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Running Head: THE ROLE OF REFLECTION 1

The Role of Reflection in New Coach Practice

Eric N. Reeves

George Mason University

THE ROLE OF REFLECTION 2

Table of Contents

Abstract 3

Introduction 5

Conceptual Framework and Literature Review 6

Research Questions 11

Method 11

Results 15

Limitations and Validity 19

Discussion and Self-Critique 20

References 22

Appendix A: Analytic Memos 26

Appendix B: Informed Consent Form 29

Appendix C: Interview Questions 30

Appendix D: Transcript from Interview of Coach 1 31

Appendix E: Transcript from Interview of Coach 2 39

Appendix F: Transcript from Interview of Coach 3 50

Appendix G: Transcript from Interview of Coach 4 58

Appendix H: Transcript from Interview of Coach 5 67

Appendix I: Coding of Coach 1 Interview Transcript 77

Appendix J: Coding of Coach 2 Interview Transcript 83

Appendix K: Coding of Coach 3 Interview Transcript 87

Appendix L Coding of Coach 4 Interview Transcript 90

Appendix M: Coding of Coach 5 Interview Transcript 93


Abstract

A key factor in mastering the skills of developmental coaching is the coach’s ability to be

reflective of his or her role in the coaching process and make adjustments within and for

subsequent coaching sessions. This study employed semi-structured interviews of five

developmental coaches to identify if this attribute is present in new coaches. Participants were

recent graduates of a coaching certification program and were coaching professionally or

transitioning to full-time coaching. The results of the study indicated new coaches employed

reflective practices, and also highlighted the use of introspection and intuition as valuable tools

in the process. The results of this study provide the basis for a more in-depth longitudinal study

of the topic to determine best practices for mastering coaching skills.

Key words: coach, coaching, reflection, intuition, introspection, strengths, strengths-based, self-

awareness, personal development, growth, leadership, self-leadership, self-development,

reflective practice


The Role of Reflection in New Coach Practice

The use of coaching methodologies as a means of improving personal and professional

performance and development has increased significantly over the past two decades (Theeboom,

Beersma, & van Vianen, 2013). A parallel growth in the literature on coaching has occurred,

expanding from 93 articles written between 1937 and 1999 to a collection of 634 articles by 2011

(Grant, 2013). This rapid growth in a field that lacks an officially recognized regulating body

raises questions about the actual effectiveness of coaching. In order to develop coaching into a

more broadly recognized and accepted discipline, practitioners and researchers have taken an

evidenced-based approach that reflects better decisions, practices and outcomes (Drake, 2011).

Within this evidence-based context, this study was conducted to examine the practices of new

coaches and compareing their exhibited attributes to those of master coaches. This information

can help develop coaching skills earlier in a coach’s career and make them more effective in

applying these skills for the benefit of their clients.

A search of APA PsychNET, EBSCO Host, ProQuest, and Google Scholar disclosed

numerous studies that illustrated the rapid evolution of developmental coaching and the

expanding body of empirical evidence for coaching’s effectiveness. The establishment of the

International Coach Federation (ICF) in 1995 brought a greater degree of legitimacy and helped

to establish coaching as a legitimate discipline. Using the American Medical Association as a

model, the ICF established a set of core competencies and developed a code of ethics to which

ICF members agree to adhere. Membership in the ICF now exceeds 20,000 members (ICF,

2014).

My interest in developmental coaching was the result of a convergence of factors, the

most prominent being a longtime interest in experiencing and facilitating personal and

Kaitlin Oyler, 11/17/14,

Of literature?


I’m not great with colons and semi-colons, but I think you need one here : )


What is a master coach?


Not sure what you mean by this.


Not sure this part is necessary. This is also surprising! There is no professional association for coaches??


professional growth. During my PhD studies I was exposed to the use of coaching as both an

instructional methodology and as a means for individual development. This topic integrates into

my larger research agenda addressing transformational, developmental, and leadership coaching.

There are numerous specialties and niches in coaching, but these represent my personal goals,

practical goals, and intellectual/scholarly goals respectively (Maxwell, 2013). In this context, I

refer to the International Coach Federation (ICF) definition of coaching as “partnering with

clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal

and professional potential.” In order to obtain the greatest value from this discipline, I enrolled

in an ICF–accredited coach certification program and became a Certified Professional Coach.

My training was conducted by cadre from the Institute for Professional Excellence in

Coaching (iPEC). Students first learn the foundational skills and techniques of being a

professional coach and then choose a niche or specialty area, such as business, life, relationship,

wellness, etc., for their continued practice. The eight-month program required 24 hours of

individual coaching, 24 hours of group coaching, and six sessions of coaching with an

experienced mentor coach. With this depth of immersion into the topic, I experienced positive

results in my personal, professional, and academic lives from the depth of immersion into the

topic. I was also influenced in this direction by exposure to the Center for the Advancement of

Well-Being at George Mason University, through both the Well-Being Conferences and related

programs sponsored by the Center.

As a result of this experience, I recognized that coaching can be effective in helping

people progress toward their personal and professional goals. The research literature on coaching

continues to expand, reflecting greater interest from businesses and individuals and helping to

further legitimize the field. Another belief I have about coaching is that the discipline should be


You kind of already said this above in the beginning of your paper. Not sure it’s needed here.


Should you write this in past tense?


maybe move this up and include it earlier in your paper


more tightly regulated. People are drawn to coaching for various reasons. One of the reasons is

that people feel they, and many provide a valuable and effective service to their clients through

coaching. Nevertheless, some choose to pursue this profession because it foregoes the time and

expense of getting a degree in counseling, psychotherapy, or a related field. While those who

take this approach are in the minority, they do exist and tend to diminish the reputations and

legitimacy of the many coaches who are devoted to providing a service to their clients.

The focus for my research project is on how coaches use the attribute of self-reflection as

a tool to develop mastery of coaching skills. The most effective coaches are those who have a

commitment to their own self-development as well as the development of their clients (Welch et

al., 2014). By using the coaching discourse as a vehicle for self-examination and reflection, the

coach develops greater awareness of his or her own strengths, as well as biases. “Self-awareness

is not a destination point, but rather an emerging process where one continually comes to

understand his or her unique talents, strengths, sense of purpose, core values, and beliefs”

(Avolio & Gardner, 2005, p.324).

Conceptual Framework and Literature Review

Coaching continues to grow in popularity because people today want and expect to be

able to do more to fulfill their dreams and goals, and a coach is committed to a client’s

advancement in these areas. At the individual level, these goals may be mental, emotional,

financial, or spiritual. Within a business, a successfully implemented organizational program

retains people and avoids costly recruitment and retraining. In large organizations, where

technical managers reach higher levels of leadership primarily based on their technical

competencies, engagement in internal coaching may also help in the development of leadership

competencies (Mukherjee, 2012).


Any citations here or is this reflection from personal experience?


I’m pretty sure APA style requires you anchor your quotes in a sentence. Maybe say Avolio and Gardner state that “self-awareness….” Or use another lead in to your quote so it is situated in something.


interesting!


Just a suggestion on a reword here.


Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework for this study draws from recent research in strengths-based

coaching (Welch, Grossaint, Reid, and Walker, 2014; MacKie, 2014; Linley, 2013).

Developmental coaching is a point of convergence for a broad spectrum of disciplines including

education, management science, and various sub-disciplines of psychology such as

psychotherapy, sports psychology, and clinical psychology. The recent literature focused on

strengths-based coaching falls at the intersection of humanistic psychology, positive psychology,

and eudemonic philosophy (“human flourishing”) (Linley, 2013).

Welch, et al. (2014) conducted a qualitative study of strengths-based leadership coaching

and found that four key themes emerged among those people identified as “master” coaches:

strengths development is intrinsically motivating and energizing,

strengths develop through relationships,

expert strengths work does not ignore a leader’s blind spots, and

helping others develop hinges on a coach’s attitudes about his or her own development

It is within this latter theme that an intersection of development occurs for both coach and

client. Master coaches have a commitment to their own authenticity and self-development, and

being on a path of self-development serves as an impetus to convince their clients to join them.

Across a continuum, this capability forms the basis of a client’s development from leading self

(affecting positive change within themselves) to leading an enterprise. This coaching continuum

is illustrated in Figure 1:


Figure 1: A Coaching Continuum

Literature Review

Historical rReview.

The use of the word “coach” has origins in both sports and education. Within an

educational context, it was first used in the 1840s at Oxford University to refer to a private tutor

for students preparing for exams (Evered & Selman, 1989). In the 1880s, it was used to describe

the individual in charge of training a rowing crew and later became the standard nomenclature

for any training responsible for improving the athletic performance of individuals or teams

(Hagen, 2012). By the early 1900s, thinkers within the field of scientific management began to

see coaching as a set of specific managerial activities that could elicit positive attributes from

employees (Feldman & Lankau, 2005).

The literature on management coaching subsequently diverged to form two primary

streams of thought. While both continued to focus on the role coaching played in improving job

performance through the coach-client interface, a distinction began to emerge between executive

coaching and the use of the manager-as-coach. Within this context, the executive typically

received coaching from an externally hired professional or from among internal cadre of

coaches, while the manager or supervisor performed these functions for those personnel assigned

to him or her (Joo, 2005). In many cases, these approaches to coaching were based on a “deficit


If these are your third headings then they should be formatted like this. I didn’t change the others just in case you wanted to keep it this way!


model,” an intervention to correct defective behaviors in otherwise promising employees (Kets

de Vries, 1989).

Allenbaugh (1983) first introduced the idea of coaching as a positive, on-going, face-to-

face process in which “the manager and employee collaborate to assist in achieving: increased

job knowledge; improved skills in carrying out job responsibilities; higher level of job

satisfaction; a stronger, more positive working relationship; and opportunities for personal and

professional growth” (p. 23). This idea largely shifted some of the responsibility for personnel

development from the human resource manager to the line of business manager and produced

both positive and negative outcomes. Positive aspects of this shift included greater opportunities

for development from a wider range of employees, long-term institutional development,

improved quality of developmental activities, and improved performance of the managers

themselves (Gibb, 2003). The negative features included the requirement for line managers to

learn the coaching methodologies detracted from their time working, those who did not devote

the time were underprepared for their role as coach, the marginalization of human resources

professionals and other training and development specialists, and the potential negative impact of

the coach-client role on the manager-employee relationship (Gibb, 2003).

Coaching Theory

As coaching has grown as a profession, it has drawn its theoretical underpinnings from

numerous professions. Practitioners are often faced with having to clearly distinguish the role

and expectations of coaching from those intended outcomes of training, mentoring, supervising,

and therapy (Bloom, Castanga, Moir, & Warren, 2005). Kempster& Iszatt (2013) identified six

major sources of theoretical basis that most inform coaching interventions: psychodynamic;

behaviorist; person centered; cognitive; systems oriented; and solution-focused coaching. More


experienced coaches tend to drawn from those disciplines that have a longer and more extensive

tradition of research such as psychotherapy and management development (DeHaan, Culpin, &

Curd, 2011).

Research on educational and organizational change shows that the change process is

characterized by a variety of ‘predictable’ obstacles, one of the most significant being the

absence of leadership (Pettigrew, Woodman, & Cameron, 2002). A review of the literature

identifies coaching as an effective methodology for developing leadership skills, enhancing well-

being, and facilitating goal attainment within organizational settings (Diedrich, 1996). Grant,

Green, & Rynssardt (2010) found that participation in a developmental coaching program was

associated with significant reductions in passive/defensive and aggressive/defensive leadership

styles and significant improvement in constructive leadership styles.

Coaching Practice

The typical client is drawn to coaching due to a desire to move themselves forward in

their personal or professional lives. For some it is an element of a lifelong pursuit for continuous

improvement and personal excellence (Kets de Vries, 2014). Others are looking to improve their

abilities to the point of expertise, and seek out coaches who are capable of giving constructive,

even painful, feedback (Peltier, 2001). This distinguishes them from a client of a counselor or

psychologist in a clinical setting, whose efforts are focused on making a person functional (Kets

de Vries, 1989). Clients at the executive level value coaching for the convenience, the

personalization, the targeting of specific skill gaps, and the sense of trust and engagement that

other counseling and learning efforts may not provide (Kalman, 2014).

In literature on self-awareness, good coaching had as much to do with knowing oneself as

does did having good leadership skills (Welch et al., 2014). This research illustrates that self-


or you can make this present tense to match if you want


awareness is associated with higher levels of competence and performance (Church, 1997;

Moshavi, Brown, & Dodd, 2003), consciousness of how to use presence in organizational change

process (Higgs & Rowland, 2010), and greater development of authenticity in leadership (Avolio

& Gardner, 2005). When developing as a coach, it is important to develop personal knowledge,

maturity, and wisdom through reflective practices (Drake, 2012). One way we facilitate the

growth of the client as a leader is to participate in the growth experience ourselves (Cavanagh &

Palmer, 2009).

Research Questions

This study was conducted to gain a better understanding of how coaches use the act of

reflection to develop their coaching skills. Specific research questions are:

1. What skills and aptitudes does the coach bring to the coaching experience?

2. How does the coach use reflection of the coaching experience for professional

improvement?

MethodResearch Setting

Interviews were conducted in multiple settings in northern Virginia, where four of the

five participants lived. The common requirements were relatively quiet locations, where the

interview would not be interrupted, and in a location that would be most convenient to the

interviewee. Coach 1 was interviewed in a private room of a local dining facility; coaches 2 and

4 were interviewed in their homes (at their request); the interview of coach 3 was conducted in a

car in Alexandria, VA, half way between our respective homes; and coach 5, who lives in New

Jersey, was interviewed telephonically.

Participants


haha! oh my gosh, how was this?


Participants were all graduates of a coach certification program conducted by the Institute

for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC), and responded to an e-mail solicitation

requesting assistance with this research project. Four of the participants were recent graduates

with approximately 60-80 hours of professional coaching experience. Once coach had

approximately 120 hours of professional coaching experience and had obtained the International

Coach Federation (ICF) certification level of Associate Certified Coach (ACC). Participants’

ages ranged from 30-55; one coach was male and four coaches were female.

Relationships

I was acquainted with all five participants through the iPEC coach certification program.

Three of the participants and I were in the same cohort for the eight-month training program.

One of the participants helped facilitate two of our three weekend training modules. The fifth

participant and I were acquainted through our involvement in an Executive Coaching special

interest group that convened via teleconference during ten weekly ninety-minute sessions.

