmentisincreased.• Culturalawarenessandsensi2vityarepresentwhenexploringandcrea2ngaplan.

Managingprogressandaccountability

• Simplerlists,lessexcuses• Clarityonaccountability• Easiertoexpressitinaforeignlanguage• Payingmorea^en2on• Higherintui2on

“Working with people from other countries and cultures, gives us the opportunity to see that we are not so different after all. As we

build trust, our shared human experience becomes more apparent to both parties and the differences become a source of interest.

And, through one another, we learn more about ourselves”

KaterinaKanelidou

KaterinaKanelidou

The coachees!

KaterinaKanelidou

•  Letgooffbiases(1)•  Belessemo2onallya^achedandgolessdeep(1)•  Diversity(1)•  Urgesmetofeelunderstood(1)•  Feeldifferentemo2onsorthesameemo2onsinadifferentway(1)

Letgooflongdescriptions-bemoretothepoint

Bemoreauthentic

Bemorecreative/resourcefulPaymoreattentiontothewordsused,

whichcreatesnewawareness

Increaseemotionalintelligence

Increaseculturalawareness

Breakfromfamiliarthoughtprocesses

Other*

Coaching in another language allows the coachee to:!

Other:

Benefits and advantages of being coached in another language:

•  Letgotheperfec2onism.

•  Anothertypeofthinking;bemoreopen.

•  Improvedcommunica2onskills.

•  Paya^en2ontothenonverbalcommunica2on.

•  MoreclaritytoexpresswhatIwant;nomeandering.

•  Easiertoexpressoneself:therearenewwaystoexpressfeelings;lessemo2onalbondthanwhenusingmyna2velanguage.

•  Beenintroducedtonewwordsthatrevealnewvaluesanddifferentthinking.

•  Tobemoreawareofpossibleperspec2vesofferedduetoculturenorms.

•  Apossibilitytounderstanddiversity.

•  To have a brilliant Coach; I get the possibility toworkwith an experienced coach from anothercountry.

KaterinaKanelidou

“It is like swimming under water with

goggles rather than swimming in water with the sight above.”

• I think I cangetdifferent feedbackand insights thatarenoteasy togetwhenyou share thesameculturewithsomeone.

• WhenIamcoachedbysomeonefromanothercountry,he/shecanbemoreobjec2ve.

• Tofindnewopportuni2es,tohaveanotherview,tobemorecrea2ve.

• Imademorepersonalefforttogetthemaximumbenefitoutofeachsession.

• Thedifference inthemeaningof foreignwordstriggersa^emptsat transla2onwhichenlightenandsensi2sewordsinmyna2velanguagethatIsome2mesdonotrealisethedepthandbreadthof.

• Becomeawareofadifferentthinkingprocessandapproach.

• It seems as if you are thinking in both languages and switching fromone idea to another tomakeyourselfunderstood.Yourbrainismoreac2vatedandyoufeelmorealiveineverythingyouexpress.

• Workinginaforeignlanguagehashelpedmetoenhancemyselfconfidence.

KaterinaKanelidou

In2008,whenIdecidedthatIwantedtoreceiveaformaleduca2onandcer2fica2onincoaching,Ihadtoovercomeafewobstacles.Thegreatestonewaslanguage:myEnglishwasbasicandthelanguageatthe academywhere Iwanted to studywas English. I became a learner again, pursuing an advancedcer2fica2on inEnglish languageat thesame2meas thecoachingcer2fica2on.Thismeantthat Ialsoexperiencedtheinsecuri2esandstrugglesofcoachinginalanguagethatIwasnotatallgoodat(yet).Inthisjourney,Idiscoveredthatitwasactuallyeasierformetocoachsomeoneinanotherlanguageandthat,asaclient,Ienjoyedcoachingmorethaninmyna2velanguage.

Today,Iinvitemystudents–whoexperiencethesameinsecuritiesIhadinthebeginning–tolookatitfrom another perspec2ve: how our coaching conversa2ons can becomemore in2mate, deeper andeffec2vebecauseoftheuseofanon-na2velanguage.

Thesurveyallowedmetotestthisassump2on.Maybeinthefuturewewillhavetheopportuni2estoexplore themagnificent things thathappen inourbrain (and soul)whenweare in this spacewhereculturesandlanguagesmergeandformacommonalliancebetweenthecoachandthecoachee.Andmaybewecantestanotherassump2on:thatcoacheswhohavetheexperienceofcoaching inanon-na2velanguagebenefitfromtheadvantageofimprovedculturalcompetency.

KaterinaKanelidou

Epilogue

KaterinaKanelidou

katerina@6stepsahead.com!@KatKanelidou!

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