Data Collection

Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with primary open-ended interview

questions and secondary open-ended prompts. Interview questions were previously reviewed by

a critical friends team that provided comments and suggestions for improvement. A 45-minute

pilot interview was conducted telephonically with a certified professional coach who met the

same criteria as the study participants. The pilot interview provided to opportunity to test the

questions and refine them based on the pilot participant’s responses. The pilot participant

provided verbal consent for the recording of the interview session.

Prior to conducting each of the interviews, the purpose of the study was explained to the

participants and each signed an informed consent form (Appendix B). Interviews were recorded


during sessions that lasted 45-60 minutes. Coach 5 provided verbal consent to record the

interview prior to starting recording, and again after recording was initiated to ensure informed

consent was appropriately documented. All interviews were recorded with a Zoom H2n Handy

Recorder digital recorder, transferred to a password protected database, and then erased from the

digital recorder. Interviews were transcribed using NCH Express Scribe Transcription Software

and an Infinity USB Digital Foot Control. Interviews were transcribed (Appendices D-H) within

three days of being conducted to facilitate accuracy. Analytic memos were prepared immediately

after the interviews, as well as during the transcription process. A summary of interview dates,

locations, and duration of interviews is provided in Table 1.

Table 1. Summary of Interview Dates, Locations, and Duration of Interviews

Interviewee Date Location Time DurationCoach 1 October 8, 2014 Lake Ridge, VA 6:19-7:04 am 45 minutesCoach 2 October 12, 2014 Woodbridge, VA 9:27-10:18 am 51 minutesCoach 3 October 23, 2014 Arlington, VA 7:18-8:00 pm 42 minutesCoach 4 October 26, 2014 Alexandria, VA 9:02-10:04 am 62 minutesCoach 5 October 26, 2014 Telephonic, NJ 8:07-9:08 pm 61 minutes

Data Analysis

During transcription, key words and phrases emerged. As these key words and phrases

were confirmed as being relevant to the study, or to revealing additional factors, they were

further refined and used for the subsequent cycles of coding. This record of emergent codes

helped ensure consistency and accuracy during the coding of interview transcripts, and assisted

in the development of categories and subcategories (Saldana, 2013)

First Cycle coding consisted of rereading the transcription and underlining words and

phrases that represented summative, salient, or essence-capturing attributes of the interviews

(Saldana, 2013). I adhered relatively closely to the Richards and Morse (2007) guidance, “If it


Maybe say more here. How did you confirm these?


Any reason why you highlighted this one? Because it was via phone, right? Maybe say that.


moves, code it,” (p. 146) (as cited in Saldana, 2013). Additional key words and concepts that

emerged from this process were added to the Codebook. These words and phrases were then

transferred In Vivo (to keep data rooted in participants’ language) to tables for further analysis. I

used the Ccodebook during this transfer process, deleted previously underlined words and

phrases that no longer seemed relevant to the study, and combined previously separated words

and phrases where doing so helped to clarify and enhance the meaning of the concepts. This

transfer and review process represented Second Cycle coding.

During Third Cycle coding, the results of First and Second Cycle coding were further

collapsed for development into categories. These categories are reflected in Table 2

Table 2: Coaching Studies Categories

Coaching as a Discipline Recognition of coaching, coaching standards, coaching niches and specialties

Coach Attributes: reflection, introspection, intuition Skills: centering, mindfulness; acknowledging, questioning, validating, accountability;

self-coachingClient Attributes

Agenda GAILs (Note: iPEC terminology): “gremlins,” assumptions, interpretations, limiting

beliefsCoaching Relationship

Shared attributes: authenticity, openness, trust, curiosity Coaching cycle: current state, critical incident, reflection, introspection, vision, goal,

action steps, outcomes Outcomes: development, growth


You capitalized this above


mention this above so you can say Codebook here and have readers know what it is you are talking about


Results

Analysis of data indicates that new coaches use reflective practices to develop their

coaching skills. This is congruent with the results of the study by Welch et al. (2014) who

interviewed master coaches and determined that reflection played a significant role in the

development of their coaching skills. Participants identified introspection and intuition as two

additional attributes that played a significant role in their decisions to become coaches, as well as

during their coaching sessions. The data also disclosed shared attributes and a dynamic that

occurs between the coach and client. This relationship is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2: The Coaching Dynamic


Coaching as a Discipline

All participants experienced some type of critical incident that contributed to their

decision to become coaches. In some cases, it was the realization that they wanted to make

changes in their own lives. I other cases, it was a participant’s experience with some else that led

him or her seek out ways to help their “client” through a situation. Coach 2 and Coach 5

expressed interest in psychology or psychotherapy, viewing these disciplines as the most

appropriate to helping others, but didn’t want the “heaviness” of dealing with dysfunctional

people. As they became more familiar with the field of coaching and the ability to move

functional people toward higher degrees of life and career satisfaction, they recognized coaching

as the career field that allowed them to do this.

Once the participants became aware of the coaching career field, they conducted research

to learn more about the process and methodologies. They found that the International Coach

Federation (ICF) was the most widely accepted accrediting body and identified the Institute for

Professional Excellence in Caching (iPEC) as one of the most highly regarded training programs.

Recognizing the value of the coaching credential, all participants enrolled in and completed the

iPEC training and certification program.

Coach Attributes

Participants demonstrated numerous attributes that contributed to successful coaching

experiences and, as the focus of this study, all acknowledged the role that reflection played in

their coaching practice. Reflection and self-reflection were perceived as providing the participant

with insight into themselves and the coaching relationship, and served to provide a vehicle for

generating positive change in their approach to working with client issues. Participants also


Is there any way you can incorporate quotes here that illustrate your findings?


Are these your themes? Maybe state them in the above paragraph and use them as a roadmap for where you are headed with this section


identified introspection and intuition as equally valuable attributes that, along with reflection,

served as a triumvirate for effective coaching experiences.

Coach Skills

Coach skills are distinguished from coach attributes by their acquisition or development

through the coach training and practice. Participants prepared for a coaching session by

centering themselves and bringing their attention to the client and the coaching relationship.

Through the coaching session, participants strived to keep their minds focused on the client and

engaged in questioning, acknowledging and validating their clients. They worked with clients to

identify goals and action steps and then held them accountable, nonjudgmentally, for the

accomplishment of their action steps. Participants found that their ability to improve their

coaching skills allowed them to self-coach, achieving their goals in the same manner in which

they guided their clients.

Client Attributes

Clients often choose to enter in a coaching relationship as a result of their “gremlins,”

assumptions, interpretations, and limiting beliefs (GAILs). These attributes are those that are the

most common impediments to clients achieving their goals or living to their full potential.

Participants were unanimous in their description of the coaching process as being focused on the

client’s agenda. Clients choose how much to reveal, the direction they want to take the session,

and whether or not they choose to be held accountable for any action steps they decide up on

during the coaching session.

Shared Attributes

Several attributes emerged from the data analysis that applied to both participants and

clients - authenticity, openness, trust, and curiosity. These attributes were identified as being


what is this all about?


essential to an effective coaching relationship. Participants’ acknowledgment of these shared

attributes also explained the ability of participants to better identify with clients issues, reflect on

them, and coach themselves toward personal growth and development.

Coaching Relationship

Participants’ description of the coaching process revealed a sequence of events that

applied equally well to their journey as coaches, as to the client’s journey in moving forward in

their lives. These events included current state, critical incident, reflection, introspection, vision,

goal, action steps, and outcomes (development and growth).

Current state. The current state is the present set of circumstances of an individual.

Critical incident. A critical incident is one that has significance for an individual.

Reflection. Reflection is the initial awareness of the client’s current state and the

dissonance that has been created by the critical incident.

Introspection. Introspection is an examination of one’s own beliefs, values, attitudes or

behavior.

Vision. A vision is the picture or idea an individual has in mind for their future growth

and development.

Goal. A goal is the desired result that an individual plans and commits to achieving.

Action steps. An action step is the specific, tangible effort an individual makes to reach

his or her goals.

Outcomes (growth and development). An outcome is a positive result or consequence

of the coaching process. Participants described outcomes that can be classified as growth (a

quantitative increase in skills and abilities) or development (a qualitative improvement of

attitudes and perceptions).


this part seems a bit awkward - possibly reword?


Limitation and Validity Issues

A major limitation to this study was the small sample size, which was necessitated due to

the limited time available to complete the research. Maxwell (2013) points out that “qualitative

studies have an implicit quantitative component” (p. 128). A larger sample size would allow for

greater validity and confidence in the study results. A sample size of 5 participants makes it

difficult to generalize the results to a wider audience. The short timeframe available also

impacted the extent to which Rich Data could be gathered for increasing the validity of the study

(Maxwell, 2013). Although the verbatim transcripts provided a good baseline and more accurate

capturing of data than pure observation and field note would have, there were several areas that I

would have liked to do follow-up interviews to delve further into coach qualities, motivations,

and predispositions for entering into the coaching discipline.

In conjunction with the sample size, greater consideration and selection of the

demographics and coaching focus would have provided additional clarity to the study. This

became apparent early in the interview process when the coaching focus of Coach 1(male, age

49, leadership coaching niche) contrasted with that of Coach 2 (female, age 30, life coaching

niche, heavy emphasis on intuition). I don’t believe this impacted the results of the study in that

both identified self-reflectivity as an important part of coach growth and development; however,

I was inclined to add two additional participants who were also practicing life coaching in order

to provide greater validity to the results.

Another issue of validity was that of researcher bias and reactivity. My familiarity with,

and pre-conceptions of, both coaching and the participants are factors that could have impacted

the study outcomes. I was very familiar with the terminology, methodologies, and processes

used by iPEC in training and application to professional coaching situations. This knowledge


Not sure what you mean by this


So these are all findings? Maybe using a visual representation here would be helpful for the reader


assisted in my understanding of participant comments, but I had to guide against guiding them to

a particular answer or “filling in the blanks” when a when a question was not addressed with the

detail desired for the study. Long-term involvement, rich data, and respondent validation

(Maxwell, 2013) would all have assisted in increase the confidence in the outcomes and

conclusions of this study

Discussion and Self-Critique

My goal for this study was to determine if the quality of reflection exhibited by master

coaches (Welch et al., 2013) was an attribute of coaches new to the career field. As a fairly

“newly minted” coach myself, I had a personal interest in the results for my own improvement,

but even more broadly, I saw this as an area that could be incorporated into coach training

programs for the development of more effective and efficient coaches. However, the results also

raise a “nature versus nurture” question, that is, do people inclined to become coaches already

possess the ability to be reflective/self-reflective, and to what extent does coach training develop

this attribute? Having focused on new coaches, this research also provides a baseline or model

for a longitudinal study to determine how these skills continue to develop in the study

participants.

It became apparent that other factors influenced coach development and successful

coaching interventions as I conducted and transcribed the interviews. The original research by

Welch et al. (2013) identified multiple areas that helped develop mastery in coaching, of which

reflectively was the single coach attribute listed. Participant interviews for this study disclosed

several attribute and skills, such as centering, mindfulness, intuition, and reflection, which they

felt were significant to the coaching process. This did not negatively negate the study, in fact, it

provide richer information as to the broader application reflection has in the coaching process;


Put citation here so sentence flows better?


you capitalized this above


use the guide twice here


however; a “do-over” of this study would include the assessment of a wider range of coach

attributes and skills.

Finally, my own reflection of this research process reveals how much I have learned

during this past semester. The analogy that comes most readily to mind is that of putting together

a puzzle without using the picture to assist. Our curiosity memo, researcher identity memo,

research proposal, and other assignments each contributed a piece of the puzzle. I now have a

better picture of the qualitative research process and even though I look at my earlier

submissions and ask myself “what was I thinking?” I feel better prepared to use qualitative

research methodologies


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Appendix A

Analytic Memos

In developing the interview questions, it became more apparent that self-awareness is a

subjective concept and a more tangible metric or measure was required to gauge self-awareness.

I selected reflection, the action, as a precursor of self-awareness, the state of being. The level of

reflection I gauged through direct responses from interviewees to questions about reflection, as

well as from more subjective analysis of responses that provided more indirect reference to

reflection of the coaching process. It can seem counterintuitive that the more self-aware a coach

is, the more he or she is able to focus on their client, but in reality, the more readily a coach is

able to observe his or her own thoughts, attitudes, and bias, and adjust them to bring them more

in line with the goals of a coaching session, the more effective the session is to the client.

My first three interviews were of coaches who were new to the coaching process, and in

the final stages of completing their full accreditation as Certified Professional Coaches. As I

conducted my interviews and transcribing, I was inclined to expand my pool of interviewees to

five interviews to increase the validity of the study. Coach 4 and Coach 5 were still relatively

new to the coaching process, but both were coaching in a professional capacity.

Coach 4 was a former math teacher who had entered the teaching profession to help kids

“light up” and achieve their full potential. She quickly found this was a very different goal from

that of the environment in which she found herself, and quit teaching after three months on the

job. She admitted that she had some unrealistic expectations of her role as an educator. Coach 4’s

story was similar to other coaches I interviewed in that their primarily motivation was working

with others to achieve their greater potential. Coach 4 noted a distinction between coaches that I

had also observed – the coach as counselor, moving clients from dysfunctional to functional, and

the coach as motivator, moving clients from functional to exceptional. It is important to note that


not sure if this should be bolded or not?


a coach certified by the International Coach Federation recognizes that if a client is truly,

clinically dysfunctional, then a referral to a licensed therapist is the appropriate action.

Many people who choose to become coaches do so because they recognize the value

coaching brought to their own lives, and this was largely Coach 4’s experience. As a more

experienced coach, Coach 4’s reflection was apparent not only in the content of her answers, but

in the process of answering questions. I was initially hesitant to ask directly for a self-assessment

of reflective ability from participants, but direct questions are usually the best place to start and

this became an interview question. There was a lot of silence during the interview process as

Coach 4 paused to reflect on her answers to the questions that were being asked. On several

occasions, she responded by saying “that’s a good question” and used the opportunity to truly

reflect on the question and provide a well-composed, thoughtful answer.

The importance of intuition was one that came up often during the interviews, but Coach

4 highlighted that intuition occurs during the coaching session while reflection occurs primarily

after the session. She also considered that the two built on each other, intuition being always

present to varying degrees, but reflection helping the coach to become more aware of self and

intuition. This idea caused me to consider looking into the role intuition plays in the coaching

process for future research, as well as researching the role of self (egoic creation) versus the role

of Self (True Self) in the coaching process, a more metaphysical approach to the topic. A

keyword search for “intuition, in the APA PsychNET database returned 5,452 results; the

EBSCO database returned 1,845 results.

It was this latter observation that caused me the greatest dissonance, and reminded me of

a comment Dr. Kelly made during EDRS 810, that a risk of taking a qualitative approach to

research was the potential for being distracted by the extent of rich data that can come from the


ugh, this is so true…definitely feeling that this semester


research process. I noted this in my own research efforts and reaffirmed in my mind the necessity

of continuing to keep the research question or questions firmly in mind during data collection

and data analysis.


Appendix B

The Role of Reflection in the Practice of New Coaches

INFORMED CONSENT FORM

RESEARCH PROCEDURESThis research is being conducted to examine and study how a coach uses self-reflection during the coaching experience for their personal development. If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to take part in a 45-60 minute interview.

RISKSThere are no foreseeable risks for participating in this research.

BENEFITSThere are no benefits to you as a participant other than to further research in the field of coaching.

CONFIDENTIALITYThe data in this study will be confidential. All data will be secured and accessible only by researchers directly involved with this project. Personally identifiable information will be coded and known only to the researchers on this study.

PARTICIPATIONYour participation is voluntary, and you may withdraw from the study at any time and for any reason. If you decide not to participate or if you withdraw from the study, there is no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. There are no costs to you or any other party.

CONTACTThis research is being conducted by Eric Reeves, Graduate School of Education, George Mason University. He may be reached at 850-357-4512 for questions or to report a research-related problem. The faculty advisor‘s name is Dr. Anastasia Samaras, 703-489-1663. You may contact the George Mason University Office of Research Subject Protections at 703-993-4121 if you have questions or comments regarding your rights as a participant in the research.

This research has been reviewed according to George Mason University procedures governing your participation in this research.

RECORDINGThe interview session will be recorded and transcribed. The recording will be accessible only by the researcher and will be used only for research purposes.

CONSENTI have read this form and agree to participate in this study.

Name

Date of Signature


Appendix C

Interview Questions and Prompts

1. How do you define coaching? What is the role of the coach? What clients attributes facilitate the coaching process? What is the desired outcome of the coach-client relationship?

2. What was your motivation to study coaching? What first interested you in coaching? What was your professional background before getting into coaching? Why did you decide to commit to a coaching program?

3. Describe your coach training/learning experience. What were your expectations before entering into the coaching program? Describe what you experienced during your coaching training program. How do you feel you developed during your training program?

4. Describe your current coaching practice. Describe a typical coaching session. Tell me about what you experience during a coaching session. What challenges have you experiences during coaching? What successes or “aha” moments have you experienced during coaching? How do you deal with ethical issues during the coaching process? Has your development as a coach impacted your views on coaching ethics?

5. How do you continue to develop your coaching skills? Describe your future in coaching. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? How will coaching continue to impact your own personal development?


Appendix D

Transcript from Interview of Coach 1 (C1)October 8, 2014; Lake Ridge, VA

E: How did you first get into coaching?

C1: I was actually looking for programs to assist in my own personal development. Looking at how I could become a better leader and one of the areas, you know, that is starting to gain a lot of prominence, especially in the corporate community is looking at coaching. And how do you use coaching in the leader development process and the leadership development process. And so that led me to start investigating several different programs. I actually had applied to Georgetown for their coaching program, was denied, or rejected, or actually they have a rolling process so I just applied too late to be in the cohort, which was really kind of beneficial to me, because then that led me to the George Mason program for leadership coaching for organizational performance which was really kind of in-line with, didn’t know it at the time, but what I was looking for. So how do you use coaching not only for yourself, but others to improve performance in an organization? So that was kind of my primary driver was how do I improve myself, and through that process of introspection and everything else through the coaching process learning to be a coach. It then teaches you not only about yourself, but then how do you use that same kind of process for others.

E: So, were you aware of coaching before you started looking at the leadership and the development?

C1: I would say I was aware of it. You just know it’s out there, but I didn’t know very much about it.

E: So you’re focus is on leadership and personal development?

C1: Yes, my primary driver was leadership and personal development. Developing the self as leader, and then how does that fit in with the larger concept of leadership, and coaching as an aspect of that. That’s what was coming up in a lot of the research I was doing, was coaching as another means to help with self-improvement and organizational improvement.

E: How did you determine which program you wanted to go through? I know you mentioned the George Mason program.

C1: It was interesting because I had looked at the ones that were in the local area, and one of my primary drivers was actually the post-9/11 GI Bill. So, I was looking for a program in the local area tied to a university that the GI Bill would pay for, because they won’t pay for just any program, any certificate program. And the coaching one is in that space that they’re not, it’s not as well developed as others, so I could have used GI Bill to become an auto mechanic, that’s easy. But, to become an executive coach, not so easy. And at the time, when I was contacting Georgetown, they thought that they could get GI Bill to pay for it but they weren’t sure, and George Mason did so it allowed for the GI Bill to pay for the program, which is another driver on


why I chose that program. It ended up being a fantastic program and I also ended up being the last person that GI Bill paid for to go through it…to my knowledge. Because the way they re-aligned it, now it doesn’t meet the criteria that, that VA wants for a program that they are going to pay for. So I squeaked kind of right underneath that last bar. So post-9/11 paid for it…the GI Bill paid for it, so that kind of helped in my selecting a program. And then, In addition to that, looking at other programs, I decided to also pay out of my own pocket to do the iPEC program, which is the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. And that one really seemed like a deep, well-developed program, that really kind of…the Mason program was really looking at organizations and organizational performance, and the iPEC one really seemed to look at self, and developing self within the concept of energy leadership. And then being able to put that into whatever specialty area you want.

E: That sounds like you had a good balance in both areas, by taking both programs.

C1: Yeah, I would say. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend trying to do both at the same time. It’s a little much, and not everybody can afford to. I was fortunate in that, GI Bill paid for one of them, so I didn’t have to pay for both programs, because that would have been twenty thousand, but yeah, I would say very enriching having been through both different sides of it, because they were different. A lot of the coaching is the same, the fundamentals of coaching are the same, but any accredited coach training program for ICF [note: International Coach Federation] is going to be similar, because they have certain foundational criteria that they have to meet. So, in that way they were similar, but in their overall end-state they were different. It was beneficial, I think.

E: So, as you went through the program, we talked about the self-development, you said that was a big motivator for you. What did you experience from the program itself?

C1: I really think it’s been beneficial, well I know that it’s been beneficial for my own personal development, in that the programs are designed for you to really do a lot of soul searching, to look at where you are, a little bit about where you’ve been, but mostly about where do you want to go. And then really looking at what’s preventing you from going there. I mean, that’s a lot of the internal introspection part of the program is, what’s holding you back and then how do you overcome that? So between the two programs, iPEC was probably a little bit deeper in that area. You have to be able to face those fears, and issues, and limiting beliefs, and everything else in yourself before you can lead somebody else through the same process. And it really helped clarify, I think in a lot of ways, not only where do I want to go but where I know I don’t want to be. So in that aspect I think it has been hugely beneficial. It’s really changed my perspective on what the future looks like.

E: Now that you have this training, how do you prepare for and begin a coaching session?

C1: I find it interesting, in that, you go through this process, and you practice and practice and practice and practice, and you do a lot of peer coaching, so you’re a client for a peer, you’re the coach for a peer, you practice, you practice, you practice, and sometimes, you know, you get to a point where you’re just like, “Oh my gosh, really, I have to do this again?” But it’s that whole reiteration of the fundamentals over and over, so then with my first real client, I say “real” client, who was not part of the coaching program, it’s kind of fascinating that you’re sitting there,


having a conversation with your client and they’ll say something, and you’ve practiced it. For example, I was in a session with a client, and I start the session with, “Hey, what’s the agenda for this session; what do you want to get out of this; what would success look like?” the client’s like “I can’t think of anything to talk about…nothing.” So, I said, well OK, that’s understandable, but if you could think of something to talk about, what would it be?” Boom, we were off, for an hour and fifteen minutes. It was great, you know? And so the client even said at the end of the session, “Wow, for me thinking I had nothing to talk about, I sure did a pretty good job of talking.” And it was just constantly using the questioning the way we do that really got that first bit started, and then once we just built from that. So, it ended up being a really powerful session.

E: There is a different dynamic when it is somebody that doesn’t know the coaching. Because when you’re dealing with a peer, you know they know, so it just seems kind of forced and awkward.

C1: Yeah. So, that was one of the things that I reflected on afterwards was, wow, this stuff really works. You know, it can be pretty powerful when you have a client who is unaware, and they really do have some things that they want to work on. But they’re not sure where to start, and so you really become that guide in getting them to expand their thinking. So, they can start a session like “I’m at a loss, I don’t even have anything to talk about…I don’t even know where to start.” “Well, if you did, what would it be?” “Well, I suppose I would, blah, blah, blah.” And you’re like, “OK, let’s…let’s work with that.” And you just take it, you know, and then it can be really beneficial to them. So, it was really pretty powerful.

E: As you’ve gone through the different coaching sessions and dealt with various clients, have you experienced anything that you’d consider a real coaching challenge?

C1: Probably the biggest challenge, especially in the training program, where you are both peers, is sometimes you feel like, “I don’t have anything left to talk about.” Which is really one of those limiting beliefs, because everybody has something to talk about all the time, right? Because we’re not perfect beings, so there’s always something that could be improved and it’s really getting the client or the client to be willing and open to look a little deeper. So, you might have the client say, no, everything is going great in my life right now, there’s nothing I want to work on. But, there is always something, and it is just getting them to recognize that and to be willing an open enough to explore something at a little bit deeper level than just the surface.

E: So where do you feel like you’ve been successful as a coach?

C1: One of the areas I was working with a client, and my client was interested in changing their occupation; they were a little bit dissatisfied with where they were and what they were doing. And, there was some hesitation on taking any next step, and so over the course of several sessions, we explored that, and, ultimately, we worked through some of the limiting beliefs, that were holding them back and now they have opened their business. So I think that was kind of a success. They brokered a very nice severance package from their employer, left their job and went out on their own and seem to be pretty happy about doing that. So I don’t necessarily take credit or that being my success necessarily as a coach, however, it’s the success of my client and I do feel like I helped get them there. I helped guide them through that process, so that they


could better explore what they want to do, what their future looks like, and then how they can get there.

E: It must give you confidence though, that you do have the skills to be a successful coach.

C1: Yes. So those little things, those little wins, even the “I don’t have anything to talk about,” but then you talk for an hour gives you that little bit of confidence boost in that, “Maybe I’m not so bad at this,” right? Maybe I did pay attention in a few of those classes. So, it does, yeah.

E: I think that is part of the challenge of coaching now, although it’s getting better and has gotten better over the last ten years, but there has always been that hesitancy from somebody that doesn’t understand it, to say that “Well, I’m functioning, I don’t need a counselor or a psychotherapist, why should I come to a coach?

C1: Yeah, and I think that, to kind of educate potential clients, future clients, or the general public, about the value added of having a coach is, they’re trained, if you will, and their area of expertise is in how to ask the right questions, or powerful questions, or questions you wouldn’t ask yourself. And a lot of people are like, “Oh, I could probably figure this out on my own.” But, you know, any person, no matter how smart they are, isn’t going to think of everything, and you are only going to think of things through your own mindset, and bias, and perspective. Having a completely different perspective chime in every once in a while with a question that you wouldn’t normally think about, can be very powerful. I think that’s what the coach brings, is that they are able to look at it from a different perspective. So, if you only know blue, you only ask questions about blue, right? But the coach can be like, “What about yellow?” “You know, I never would have thought of that.”

E: You know what is interesting is that even though I know that, having gone through the program, listening to you describe it gives me a better sense of confidence in it. I think it’s something we go through as coaches; even a coach always needs a coach to keep them thinking outside that box. You know, we’ve got that vision, we’ve got that…those filters, and even though we may be expanding thinking of others, I think just having that conversation just sort of takes us out to another angle to look at it.

C1: So, as a coach, it’s kind of the onus is on me to get you to realize that the box is an illusion. So, what would you do if there was not box? How would your thinking expand if there were no limits? And that’s what you bring to the client, is there are no limits. Limits are illusions. You know, they are mostly self-imposed. They’re mostly set there because you know...it goes back to fundamental human thought processes and everything else, and it’s not so much the fear of failing, often, it’s the fear of success. So, what happens if I do succeed, then what? You know? And in getting a client to remove those barriers to their own success, is...it’s really powerful.

E: So when you wrap up a coaching session, how do you leave that with your client?

C1: Typically, depending on the flow of the conversation, we’ll recheck in on what our agenda was at the beginning, you know, and even in the situation where there seemingly wasn’t one at the beginning, like “Oh, I don’t have anything to talk about,” we’ll go back and say “OK, well,


for a session where you had nothing to talk about, we did quite a bit. So, what did you get out of the session; what did success end up being, regardless of what it looked like at the beginning.” How were we successful and then what are the next steps? For next time, what are some things that come up out of the session that are actionable, that the client can then work on, and so then you layout some of those steps, so between now and two weeks when we meet again, you’re going to do these things. And it’s not me directing what the client’s going to do, it’s the client saying, I will work on these things, and then I just help them be accountable for that. So, it’s all the client’s you know, everything is the client’s. We’ll kind of just recap and then, what are the next steps, what are the action steps moving forward, when are we going to meet again, how are we going to communicate, make sure we have all that locked on, next scheduled time and place to meet. Sometimes I’ll also say, OK now, you agreed to these things, why don’t you send that to me in an e-mail, right, so that way they write it down, and then we can hold that for the agenda as the starting point of the next session. You know, we talked about doing these things, how did we do?

E: You’ve given me a good description of the coaching process, how you approach coaching, how you deal with the client. Early on you said part of your motivation was for your self-development. When you look at an individual coaching session, how do you leverage that for your own personal development?

C1: Well, I think I have been completely successful so far, in I always learn something. Sometimes I learn something about my client that I didn’t know, that would be useful in helping them advance their progress, and sometimes I learn something about myself like, “Oh, my client just said something I wouldn’t have thought of.” It changes my ability to maybe work with clients in the future, because now I have another perspective that I wouldn’t have had, so I try to be fairly mindful of paying attention to those kinds of things. I personally think I grow every time I interact with a client, so every coaching session is also my own chance to grow a little bit more, so it’s reflecting, post-session, it’s reflecting on, “I could have asked that question a little better,” or, “How did I word that one,” or, “When I said this, it fell flat with the client.” So I should have been reading the client better. I need to be more aware and in tune with how the client is showing up. So I think it’s really just being able to stop post-session and look at, what just transpired, what was really useful, what resonated with the client, what didn’t, and then, it’s all specific to each client because everybody’s different. But it does give you some of that insight into your own processes and thought processes about how to make each session better, as you move, and a lot of it is just becoming comfortable with the client as well.

E: Do you have a formal process for capturing these lessons?

C1: I don’t currently, not in that I stop, pause and then write down everything or anything like that, but I do take notes during a session. So I do two things. One is I take notes about how do I interact with the client. The client said X, I want to come back to that, I want to explore that more, or something. Um, and then I also take notes for myself, on me during a session. If there was something that, you know, it made me think of, or something I want to research a little bit more for future sessions or something like that, I do capture that.

E: Keeping that idea in mind, how do you see yourself developing over the long term?


C1: So one part of that is continual learning. I’m always trying to learn more. I mean, that’s just part of my makeup, I think, my genetic code, if you will. And then another part of that is really looking at how…so, over time the more interaction I have with clients, multiple clients, then it becomes this real forward, positive, virtual cycle, upward reinforcing of knowledge, skills, and abilities. I can gain more knowledge, I can read a book, I can take a class, or whatever, but then you have to practice it, so you practice it and then, it’s like anything, right, to become an expert, you’ve got to put in the ten thousand hours. So, every hour toward that ten thousand just makes me better.

E: Where do you see yourself ten years from now, as a coach?

C1: I think it’s really good to reflect on, you know, for me as an individual, I often reflect on where I’m at, where am I going. And my ultimate end-state goal ten years from now is fairly solid, it doesn’t change a lot, but the path to get there maybe changes a little bit. Part of what drives me is, I like coaching, but I like teaching. And I probably like teaching more than I like coaching, so combining those two topics though, would be, you know, ten years from now, I am a master coach who teaches other coaches. So, that’s where I kind of see myself. In the bigger sense, leadership as well. So not just the concept of leadership, but also leader as in the individual. How do you create, or help an individual become a better leader. And really I’m starting to explore and do some research on how those two things are separate - connected but separate. So, a leader then, through their actions, does leadership. But, and coaching’s a big part of that, so being a leader, who has the skills to then be able to coach their direct reports and employees, and whatever. You know, up and down, coaching is a big part of that and how you communicate with others, and your leadership style, but I think there’s two different components there and we often, at least the organizations I’ve been in, talk about leadership, leadership, leadership, leadership, but we don’t take about how you develop as a leader. What skills do you need to be able to do leadership well? As a leader, what skills do you need to make you a good leader that can then do good leadership? And they are two kind of separate things, but we just bucket them together all the time. So, I’m really starting to ponder that and look more at, you know, how do you use the coaching process, because really it’s…that’s what it’s designed to do, take you from where you are to a more optimal space in the future. So, how do you use that process then to make the individual leader? And coaching can be very powerful, in fact, that’s a big component of it. So, it’s me, as the coach, helping you, the client, be the best leader that you can, so you can then do leadership at a higher level. How’s that?

E: So, the coach teaches, or helps the client discover their skills, so that they can exercise the techniques of leadership.

C1: It’s like having the ability, but you also have to have the confidence. I can know the different things based on the books, but I also have to know how to apply that in a particular context.

E: And to particular people. It can’t be a one size fits all. Strengths…


C1: Strengths-based leadership and, traits, you know, in the talent themes, and those things, so, if you go with the strengths model, it’s…you have certain innate talents, and then how much time and effort, knowledge that you gather, and then practice building skills, that’s what turns those talents into strengths. So, it’s kind of the same. It’s really looking at, for some reason I always like using automobiles as, you know, my analogies. But it’s like having a car, and how do you make it high performance? And you can do a lot of things to make it high performance. So you could do a lot of things with the individual to make them a great leader, right, and then…and then it’s putting all that high performance attributes into play. That’s leadership. So, you can have the fastest car in the world, but if you never drive it, so what? So, it’s how it performs when it’s doing its task at hand. So a leader doing the task at hand, he or she is then performing leadership. So, how do you raise the level of that performance to a very high standard? First you have to put the high performance parts into the leader, who then can execute. Probably not a very good analogy

E: It was a good analogy.

C1: It’s the action piece that carries you forward. You can have the thoughts and emotions, but you have to take action, in a positive case for leadership. And so, going back to kind of the iPEC piece where you have catabolic and anabolic energy, you can have leaders who have similar skills, but depending on which kind of energy they’re coming from in their leadership style, determines, by a lot of definitions, whether they’re a good leader or they’re not a good leader. Not so good as in good or bad, but good as in performance. How well they perform and how successful they are at creating the type of environment that’s conducive to high performance.

E: How has coaching, both the experience of coaching and the reflection of coaching, how has that made you a better leader?

C1: It’s been a really fascinating process for me, because you have to spend so much time looking internally. But it’s not just looking internally, it’s looking internal and comparing it to the external. So, it’s saying I have these traits, how does that make me a better leader? And then, if I want to be the best leader I can be, what traits am I lacking, or what traits do I need to increase my proficiency, or those kinds of things. So, the coaching process really causes you to look at that. And then, I think understanding that the levels of energy, catabolic versus anabolic, you really start to get this picture of, well, I can perform from either space, but one is much more positive. And if I want to continue up that scale of energy in my leadership, what do I have to do? And it gets you to start looking, that taking the whole person from present to future, from current level of however high your level of performance, if you will, is to an even higher level. So it’s the upward trajectory into the future, and it’s looking at, I need to be better at this and this and this. And those might be strengths that you already have, or innate talents that you are already very good at, but it’s really focusing on how to become your optimal, high-performing self. So for me that coaching piece of it’s been tremendous; helping me define areas that I might not have looked at as strongly before, and to really get a better sense of who I am and what I’m about. You know, really kind of helping me clarify that definition of self. It’s been fascinating.

E: Self-leadership?


C1: Self-leadership. You have to start with self. It’s the foundation of everything else. And that’s an area I’m really fascinated with too as far as looking at researching and exploring, and, in some ways combined with assessments, so we use the leadership index, the Energy Leadership Index as an assessment to see where we are, and then that becomes a piece of information that we can then use combined with their pieces of information to push us towards our optimal self. So, if I resonate at, you know, level 3 energy, and I want to be level 5, and I understand that, then I can also start understanding what it takes to get there, what actions do I need to do, what areas do I need to focus on, what mindsets do I need to change, what am I missing that need to get that I don’t have knowledge of now, those kinds of things. So, for me, it’s been a fascinating journey thus far and I realize I have a long ways to go.

E: It sounds like you’ve made the most of it, so far.

C1: I would like to think so, but I just can’t help constantly feeling like I’m on the tip of the iceberg, and there’s a lot more iceberg to explore.

E: A lot of people haven’t made it onto the iceberg yet

C1: Well, right, at least I’m on there and I’m starting to dip down below the surface to really explore that too, but it’s bigger than I thought it was. It seems to be ever expanding instead of shrinking.

E: I appreciate you answering the questions today, and do you have any questions for me?

C1: No. I think I’m OK, thanks.

E: Thank you very much.


Appendix E

Transcript from Interview of Coach 2 (C2)October 12, 2014; Woodbridge, VA

E: I’d like to begin by asking how you define coaching?

C2: Hmm. How do I define coaching? That’s a hard question actually. How do I define coaching? I would say that coaching is the process of helping an individual, or maybe a group of individuals, become clearer of their inner world; to help them reach their goals in the most efficient manner and to help them become who they really want to be.

E: What first interested you in coaching?

C2: OK, so what brought me into coaching was really dissatisfaction with the career I had chosen and recognizing how my strengths were not really being utilized in my profession and in the jobs that I had chosen. I got introduced to coaching because I was looking for something else to do, and I actually…I didn’t hire a fulltime coach, but I enrolled in some coaching programs…several of them…and I really liked the content and I loved the questions that they asked. I loved the deep diving…it’s kind of what I feel naturally at. I met someone who was a coach at iPEC, and she told me about the whole process and what she was doing and it sounded like it really agreed with who I am and my values. That’s when I decided to pursue it full time, because there was very little dissonance between who I thought I was internally and the practice of coaching externally. Whereas in my previous career, they were just a lot of differences in who I thought I was and how I had to present myself in the world.

E: What did you do previously; what was your professional background?

C2: Well, I went to school to be a tax attorney, and the last job I had I was a legal editor…doing editing for a tax legal research company.

E: I don’t know much about being a tax attorney, but it seems the skills are very different from those required for coaching. What led you to becoming a tax attorney?

C2: Honestly, it was basically me ignoring the things that I liked and enjoyed, and going for what I thought I should do based upon my family values and what my parents expected of me, and what society around me, in my community, expected of me. Yeah, basically for not the best reasons, just reasons for wanting to be accepted.

E: That was the better route for you at the time?

C2: It was the better route. The tax part of it was really me trying to marry my business degree with my law degree, because I had a business undergrad. It was making decisions purely on a logical level and not realizing that there’s more to life than just that aspect, like you have to find out what you like and what you’re good at. I never really…I never took the time to make decisions from that place, it just wasn’t part of my thinking process growing up.


E: So, it sound like the coaching thing is much more authentic to you.

C2: Yes.

E: When you made that decision to become a coach, was is a sudden inspiration or was it a more gradual process to that point?

C2: It was a gradually progression now that I think about it. It was probably…I was into the coaching thing probably six months before I actually went to iPEC…before I finally decided to go ahead and get the certification. But it was kind of like the light bulb went off while I was in a coaching program about how coaching worked…before iPEC.

E: So, you were doing coaching?

C2: Yes. I wasn’t coaching people. I was part of somebody else’s program…a coach’s program

E: How did you end up getting into that coaching program?

C2: Hm, well, how did I get there? That’s a good question. I got there by myself. I mean, I wasn’t influenced by anybody, because nobody I knew even knew about coaching. I was just playing on the internet, and reading all my inspirational books, and my spiritual books, and just allowing it to happen naturally, just going into what I was interested in. I found it on the internet, all by myself. It’s kind of weird, now that I’m saying it out loud. Yeah, there was no structured path like I had normally done. It was like “Oh look, I just discovered this and it’s really great.”

E: So then, it wasn’t a training program to be a coach?

C2: It was a coach who had her own program. It was kind of like a…she called it the Art of Confident Action and you paid and did it on line. There was some…there was a Facebook page where all the participants would come on and share their insights after each module. That was pretty much it.

E: OK. So you were actually being coached in a group environment. That was your real exposure to it that led you to wanting to become a coach?

C2: Yes

E: You said a lot of that was dissatisfaction with being a lawyer…tax attorney, or, was it more the function you had as the editor? I mean, had you had the opportunity to practice law?

C2: Yes, in school…and I was working for a big four as a tax associate. I never worked full-time outside of school at a law firm, but I worked for law firms while I was in school. I have actually worked for a personal injury firm, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, in-house counsel for an insurance company, a big insurance company. So I actually had, I guess, the luxury of being able to see all the major aspects of the law and it just never clicked, just…none of it. But it was


like, I was already in, I mean I was already in school, I had already paid, so I had to keep going. I had to keep pushing myself. But after a while it just became like, I can’t any more.

E: So, what I am hearing is your reflection of where you were in your life at that point in time. You could drive yourself for years and years at something you don’t like if it is a decent job, good pay, good position, whatever it happens to be. But I think when you step back and ask “Is this really who I am, not what I am doing but who I am,” that’s when you get that cognitive dissonance…there’s got to be something else.

C2: Yeah, that’s exactly what it was. I mean, I felt like I gave myself enough chances to try different things. I even went to work for a publisher, you know what I mean, I mean that’s not… that’s very different from practicing, you know, and being in the nitty-gritty with client interface. It was ok for a while, but the subject matter itself, just wasn’t’ exciting for me. Like what I did for my free time. I didn’t look into the latest Supreme Court case; I just wasn’t excited about that stuff. It was just a job to me, you know? What I was excited about was Oprah, and Deepak Chopra, and what’s the latest in personal development. That stuff gets me, I mean I could do that all day. No one has to pay me to do that, you know what I mean? So, when I say that I thought, “Can I make a career out of this?” you know, like, is this even possible? It didn’t seem like that at first, until I was exposed to people who were doing it, and I was a client for somebody that was doing it, and that’s when I said, “Let me try it.”

E: How did the experience itself benefit you?

C2: Oh, that experience was good. It just…so many thing I was confused about, I just got so much clarity on. I had a lot of self-doubt and thought there was something wrong with me, and I just thought I was being lazy, or…a lot of self-judgment, and it just kind for normalized it for me. And it gave me so much energy to make decisions and not be stuck in that limbo of like, “I don’t like it, but I should like it.” You know? I just was like, “No, this is not me.” I don’t like this or I don’t like the way this relationship is going and I can make a decision and move forward, and not be stuck in that hazy confusion, that’s what it did for me.

E: You decided to commit to a coaching program. What expectations did you have going into it?

C2: I thought that I would be taught how to coach. I thought that I would be taught the skills. I thought that…I didn’t expect it to be as interactive, because I had been so deeply entrenched in normal educational institutions and the way things go there, it’s mostly theory. So, I think I expected more theory and less practice, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there was way more practice and more integration of the material and it wasn’t just people spitting information out at me and me having to copy it down and regurgitate it on a test. So, I think I went far beyond your question, but…

E: No that is fine.

C2: Yeah, so it was…even the process itself was so amazing to me because I didn’t have time to do that while I was getting my law degree and my masters and all that crazy stuff. I never really had the time to integrate it, and figure out if it was something that I actually liked, and how do I


relate to this, personally, how do I relate to this information. I didn’t really have the chance to do that, whereas with iPEC I did. Like from the first weekend, I had a taste of what I was doing. Which could have served me really well if I had that in the previous career. But, looking back I don’t have any regrets.

E: So, it was different than you expected?

C2: Very different

E: During the training itself, how do you feel you developed personally?

C2: During the training? So, I think throughout the training, I still kind of had the mindset of go-go-go, like get this done. Even with my coaching…and I think it wasn’t until after the coaching process where I started to integrate everything at a really deep level, and I felt like I was able to coach myself, and realize how much I had been needing this. Like, throughout my whole life, how I needed this kind of interaction, and how much so many people can benefit from having someone acknowledge and validate them for their feelings. I mean, it’s a simple tool, but at least for me, that… it just makes such a world of a difference. And incorporating that into my life now has completely shifted everything. I mean, everything, especially the way that my relationships are handled. Between me and my husband, me and my family, there are a lot of shifts that have taken place since then.

E: And this occurred after the training, or did you see it occurring during the training?

C2: Well, during the training I was getting prepare to get married, so I had a lot of stuff going on and I don’t think I really had the time to integrate it as much until after all of that went away. So, it was really like toward the end of the mod, the last mod, and throughout the summer that I got to see coaching for what it is and I just see the power of it. It’s really powerful.

E: It’s interesting that you say that because…what you mentioned before about being able to self-coach…because so many of us don’t stop and reflect. We just sort of drive through our lives, and we don’t step back and say, “OK what does this mean to me?” So it sounds like you were having those experiences even before going into coaching.

C2: Yeah…oh yeah. Definitely before coaching.

E: So, let’s dive a little deeper into the coaching process. What do you believe is the role of the coach?

C2: I believe that the role of the coach is to come to the call with a very centered, high level of energy, and allows the space for the client to reflect the clarity that the coach is already bringing, and coming with all their confusion and questions or whatever they can’t do on their own. They are coming to you who… you are not giving advice, you’re just offering an energy to them that allows them to figure it out on their own. They get clarity because you have clarity, but you are not involved. It’s kind of hard to explain. You’re not involved in their story, at all, you are really just asking questions. You’re asking questions that help them to unravel the knowledge


that they just can’t do by themselves. And the role of the coach is to show the client how smart and capable and perfectly…like they’ve got it, you know? They know themselves more than they know. It’s to give them confidence in whatever they are going to do, in whatever decision they are going to make, that they do it with confidence. What else is the role of the coach? I guess it might depend on what kind of coaching you do.

E: That’s a good point.

C2: Because again, I do like more of a personal kind of coaching. So, I think that my angle might be a little different than somebody else’s. But I so think it has a lot to do with the energy you bring. I think that, at the most basic level, that’s the biggest gift you give, in my eyes, because the questions do help, they do, but if you are not centered, it is very easy to sometimes get a little bit involved, or…it just depends on who you are as a person too. There’s a lot that goes into it.

E: Sure. Within the context that you hope to operate, what attributes would you say define the perfect coach to you?

C2: Within the context of how I like to operate?

E: You know how we have talked about different types of coaching? So, within that realm of personal coaching…because you have kind of a spiritual inclination to yours.

C2: Yeah.

E: So within that context…that type of coaching. What attributes would you look for in that type of coach…the perfect coach that deals in that style?

C2: Hm. The perfect coach that deals in that style…um, someone that has developed their intuition…um, that they trust themselves, and that they trust the client…that they are not trying to fix the client, you know? Um…very low level of judgment…..I don’t know.

E: Those are good examples. For me, patience is obviously important, because sometimes…and it’s different when you are in a school or training environment, in that sometimes you have told the same story a dozen times already, and now you are working with your peer coach telling the same thing, or working with your peer client and they have told the same story, so you really have to be patient and recognize the situation.

C2: I think that is a good point, patience is definitely necessary. And I think, after hearing you talk, an idea sparked in my mind of being fearless. Because…..you just have to have this inner stability, that everything is fine, no matter what the client brings to you, everything, you know, there is no need to save them from anything, and you need to be able to interject when it is time to interject, because, sometime people really just want to ramble and say the same things over, like you said. And just being fearless enough to say “I heard enough, let’s move on because we’re off track,” you know. You said you wanted to meet this goal and I am going to help you do that. I’m not really your friend, you know? I’m not here to just sit back and just…you


know… no, this is a job, we have an agenda to meet. So I think it does take fearlessness to do that, because sometimes you are like, “Oh I don’t want to be rude.”

E: Yeah, that is an interesting way to phrase that. I think you are right; it is easy to get caught up in the story. You have to guide the process.

C2: I would agree with you. I think that, when I was coaching, and I wasn’t coaching people outside of our program, it was more like, this is new, let me ask the right questions, and the questions would work, but then I had to grow past that, and expand to this new place where it was like, what about your energy, what about what you are bringing to the table? And I started to see some weird things happen. And I had to look at myself and say, what about me, you know, am I getting too attached, or too involved, or am I not stepping back far enough for what it really is? I do think that there has to be a level of personal…I don’t’ know what the word is but…high consciousness, is probably a good word. You’ve got to be pretty highly conscious as a coach, I think. I think that’s the process that we are all heading towards, and I think that when it’s time to get to a new level then an issue will come and it will help you get there, you know? That’s the fun part of it is that you are constantly growing. But the questions are not enough, like you said. They’re not. They are just…they are like a guidepost, and they …it’s like training wheels, but eventually grow out of it, and kind of still asks those questions, but then use your intuition more, kind of like how the trainers did on the phone. Sometimes they would say things and I was like, “Where did they get that from.” They didn’t teach us to do that, you know, and you can tell that they’re seasoned, and I didn’t understand it at the time, but I think that as time has gone on I’m starting to see a little bit more of it in myself.

E: The situation you described, as far as stepping back, that’s self-reflection. That’s exactly what the research says really makes a master coach is coaches who are able to do that…who can step back and they can evaluate their role in the coaching process. They can be reflective of that situation and say how do I change this…how do I twist this…how do I make this work best for my client and not get caught up in the story.

C2: You know, I was talking to a friend of mine earlier today, and I told her that it’s sounds counterintuitive, and kind of cruel, but my relationships go so much better when I don’t care. This is just my way of seeing it, you know, like, when I say I don’t care, I mean, like, really removing myself from somebody else’s story, like, if they come to me with a problem, I’m not telling them what I did about it, I’m not saying, “Well, I don’t’ know…I think that’s going on.” No, just listening and just giving them the space to figure it out…like, honestly, my marriage has, like, gone up tremendously since I figured that out. It’s like, sometimes we kind of, and I don’t mean to get off topic, but it’s like, sometimes I step outside of my lane and into his, or vice versa, and it can kind of cause just a retardation of the growth process…because the whole thing about life is like, figuring it out on your own, and figuring out what you are supposed to be doing. People help you, but only you really know, you know?

E: Sure.

C2: And I feel like coaches are so valuable. Because we have nothing to do with you. We really do trust you to know the answers. Most people around you don’t have that trust, because they


don’t’ have that trust in themselves. So, and it’s just the way we communicate as a species, I think. I think it’s normal for us to get involved in each other’s stories.

E: So, what would a typical coaching session look like for you?

C2: I haven’t figure that out yet. They all look so different. I haven’t figured out what my ideal session would look like. I think all I can tell you is I would start out by asking the client what they want the session to look like. What do they want to get accomplished in this session? And then, once I give the floor to them, I know where to go. And at the end, ideally, I think I’m just starting to institute…because I am still practicing with some people, I think ideally, towards the end of the session, I would kind of “forward the action” is how we call it, by saying, OK, now that you have these insights, what do you want to do. Sometimes it means they actually have to plan something, but sometime they’re not there yet. Sometimes they want to journal, or they want to do something that doesn’t sound like an action to mainstream society. But it is an action; it is forward for them because maybe they’re stuck in the past. So it’s bringing them to today. And it might be something like, “I just want to think about it more.” But, just kind of summing up at the end of the session like, what happened and what’s going to happen after that. And then asking them if they want to do something and be held accountable for it. And respecting them if they don’t but, I don’t’ know, for me so far it’s just been all over the place, I don’t’…it’s just like these main things, but depending on who I talk to it changes. And even with the same person, that week might have been exceptionally tough. They can’t handle assignments, or that week they’re like, “I had a great week and I’m ready to go,” and they want a whole list of things. So, it’s varied for me.

E: Do you think that’s unusual or do you think that’s typical?

C2: Do I think that’s typical or unusual? In my experience so far, I think it just depends on the client. Like I feel like some of the people I’ve worked with are just more go-getters. So they don’t need that hand holding, I guess. Um, I don’t know.

E: So, are you actively seeking these people out or are the folks coming to you?

C2: I think when I had most of my clients was while I was still coaching. I guess I just kind of put it out there, that I was a coach and then offered people and people would come to me. I wouldn’t say “Hey, do you want me to coach you?” It would be more like, maybe they’d come to me with a problem or something, and I would say well, I’m a coach now so if you want we can do some sessions or something. So, maybe it was a little bit of both.

E: OK. What would you say was your greatest challenges during coaching?

C2: Greatest challenges…uh, this is all about me here, my greatest challenge has been…there was one particular situation, or do you want like a theme, or do you want…

E: I want to get as deep as we can about how you are impacted by the coaching experience…as a coach.


C2: OK. So, I realized that…I ran into an issue with a client who, I didn’t know very well but he was dating a friend of mine, and she was like my friend from the first grade. So, we have like a long history together. So, um, there was a bit of a conflict there. And I think it could have been OK, I don’t think there is any rule against something like that, but the way I handled it I didn’t have firm enough boundaries, even though I tried to. Like, I tried to say, I will not talk about with, you know, whatever I talk about with him, with you…whatever you have to say about him, I’ll keep that separate. I wasn’t at that place yet where I could, I just wasn’t. because, I think I allowed…I allowed myself to be put in the middle of something that had nothing to do with me and allowing that..i mean, I guess, just…I think it just takes experience, now I know. But it kind of let me see like, OK, I’ve got to firm up my boundaries in general.

E: OK

C2: So, it helped me realize things about myself. I’m like, you know what, I do that a lot. I allow myself to get in the middle of other people’s problems and dramas and just because I’m like, “Well, they’re hurting and I want to listen,” you know? But, it’s like, “Wait a second, I have a relationship with that other person too.” It’s not really fair for me to…for them both to use me as like…not use me, but… people want to express themselves. But there’s got to be some level of respect on all ends, and just kind of …I guess…what am I trying to say…um, that’s a theme, it was a theme of mine, all throughout my life. And then it came up in my practice, and that’s when I was like, this is not cool anymore. But I was kind of putting up with it until it became part of my professional life and I was like, “that’s not OK.” And then I had to do my self-reflection as to why I was attracting that, and ways in which I need to, I guess, present myself, or think of myself. So that’s no longer an issue to me.

E: So, in this situation, did they come to you in your coaching capacity, or did they still come to you as a friend?

C2: One of them was as a coach; the other was as a friend

E: Ok, so that’s where some of the conflict was.

C2: Yeah.

E: Ok, did you feel like there was a conflict of interest in that?

C2: On the front end no, because I was led to believe that the subject of the coaching with the client would be about career stuff, but then it morphed into a personal thing about my friend and I had to terminate that.

E: You mentioned that in this situation you still had a reflective piece of it. Did you feel it was an ethical dilemma or more a professional issue?

C2: You know, I went on the web site, on the, what is it, the ICF? I went on the ICF web site and I looked up. And they’re actually very liberal about stuff, I think more so than I thought. They


didn’t’ see a problem with it specifically, so I came to the conclusion that it was a personal problem, because what I learned from that experience was, when I set a boundary, sometimes I’m not good at enforcing it. I think that I allowed things to be crossed, because of my caring nature. Well, you know, they’re my friends. I have to listen to this, and I have to give advice on it because, she is coming to me as a friend. But, it just got really messy. I think that at some point she felt that he was trusting me more because he was coming to me in that capacity. So then it was causing friction with me and her, and I’m like, I don’t want any of this honestly. I really did think it was professional. I did set guidelines and boundaries in the beginning, but again I didn’t enforce them and then it just all bled together. That’s when I realized that it’s not OK. And I saw my part in it, you know, and I think that it is a personal thing. I don’t know if that happens for somebody else. Maybe someone else would know how to deal with this much better, you know, but it could have been the foundation with me and the girl’s friendship that needed some tweaking. And the way that I interacted with the guy, you know, there’s a lot of things that were involved, but I think that it was a personal thing.

E: So, do you feel like you‘ve had any ethical situations that you’ve had to deal with within your coaching experiences?

C2: No.

E: OK.

C2: I don’t know if you would consider that ethical.

E: No, I just think ethical situations can contribute to a greater level of reflection.

C2: OK.

E: How do you continue to develop your skills as a coach?

C2: I mean, that’s just every day for me. I think I, and maybe this is maybe taking it too far, but I think I try to incorporate coaching skills in my conversations with people generally, which is kind of hard to do. But, I practice…I try to practice it whenever there’s an obstacle…I don’t want to call it a problem. If someone comes to me with a challenge, I try to incorporate coaching skills. In terms of learning, I’m still kind of going through the iPEC process so I’m always exposed to the material and when something comes up, I love the fact that there’s an on-line database where I can go and see and listen to like, what does Ed Abel have to say about this, you know? So it really has become part of my life. I’m always looking to develop as a person, so I’m always reading up on stuff like that, not just for my own personal growth, but as a coach, I really try to incorporate it into everything I do.

E: OK.

C2: I feel like it helps me be happier, not because I want to be a super great coach, or I want to be an over achiever. It really is like, man, this stuff really cuts out a lot of drama. So, for me to be happier, it just works out really nicely.


E: So, describe to me your future in coaching. Where do you see yourself ten years from now, as a coach?

C2: Wow. Ten years from now. I see myself…I feel like coaching is going to be my first…I guess my foundation will be coaching. But I do see myself branching out and doing more group stuff, live events, probably speeches, writing some books, kind of making a whole empire of it.

E: Around coaching?

C2: Yeah, I think that coaching is the foundation. And I do see myself coaching one-on-one for probably the next 2-3 years, but it will probably evolve into something else, by…in ten years for sure. I don’t know if I’ll be doing one-on-one in ten years.

E: Would it be because you don’t want to do that, or do you just see that as sort of a stepping stone?

C2: I think I’d like my time to be freed up more. I think around that time I’ll probably have small children. So the way that I’d like to make income…maybe I will have a few one-on-one clients, but it won’t be as extensive as how I want to be in the next few years. I think naturally I am always looking for change and expansion. I’ve always been that way, and coaching just give me a place to validate that part of me that… I guess to validate that constant thirst for growth. So, I think that coaching will just help me to really realize my full potential by the time I die hopefully. I think that coaching really does help with that.

E: Is that something you feel you’ve always had in your life, or is that something that has developed?

C2: OK, that is a good question. So, I’ve always wanted to get better and to be better, but in terms of recognizing that it can’t be solely on an external level, that I had to go inside to get that, that wasn’t until I started to realize that I was kind of in the wrong place. That’s when I kind of started to become the self-development junkie. So, that was 2010ish, that would be 4 years ago.

E: So it was after school and job

C2: Yeah

E: Do you see coaching as being more aligned with what you are doing now, or do you think of it as being totally separate from your overall value system?

C2: So let me see if I got that question right. Do I think that that…

E: For example, I see our values aligning with the goals and purposes of coaching. For me, it was compassion as a value which I found aligned with how I could apply coaching


C2: I think that absolutely happened for me. I think that there was nothing wrong with my previous career, it just didn’t support my values like you said. I think in my previous career it was kind of based on this idea of like, and this is just my own rendition of it, but, it was kind of like this level two energy, where somebody had to lose. There was always some judgment cast and I think as a person I’ve always been into compassion, and like you, always tried to ask why would that person do this action that’s harmful. I was never satisfied with, did they do it or not and if they did throw them away into jail. Like, I was never satisfied with that. I wanted to know how did they get there, because I don’t’ believe they were born that way. I don’t believe that people are just like inherently evil. That’s just not a belief of mine. So, once I got into coaching and I realized like, oh, no wonder, this is exactly how I feel, there’s something deeper, there’s always something deeper than the eyes can see you know, so it was totally in alignment with my values…completely, I mean, and just that one little validation made such a difference for me.

E: I see some coaches being more interested in building businesses than of becoming better a better coach. And I understand the need to build your client base, but, and this may be a bias of mine, I think becoming the best coach you can possibly be will bring the clients to you.

C2: I think I went through a period like that too where I was like, I need to make money, I need to make this a business, and it wasn’t time for me. There was still so much inner work that had to be done. Not inner work like there’s something wrong, but really like, ok, where are you coming from? Like what is the energy you are putting out there. Who are you really trying to serve, you know. At the end of the day, this is a service-based industry. You are trying to help people, right? So, I didn’t want to get back into making the same...I don’t’ want to call it a mistake…but the same choice that I did with the law where it was like, I just need to get a paycheck. It was like I want to be emotionally connected to this. I want to be driven by this. I want to feel like this is an extension of myself. So, in order for me to do that, I had to take the money piece out, at least for a little while. And thankfully I was in a position to do that. But, I see myself falling right back into that same thing if I just focused on the money, the same thing that I did before. So I did have to come back around and be like, no, the self-reflection part if just so key. That’s what I was lacking before so how can I repeat it in this industry that is supposed to be so, inner and self-reflective based. You can still make that mistake.

E: That was the last of my questions. Do you have any question for me, about the process or anything else we talked about today?

C2: No, thank you. I’m excited to see what you come up with.

E: Thanks very much for your time.


Appendix F

Transcript from Interview of Coach 3 (C3)October 23, 2014; Arlington, VA

E: Tell me how you would define coaching.

C3: I define coaching as…so I’ll come at it from different perspectives. When I graduated high school I was a basketball coach, an athletic coach, and I was a motivator. I helped bring out the best in the individuals I was coaching. I taught them, based on my skillset, based on what I’d know from before. Applying that to life coaching, I feel there are the same elements in life coaching as well. So you are motivating a person to be accountable for the goals they decide, supporting them in every decision that they make, helping them make decisions on what’s best for them. And helping them come up with what is blocking them, what is steering them, and taking them that step forward so they can truly be who they are meant to be.

E: Ok, great. So what then does the coach bring to that experience?

C3: So, the coach is a confidante. The coach is the person that they come to and just spill whatever is on their mind that day, whatever fears that they have, whatever motivation that they need, whatever they’re seeking. The coach is the confidante and also helps them find that direction they are looking for. They give the person, the client, the push and also show that faith in the person to be whatever it is they are trying to be.

E: On the other side, what should the client or the client, bring to this relationship?

C3: Definitely someone who is open. Someone who is willing to talk about everything and not hold anything back, so we can truly get a picture of what is going on, and then the coach is responsible for asking the right questions to get them there, to be answering those questions fully so you can engage and use your intuition on where they are with their lives currently.

E: Why did you decide to become a coach?

C3: What’s interesting is, two years ago, if you’d said I’d be training to be a life coach, I’d have looked at you like you were crazy. Because honestly, I just did not know what it was. I wasn’t familiar with life coaching at all, to be frank. I work in a science environment and all of a sudden, situations started happening in my life, and they all directly led me to coaching. So, what was interesting about it is, they were all happening at the same time…simultaneously. And I started looking for answers. For example, I’ll go through the three main things that happened, kind of all at once. So, my one co-worker was in a relationship where her, where the man she was married to was cheating on her and she was seeking answers, she was seeking help. So, she confided in me as a friend and I started doing research on my own to figure out ways to assist her. And throughout the process, it was successful and she was happier and more confident and when the divorce finally went through, I helped her get on her feet to talking to other men, and introduce her to being a confident woman, which is something she, in the past had lacked. And so I just basically was Google searching ways to help her. And then within that same timeframe,


this part I may get a little emotional about, but a cousin of mine, she was in an abusive relationship and, unfortunately, she didn’t make it out alive. So that was also another trigger, because I feel it is very important for women in these relationship to have the confidence to speak out and to let people know that these types of things are going on. And then also I was having issues dating. I was seeing someone and it went south and I was looking for answers why. So, all these things were happening around the same time. And it really made me interested in helping women, and coaching women in confidence and finding their inner beauty and letting go of their insecurities so they don’t’ end up in relationships that are harmful to them. And so when I looked more into the research I was conducting, I looked into the credentials pretty much of the people who were providing me this insight, and I realized they were life coaches. That’s when I really decided to focus on life coaching because I had a personal interest in improving the confidence and inner beauty of women.

E: So you were working full time? What was your background?

C3: My background is in bioengineering; I currently work with stem cells. So I have a science background.

E: Did you see any incompatibility with what you were doing at the time? In other words, how did this idea of shifting to coaching interact with the scientific background that you have?

C3: What’s interesting is that I would tend to shove my intuition aside, everything was very analytical, I’ve always been a scientific thinker. Analyzing data was something I was more familiar with. I took a psychology class in school. I found it interesting, but it wasn’t, in my mind at the time, it wasn’t a definitive science. I was prone to doing stuff that was more analytical and so with the coaching aspect of it, I started to tap more into the creativity and using my intuition. And acknowledging that I have this intuition, that had been shut it off. And it’s allowed me to actually get out of my head at times, and just be more authentic with what I was listening to, what people were saying, rather than analyzing in my mind.

E: You made an interesting comment. You said you kind of shoved the intuition aside, do you feel like you were more intuitive before you went down that scientific path, or is that just something that you’ve never really explored?

C3: Yes, so I feel that when I was younger I definitely had this intuition. And I think back when I was younger, I definitely had these “in tune” moments. I remember my cousin saying one time, saying something like, this was years ago, that I freaked her out because I just said something as if was true and it happens. Actually, we were driving along a road and, she was driving, I wasn’t old enough to drive, and all I said was “slow down, there’s a deer in the middle of the road ahead.” And we hadn’t gotten there yet. And she just looked at me like I was crazy. And she slowed down, and there were three deer in the road when we went around the bend. She just looked at me like “you freak me out when you do that.” And then she said “and your mom does that too.” And so we laugh about it, but, there were things like that that would happen when I was younger, and I kind of lost it. I just lost it throughout the years, that intuition.


E: I think the deer story is pretty fascinating. Was is something that you just knew, or was there a feeling of some type?

C3: It was just one of those things that I just knew. It was very matter of fact that said “slow down, there are deer in the middle of the road ahead.” It just came out like I knew. It was very strange, but...my mom actually has intuition greater than mine. She has always allowed herself to tap into it, and I kind of shut mine off throughout the years.

E: When you say you shut it off, is that something you did intentionally, or was it something that, as you got more into science it just went away?

C3: I want to say it was more gradual. I think just getting into science and going to college, and just focusing on, you know, my career, focusing on just that aspect in general, and not entertaining the fact that my intuition even existed. It may be that I just wasn’t acknowledging that I had those moments. You know, like maybe I was having moments and I wasn’t even acknowledging the fact that it was my intuition and I just…I think it was acknowledging, and then when I came to iPEC and I started learning about the intuition and realizing, “wow, I remember having that,” you know, and I’ve actually been able to tap into it since acknowledging that it is there. For example, a very strange and very…so, when the world cup was going on, at one of the games, I looked at the game and knew exactly what was going to happen, and I almost wrote it down, because it was just so weird, it just like hit me. It was a USA game and I knew exactly what was going to happen. I knew what the final score was and sure enough, just as I knew what was going to happen, it happened and I wasn’t surprise at all. It was just like, “oh, there that is,” you know, “I haven’t seen you in a while.” It was very strange, but…it was cool.

E: Yeah, let me know when you are going to buy lottery tickets. I’ll chip in.

C3: OK.

E: So, it sounds then like it was around the high school/college timeframe, I mean if you were to pick a time where you could look back and say that’s where it went away. Is that about right?

C3: Yeah.

E: So, you decided to go into coaching. Why did you chose iPEC as a training program?

C3: When I was looking through different programs, originally I was just going to buy kind of a do-it-yourself type of thing, you know, train yourself type of program, but then I decided that, before I spend money I wanted to make sure that there…I wasn’t 100 Percent sure because life coaching was clearly new to me, if there was a certification involved, if anybody could just call themselves a life coach. So I did more research into that part of it, and realized there was an ICF certification and from there I looked up the top schools for ICF certification, and iPEC showed up and it happened that they had training in the DC area, so I was very interested in that. So, I expressed interest with iPEC. Someone called me and we talked about it a little bit more and even though it is expensive, I realized that it was really the way I wanted to go.


E: So then, when you went into it, you’d obviously done your research so you had an idea, probably a better idea than a lot of people going into it, what were your expectations going in to the training program?

C3: I really was not sure. I didn’t know what to expect at all actually. And I was pleasantly surprised. So I remember my first initial moments sitting in the training, I just felt…it was interesting because our trainer, Keri, was very in-your-face almost, and that was interesting, in the way that she intruded and it was just like…I remember sitting there thinking, “I’m not sure if I know what I got myself into.” But obviously she was an amazing trainer, and there was a reason for it, but I just, I really had no idea what to expect, actually, I really had no idea and it was definitely an eye opening experience. It was completely the right move on my part but initially I really didn’t know what I was getting into.

E: I recall you approached her very early in the first mod about wanting to be more in front and talking to people. So, what prompted that?

C3: I know, and I’ve known, that I want to be in front of a group. I want to be a trainer. I want to lead workshops or talk to groups. I feel that even if I wanted to be a teacher one day, like I know that is something that is inside me that I want to do. But I know I have to get over that fear, and I just knew that that was one of the moves, one of the initial steps that I had to take to get to that point. So I just brought it up to Keri and I said, “I have a fear of public speaking, but I want to get over it and so I ask you to challenge me and call me up in front of the room.” And she was like “Any time we are discussing issues, I will call you up in front of the room. Any time you have to speak, you will be in front of the room.” And I said “OK.” So, it’s definitely something I have known about myself, because, I remember before, my Gremlin hit me, that fear of judgment, I loved to be in front of the room, I loved to be performing in front of the room. And I just know that’s where I want to be, but I have to get over that fear.

E: Well that was pretty bold and I think most people thought it was pretty brave for you to do that. Not just putting yourself out there, but putting yourself in a position where, once you said it you really had no choice. But, you did a great job with that.

C3: Thank you

E: As you went into it though, as you started to realize what the training program was about, how did that shape your opinion of coaching, or of the training, or of the whole experience.

C3: Once I became more familiar with the process and everything behind the coaching, and the core energy process, the energy stuff in general, I was completely on-board. Even after LPT and just learning how to communicate better, learning how to listen better, and just acknowledging, being able to acknowledge and validate. Those skills are extremely important just in everyday conversation. To be able to bring them to coaching and to practice on my peers, it was just…it was an eye-opening and life changing experience. I first wanted to apply it with myself and just become more self-aware of what I’m doing wrong even just conversing with people. I remember at times being in my own head…I’d ask a question in my own head and I’m not truly listening to what that person says, so I enhanced my listening skills greatly. And it just made me more


conversationally present. So I definitely feel that it changed my life and then just seeing the possibilities of what I could do with others is very challenging, but it is a great thing to look forward to.

E: You’ve described a couple of different things I’d like to follow up. What would say would be the single most significant take-away you had from that program…as far as your personal development is concerned?

C3: I would say, hmm, the single most…I think a big part of my self-improvement came when I was able to shut off my mind and just be present, and be authentic, and not overanalyze and over think, for whatever situation I was in.

E: How much did the act of reflection play a part in what you experienced?

C3: I would say it played a huge part. Even after my peer sessions, I would reflect on just how well…so what I’m trying to say is, when I was coaching initially, I was in my head a lot, and it was hard to be present, it was hard to be there and use my intuition and truly listen if I was in my head thinking of what I was going to say next. So, just after each session, just being able to sit and say like, what did I do wrong here, and even with the mentors as well. And I notice a huge shift in the coaching-client relationship when I would just shut my mind off and just let my intuition guide. And so I think just having the mentors there to help me reflect back on what I learned that session, and that seemed to be a recurring reflection I would make. I need to get out of my head and just be present and use my intuition, and truly listen to what people are saying. And I feel that it helped me to be more authentic…and more authentic in my personal relationships as well. Just to be present and to be authentic, and not over analyze, not over think. I feel that it’s definitely helped my relationships.

E: Ok, so it sounds like you were able to take it outside and really absorb the lessons, and it’s not just authenticity in a coaching session, but really authenticity in life…a much broader application.

C3: Right.

E: Thank you for sharing that. How do you prepare for a coaching session?

C3: I like to take a couple of minutes before the coaching session to relax and do some centering. I definitely think that is important so that I could be fully present and I could shut my mind off. If there has been a lot going on that day, I want to make sure I am fully present for my client. So I feel that is an important initial step. And then once I am coaching the client, acknowledging and validating is definitely important, not only for the client to hear what they have said, but for me to make sure I am listening. It keeps me present rather than in my head. When I’m present I can acknowledge what they say and mirror back to them without a problem, whereas if I’m in my head, then I’m not fully listening, I’m not fully present and that will also not allow my intuition to guide my next question. And so in the beginning, when I was first learning how to coach, and I still find myself doing this, I’m not an expert yet unfortunately, but there would be an obvious shift in what I would say is the success of the coaching-client relationship, especially


with my mentor for example, because he would give me feedback. In the beginning, I would find myself in my head a little bit, and then once I was able to just kind of tell myself, “shut your head off and just listen and be present,” just how much it flowed. How well the relationship progressed as a coach and client. It was an obvious difference, there was like a synergy there, whereas I was kind of disconnected in the beginning. And my mentor would confirm this. He would say I always know when you are just letting your intuition guide you, because I just feel that synergy between us. So I’m just continuing with shutting my head off, and using my intuition. Those are big things for me to carry into a coaching session. So definitely relaxing, getting my mind clear, and just trying to be fully present with whatever it is that the client is expressing.

E: Ok. So you go into it, you do your coaching session and as far as the process goes, how do you wrap up a coaching session.

C3: I wrap up a coaching session based on…I basically ask them if there is something that they’d like to be held accountable for; anything that they’d like to work on for the next session.

E: What was the greatest challenge you had with coaching? I know you’ve said getting out of you head, but more situationally.

C3: Sure. They biggest challenge I had was…it was with my mentor and he had brought what was on his agenda, and I found myself, kind of disappointed in a sense in that, his agenda was getting better with e-mail. And I found myself disappointed with the subject matter, and initially that impacted the coaching session. But then I just kind of let it go and coached him on it. So I think that would be challenging, just getting subject matter that may not seem…I don’t know. I just was not expecting to coach on responding to e-mails. And I just feel that I judged it and I shouldn’t do that. I want to be fully open and not critical no matter what the subject matter is.

E: I think that is great thought. I understand that it can be frustrating, but it also sound like you reflected and learned from that experience and you improved form that. So I think that was a tremendous opportunity and a good effort on your part.

C3: Thanks.

E: Sure. So would you say was your greatest success or successes?

C3: I would say the most fun that I’ve had in the program was performing the ELIs. I really enjoy debriefing ELIs and obtaining that certification. I feel that with the ELIs you can learn a lot about an individual and I feel that it really helped my coaching skills immensely. And I really believe in the tool and I believe in the assessment and the coaching behind it and I definitely felt that was probably the most enjoyable part for me.

E: OK, thanks. Have you had to deal with any ethical issues in your coaching sessions?

C3: No, I don’t believe so. I can’t remember any ethical issues.


E: OK. You and I have talked about this before, but as you develop your specialty in coaching, what is you greatest interest?

C3: Currently my greatest interest is in helping confidence and inner beauty in women. I also could see myself diving into life purpose as well and the energy leadership stuff. So I have more of a short term goal, definitely in helping women, but I could definitely see my long term goals going into life purpose. And definitely that energy leadership stuff, I would do that stuff now if I had the opportunity because I really do enjoy that as well.

E: You‘ve said that in your development as a coach, you are interested in women’s confidence now, and possibly the life purpose and other areas. What framework have you set for yourself to continue to develop as a coach?

C3: Initially, I want to start a business that would be workshops for women. That would be an initial start for me. I want to learn more about the marketing and business aspects of it as well. I have a lot to learn in that sense, and also with the workshops. I want to promote my coaching as an individual. So I definitely see myself coaching groups, or teaching or training. And that is definitely a long term goal of mine to make sure I am utilizing that because I know that is something that is within me that I have a passion for. Once I get over that fear.

E: What about is it about the group coaching that really appeals to you?

C3: I like an interactive atmosphere. I like being around people and groups of people and feeding of different energies and different personalities. And there is something about training that I really enjoy. I enjoy assisting people and helping them and just engaging. I don’t really know how to describe it, there’s just something about it that I absolutely love.

E: Describe what your career would look like in thirty years.

C3: Oh, thirty years. Wow, I definitely want to be that all-star coach. I…wow…I don’t know. It’s interesting because a lot has changed for me in two years, you know, with the direction of my life. So thirty year is just overwhelming to think about. I definitely want to be an entrepreneur. And I want to impact the lives of others in a positive way, and continue to grow and learn from others, for my own personal growth. As far as details, I don’t know if I can get too specific, but I definitely know that I want to be known as a successful coach and I want to have been a successful trainer and help the lives of especially women. Yeah, I don’t know, thirty years, that’s a long time.

E: It goes by fast, trust me.

C3: Well, I’ll enjoy every moment of it.

E: So you see coaching as the type of profession that you could still be doing in 30 years?

C3: Yeah, I could definitely see myself doing that. I would definitely say that fifteen years from now, 100 percent sure; thirty years from now…I want to do something that’s coaching related, or


even something like we’ve talked about before with the neuroscience, because that is very interesting, and so to be able to merge my science background in the coaching somehow, that would be really interesting.

E: Mm-hmm.

C3: So I think there are a lot of opportunities, with my background, and with the coaching in general, so I’m excited to see where I do end up in thirty years. But I definitely know I want to be using coaching at some level, in some way.

E: Well, we have addressed everything I wanted to discuss. Do you have any questions for me.

C3: No, not at the moment. I can’t think of anything.

E: OK. Well, thank you very much for your help with this


Appendix G

Transcript from Interview of Coach 4 (C4)October 26, 2014; Alexandria, VA

E: I’d like to start out and ask you how you define coaching.

C4: Coaching is the process of helping somebody talk through a challenge, a success, an issue, so they can process it and move forward, whatever that means, if they need to make a decision, or just find some resolution or just reflect on it, um, but yeah, it’s really just that process, that dialogue, the conversation back and forth.

E: What made you want to become a coach?

C4: So, my whole life I wanted to be a teacher. And I thought I would teach for my whole life, essentially until retirement, and I taught for three months. I waited until Columbus before I realized this wasn’t going to be my long-term kind of path. So, I left teaching. I wanted to be a teacher because I wanted to inspire kids, to be their best selves and to really light up. And that is really not what teaching is. Teaching is first and foremost about educating them, and if you don’t necessarily care if people know what a linear equation is, then being their algebra teacher probably isn’t a good fit. So I left teaching and got a job, which is actually still my current job. That was almost six years ago now. But within six months of that job I felt like, what am I doing? Where am I going, what am I doing. If I could describe my day in one word is would be “beige.”

E: Really?

C4: I went from interacting with one hundred thirteen-year-olds a day to five adults a day, and that was if I intentionally chatted up a barista at Starbucks, you know? It wasn’t…I didn’t really interact with that many people at work. There were five people on my team, and, you know, it was just not super engaging.

E: Sure

C4: But, I was tutoring on the side just to make a little bit of extra money, and the moms of the students I was tutoring would pick me up and take me to and from the metro. And in the car, in the car ride they would just talked to me about their kids and what was going on and I felt so much like myself on those car rides. So I said I want to get paid to listen to people. That was like the first thing for me where I was like, this is what I’m interested in…this is what I…I feel so much like myself in those moments, just like, there is nowhere else I’d rather be. I’m just really locked in with that person, you know, and giving them space to kind of just speak and then reflect back. Almost just that like, kind of encouragement, like, you’re doing a good thing Mom. Like, your kids are fine, you know? Um, and so, I thought about therapy, and I actually applied for a master’s program and I didn’t get in, and I was relieved when I didn’t get in.

E: Why’s that?


C4: I think because therapy seemed too heavy. The program was clinical mental health counseling, and I knew that I would have to do some type of rotation in a hospital or something where, you know, it was very serious. And that wasn’t how I wanted to spend my day, or my time, just alone in a room with somebody that was really like, upset or sad or disturbed. And so I think something just in my intuition was just very relieved.

E: What is the role of the coach in the coaching relationship?

C4: The role of the coach is to ask really good questions, listen to the answers, really listen through your ears, but it goes deeper than that. A lot of times I’ll coach through my intuition. That’s the scariest part, just from the coach’s perspective, listening, but also listening to the things that aren’t said, and then reflecting those things back to the client.

E: What would the ideal client bring to help facilitate the process?

C4: Openness. For me, that’s the biggest thing. Openness and…being open to share, being open to letting the conversation go where it will go. I’ve had a lot of client come to me with certain things, and then they realize it is really something completely different. It’s like the underlying issue. And so, being open to covering those things. And you just kind of go with the flow with a lot of thing. I was actually on a call this week where, talking to this woman about dating, and she thought she would be married by now, how come she can’t find a guy…a good match…and her assignment from the week before was to make a list of all the wonderful things she would bring to a relationship. She struggled with that. And so, I asked her to imagine taking herself on a date…so, there’s her…and there’s…I asked her to see herself as two people, the person taking her on the date and the person being on the date. That was a totally weird, off-the-wall question, and she went with it. And, that was really good. I felt like that was a good exercise, and I just appreciated that she was willing to go there.

E: What would you consider the optimal outcome of this relationship between coach and client?

C4: That the client leaves with a feeling. They leave feeling the way they want to feel. They leave with more consciousness about who they are, and what they bring to a situation. That they feel more in control of lives, more peaceful, more confident. I guess the ideal outcome is that “aha” moment…when the light bulb goes on.

E: You mentioned your background and dissatisfaction of your role as a math teacher, how did you find out about coaching.

C4: Sure. So, I was actually working full time in an office role at a university, and I had an opportunity to take a graduate course, I got a graduate certification in career and workforce development. I thought that would be interesting, because nobody ever asked me what I wanted to do with my career, or why. When I was so sure I wanted to be a teacher, nobody ever asked me why. So, I thought it would be pretty interesting. And then I applied for a master’s program, and didn’t get in, and I was very relieved about that, because…clinical mental health counseling is much heavier than coaching. I think I knew the whole time that that wasn’t the right fit, but


for lack of a better option, that was the closest thing. So, anyway, when I didn’t get in I was very relieved. And then, I guess shortly after that…I realized…I think I found my first coach through twitter. And not my first coach, like I didn’t hire her, but the first time that I knew life coaching was a thing, was this woman who I found through twitter. And, I knew from my experiencing tutoring, I was tutoring on the side at this time and the mothers of students I was tutoring would drive me to and from the Metro. And would love that time in the car, where we were just chatting about their children and then just different things. That was the moment where I knew I wanted to get paid to listen to people. I felt so much like myself in that moment. So I think it struck me that, I wanted to get paid to listen to people. I remember my in-laws asking me if I wanted to be a psychologist or a counselor, and I said “no, not exactly,” I knew that didn’t feel right. Then I found this coach, and learned that coaching was a thing, or I knew that there was at least one life coach in the world. And so I said to my friends, I think I want to be a life coach. And I still didn’t know at this point that life coaching in a legitimate thing, or industry, or anything. And they said, oh you know Ally’s mom is a coach. Which of course I didn’t know Ally’s mom was a coach, even though she was one of my closest friends in college. And so the next thing I knew I was on the phone with Ally’s mom, and she had gone through iPEC and raved about it and said that even if I only went through the first weekend, it would be life changing. And then I think my learning about coaching as an industry, and modality for goal setting and healing and personal growth, my learning just grew from there, through iPEC.

E: So the decision to pursue coaching through iPEC was influenced primarily by Ally’s mom, the turning point for you?

C4: Yeah.

E: What were your expectations going into that program?

C4: I think they were two-fold. I think 1, I wanted to learn about myself, and 2, I wanted to learn the skills to be a successful coach.

E: Do you feel like you had a good idea of what that was based on the research you had done…to be a good coach?

C4: Yeah. I had looked into a couple of programs and I just felt very good that, I felt confident that iPEC would be the best one. Mostly that came from…Ally’s mom mentioned it and then I did some research on my own, I probably read every single thing on the iPEC web site. And then I had an admissions interview with a representative from iPEC, who explained that whole process, so I knew what to expect. And I think…that the tools and the practice really, throughout iPEC, really did set me up to be a good coach. Did that answer the question?

E: Yes, that was good. That was fine. We’ll come back around to that. It sounds like you had a very clear understanding of the program. So after you went through it, was it what you expected?

C4: Yeah. Doing what I outlined, learning more about myself, and about what it is to be a good coach. I think it actually exceeded my expectations. I didn’t really know exactly what to expect


going in, so I think the personal growth I had through that time and the skills that I learned met, if not exceeded my expectations.

E: Do you feel you had any “aha” moments of you own going through the program?

C4: Oh my goodness, so many….yeah, yeah. And I can’t thank of any just off the top of my head. Well I think maybe the biggest one, and there were so many, one…well…yes…yes…yes…if the question is if I had any “aha” moments, the answer is yes.

E: If you have one to share I would be interested, but if you don’t feel comfortable sharing, that is fine too. Whatever you are comfortable with.

C4: I can’t think of a particular one, but I can give an example of how coaching has changed my life. I had a very good family and a good family life, but there was really something that kind of a point of stress for me. I am the oldest of five and my parents are now divorced, but they divorces when II was in college, and so I just think I feel a lot of stress around my family. It was very chaotic and so I would feel stressed and I would react…I would get triggered a lot with my family. And I wouldn’t show up as my full true self, because I was just always in reaction mode, I would hear everything, I was almost over stimulated. And my relationship with my mom wasn’t the best, but I remember I had a conversation with her…maybe it was after my first mod, I’m not sure if I had been through the second one yet…but she said to me, coaching has changed you, you are such a joy to be around. And so that was a big moment for me, where I realized I had had some shifts. Because…my best friend in middle school, and high school, I would go to her house all the time, and her mom would always say I was so easy going and laid back and so great to have around, and all these thing. And I don’t know if my mom would have said the same thing. And for her to say that I was such a joy to be around, and I’m different and I’m lighter and I’m happier, that was a moment for me when I realized I can show up as just…myself.

E: It sounds like it was good validation for you, being your authentic self.

C4: Yeah. It gave me the tools, and I remember I had a…my mom was reacting to me about something, and my actions triggered something in her, and normally, we would then be out together doing what we were doing, and it would be tense and awkward, and probably would have ended on a very bad note, but I think through iPEC I developed the tools to kind of distance myself a little bit from her emotions, and respond instead of react, and so I was able to almost talk her through, or coach her through, some of her emotions.. and help her realize the reason she go triggered, because she thought I was spending more time with my friends mom, than I was with her. And that offended her. To help her even realize that to acknowledge and validate her and say you’re my mom, nobody can take that away from us and just kind of help her process. It really actually, it turned the whole night around and I think it even helped shape our relationship. That was really powerful for me.

E: How does reflection play a part of your development?


C4: I think reflection is something that comes very naturally to me. No matter what my job is, I always want to be reflecting on it and making it better…doing it better, streamlining processes…in a coaching setting, watching, observing myself and how I am responding to a client. For me personally, it is almost a hyperawareness of what I am doing and how I am feeling and I think that the reflection is key, and providing space to do that. I think that is really… necessary…you need to have the space to do so. And I think reflection can be very vulnerable. I have a theory that, there are a lot of people in my life that are just very busy. And I was actually just a very busy person for a long time. Really until iPEC I was busy – I had a full time job, a part time job, I was tutoring, I was taking classes, all these different things and I think that a lot of people that are busy are busy almost as a defense mechanism. Because they don’t want to be just sitting on their couch on a Tuesday night with time to think. And I don’t think necessarily it is something people know consciously, but it is something that they do to avoid having time to think about things. Being in your brain can be very scary and vulnerable. That’s where the most judgment is. I mean, there is more judgment in your own brain than there is with anyone else.

E: Do you think reflection has always been part of who you are, or is it something that has developed with the coaching process?

C4: I think that it has always been a part of me, and I definitely think that my ability to do so has grown significantly through the coaching process. I can almost like, coach myself through things at this point. The same kind of “aha” moments that would come from coaching, I can have those sitting on the bus riding to work in the morning.

E: Do you have an inner dialogue when you do that? Do you sense that you actually coach yourself?

C4: Yeah, maybe a little bit. But it doesn’t feel like two people. But I will ask myself, what is making me so emotionally charged about this issue. Like, why do you feel so scared about something?

E: You mentioned the word “intuition” before, and that word has been coming up a lot during my interviews. How much of that is the inner dialogue, or attributing it to intuition rather than reflection? And are those two different things?

C4: I think they are two different things. Intuition to me is in my core, reflection is rooted in my brain. Intuition hits in the moment, reflection comes after the fact, and thinking about things. Sometimes I think they can happen almost instantaneously, like, I was on a coaching call last week and I really got an intuitive hit about something, but I just didn’t know how to say it, would it be offensive,… and so there is the intuitive hit and then reflecting on that. And reflecting on how does this hit fit in this context that we are in and then kind of making a judgment call on that. I also think that if you don’t follow your intuition, there is going to be a lot more reflection necessary.

E: Good point. The way you describe it is an excellent comparison between the two aspects. Which do you think…well, they play and important role so you really couldn’t say one is more important than the other.


C4: Yeah. No I don’t think you could.

E: They are just like different tools in your toolkit. As you take this background into your current coaching practice, how do you setup and prepare to go into a coaching session?

C4: That’s a really interesting question, and it’s depending mostly on where I’m at. With a client that I feel really comfortable with, it’s three minutes before the call, grab the phone, grab the notebook, grab a glass of water, come into the room where I do my coaching calls and just kind of sit and wait for them to call. If something happened in my day, or I am feeling particularly charged about something, I take a few deep breaths and feel my feet on the ground. That is a very powerful thing for me, to just get into my body more than in my head. Yeah, just take a few deep breaths. And also I remind myself that I am looking forward to the call because it will be a distraction for my own stuff. For that hour, it’s just me and the client and I don’t need to worry about my own stuff, for me to try to kind of shake off my own stuff and be centered and present for the client. And then the third kind of thing that actually just happened this last weekend, during this coaching group, and it felt very vulnerable for me to do this. I can’t really explain why necessarily but mostly I think because it’s tied so much into who I am and what I believe. And the type of women that I want to work with and there’s multiple people on the call that I’m really trying to do a good job with this and I really want it to be good. And it’s a trial run and there’s multiple people and I had technology issues, so I’m having nerves going into the call and I found myself sitting on the couch watching like leading up to it I had some down time, and I thought I’m just going to make some muffins. And so I had this recipe I had been wanting to make and I had the ingredients, and so I just decided to focus my attention elsewhere, and to kind of busy myself, intentionally busy myself so that I wouldn’t get so worked up about it. And it worked. Essentially so I wouldn’t overthink it, was what I was just trying to do.

E: So when you go into the coaching session itself, how does that impact you personally? And based on your description, I would have to distinguish between intuition and reflection.

C4: Well, I think the question about intuition or reflection, I think they’re two kind of things. How it affects me personally. On some calls its fine, I’m on the call for 30 minutes and then I go back to my normal life, go watch TV or whatever, I don’t think too much of it. And then are calls, like the one on Wednesday where I made the muffins before and I asked the girl to go on a date with herself. And on the call and after, I said to my husband, my heart was so big and full and I think because on that call I was able to use my intuition. So when I am able to use my intuition I am very full and satisfied and kind of powerful. And then there are other calls where you know it’s just fine. It was good practice. I guess on those calls, I don’t know if I would call it reflection, but there is more thinking and processing as the call goes on, versus other types of calls where it is more intuition-based.

E: Is that dependent more on your state of mind or what the client brings to the session?

C4: What the client brings.

E: OK. As you get to the end of a session, how to wrap up a coaching session?


C4: I am timely. It is always weird because it always feels like there’s something else, but a lot of times I’ll just let it fade out. I’ll say something like, “Think about that this week,” or “I’m excited to see where you are, how things go in the next week or two until we talk again.”

E: Do you set any type of agenda at the beginning, a very specific agenda?

C4: On my individual calls, we don’t have an agenda. When I’m coaching a group, there is an agenda, well, a format more so. We’ll have a group kind of chat in the beginning and then I’ll coach three individual people for 20 minutes, and I set a timer. And I usually try to give them an assignment at the end. And some people respond better to an assignment that others. Some people really want that and they will send me actual answers, some people don’t want it at all and they just want to talk on the call about…they just want to use the call as a reflection kind of point. And then others will take the assignment and just think about it all week, but they won’t actually write anything down.

E: Do you use any kind of checklist, or formats or templates as you go through these sessions?

J; No, I am totally a freeform kind of coach, whatever comes up. I literally have a blank page in from of me. I jot things down, and that will actually help me process. I just jot down words, or phrases, or questions. And it’s funny because sometimes there are a lot of things and I will have multiple pages, and sometimes I will have nothing.

E: Do you think you have more or fewer notes on the calls where you are more intuitive?

C4: That’s a good question. My immediate reaction would be that I would have fewer notes when I am feeling more intuitive, but that might not actually be true. I’m not sure.

E: What have been the greatest challenges you have experienced during coaching?

C4: Sometimes I have a hard time staying focused. If I’m not locked in to my intuition, or if the client isn’t going deep on things, if the client is just talking, talking, talking, I find my mind wandering. I won’t necessarily have heard everything that they have said.

E: Do you feel comfortable intruding when they get into the story, and not the issue?

C4: Sometimes, it depends on the client.

E: What would you describe as your greatest success during coaching?

C4: I had one session with a client that was actually in a group call, but who was struggling with…she thought she was coming to talk about her daughter, but after talking for five minutes, we realized that that wasn’t the thing. But she didn’t know coming into it that that was really not what her underlying problem was, but she was actually having trouble with the mother. And she was telling me how her mother was very traditional, didn’t want her to wear shorts, didn’t want her to drink alcohol, all these different things, and thought that she was going to hell because she


didn’t pray five times a day or whatever. She didn’t fit with kind of the old world kind of religion of her mother...the more traditional religion of her mother. And that was one of the best coaching session I’ve ever done, where we were talking about acknowledging that she was spiritual. I asked her what she wanted her mother to know. I asked her to write a letter to her mother. But really I think the biggest thing was reflecting back to her…you know it’s really funny because I hear you saying that you are really frustrated with you mother, but when you talk about your mother what I really hear and feel is love…and that is where this conflict comes from, because you love and respect and admire your mother so much, that you also want to go into these other things. And that’s where the conflict comes from. And acknowledging what I heard, that she didn’t even recognize as…you know, being powerful…like saying, you know you go for a run and you clear your head and you turn your phone on airplane mode or something so nobody can contact you. That’s really good, that’s really protecting yourself. So, that was just a very good success.

E: It sound like you helped her generate insight.

C4: Yeah. And then when she filled out the feedback form at the end of the six weeks, she said that what she gained from the session was confidence.

E: Did you ever have to deal with an ethical issue during your coaching sessions?

C4: No.

E: How do you see yourself continuing to develop your coaching skills? What kind of strategies do you have in mind?

C4: Oh, that’s a good question. Long pause. I guess…for me…it’s just practicing and reflecting, trying things that might feel scary, like following my intuition. It’s almost like a muscle you have to build, in following that intuition. So, yeah, I think it’s mostly just practicing.

E: So then, is intuition something you can continue to develop and deepen.

C4: I think we all have the ability to listen to it. To hear it and to make decisions based on it. And then the more you do it, the louder it will speak, and the more freely it will speak to you.

E: Do you see coaching being your final career?

C4: I don’t know. It’s not my final career now, but it’s so much a part of what I do. I coach on the side, but in my fulltime job, I coach a lot. I pretty much use coaching in everything I do. But, as far as my final career, I don’t’ know…I really don’t know.

E: is it something you want to develop it to do full time, or are you happy using it as a tool for other things that you do?

C4: I think yes, I do want to be a full time coach, especially when I have children...I want coaching to be my primary source of income,


E: Why when you have children?

C4: Well, I guess when you said do you want coaching to be your career; I think working for myself as an entrepreneur. That’s the part of it that I am unsure about. But when I have children, I want a very flexible schedule where I can choose what my hours are. I am starting a new job in two weeks, and one of the biggest draws for people in this position was that I will have the opportunity to manage two people which for me means coaching. Helping them learn, develop, grow. When I talked with the hiring manager she said, we’re looking for somebody to come in and mentor these two assistant directors. And I was like, “Me, that’s me. Perfect.” Because I like the industry that I am in, I like the work that I do, but that’s something that’s missing from my current role, so to have that opportunity to really focus on it, it made me make the move.

E: For a lot of us we see coaching as maximizing human potential. What does that mean to you?

C4: If the definition of coaching is maximizing human potential, and will coaching be my final career, then the answer is yes. That is what I wanted my career to be the whole time. When I started teaching that was my motivation to maximize potential. Teaching is not necessarily about maximizing potential, it is more giving people the tools so they can be successful, but it’s really about teaching, it’s not about maximizing potential.

E: I think that is really where the master coaches come from, who have that idea at heart.

C4: Yeah, I would agree with that. For me, I walk down the street and see beautiful people or smart people; I just see the best in people all the time, naturally. And then as a coach I want to bring that out. I want to reflect that back to the client and help them step into that.

E: You have done a great job answering questions. I’ve love to work with you.

C4: Oh, thank you. Just having this conversation has made me think about reflection more, and how do I reflect, and should I make a point to do that. I’d say this is a win-win.

E: Do you have any questions for me.

C4: No, I don’t think so.

E: OK, thanks again.


Appendix H

Transcript from Interview of Coach 5 (C5)October 26, 2014; NJ (Telephonic)

E: How do you define coaching?

C5: I define coaching for me, with my clients, as taking people from being functional to being optimal. That’s really what I think in a nutshell

E: What is the role of the coach in the process?

C5: Truly, to be a facilitator, use my intuition to help guide the conversation, use my curiosity to really pinpoint questions that help the person dig a little deeper, and to have them tell their stories as much so they can hear it and so that we can look at the person as a whole.

E: When somebody comes to you, what represents the ideal client? To have a truly successful coaching relationship, what do you like to see in a client?

C5: I think from that consultation stage to the next actual meeting, the jargon is to get that buy in, and I think that’s probably true. What I’ve experienced is, I’ve coached people, using iPEC language, at all energy levels, now, those that come in at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and I don’t think it’s based on the energetic space that their coming from, but I think it’s based on touching something in them in our conversation, that helps them to realize that they take themselves to a higher level than they perhaps anticipated even existed.

E: And that’s the buy in that you mentioned?

C5: I think the buy in is that moment when they realize that there’s more to who they are, and what maybe they haven’t yet tapped into.

E: Once you have that buy in, what types of qualities or attitudes should they bring, to be most successful?

C5: I think every client is different. I think you could probably come up with a few adjectives, that, I guess I’ll come up with some that are generalizations, but in my early stages, I guess its…desire to want to be there, but, I not even sure that is necessarily accurate. Let me think about that for a second. What attributes…and I say that because I did have one client who had to be there…well, was suggested to be there because her boss was paying for it. But it wasn’t’ in the context of an overall corporate setting, it was just an executive assistant to a CEO and he wanted her to go into coaching because he benefitted from it, but she came in with a much different…I don’t’ think she came in with desire. So I can’t necessarily say that was an attribute that was required. So, let me think about it again.

E: Let me rephrase the question. If I am coming to you as a client, what type of attitude or characteristics would I bring to this relationship to make it most successful to me.


C5: In my intro, when I talk about what the coaching relationship can bring, here’s what’s going to make this work, is their willingness to be open-minded, their own curiosity about themselves, their willingness to share, and be a bit vulnerable.

E: That is what I am interested in, those attributes that you see as valuable.

C5: But I’m not sure until I’ve coached a few sessions, I can intuitively get a sense that I’m touching those places…the vulnerable space, the curiosity, and the willingness. But I can’t tell you that consciously the people in those initial sessions have acknowledged that space. Does that make sense?

E: It does, sure.

C5: I can see the vulnerability, so I know I can tap into it, or I can feel it if that’s the right term. And I can do my questioning and their responses or their questions get that sense of curiosity and buy in, but I’m not sure, and I’m not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I can’ tell you that when they walk out of there that they are conscious that that’s just happened. Or it was an explicit statement “I need you to be, in order for this to work.” It was more implicit.

E: You’ve answered the question.

C5: Let me add one more. They have to feel confident that it will work, before they’ll pay their money…or be of value, maybe that’s a better statement.

E: Describe your motivation for entering the field of coaching.

C5: For me it really was my own filling in the void of what I always intended to do either as a social worker or a psychologist, but one of the reasons I never went that route of psychologist is because I probably in hindsight, did not want to work with the dysfunctional. I think what I love about coaching is that you don’t’ have to come in feeling broken to be coached. My motivation for doing in personally is my own sense that I’ve always had the gift of intuition and of serving others, I’m always had the gift of being able to motivate others in various levels and places and never felt like…and wanted the tools more specifically to be able to do it, other than just what I kind of self-taught.

E: Your background is more in the human relationship and staffing, isn’t it?

C5: Well, different things over the years, the benefit of growing old, right? I started as a gerontologist, and I used to do training for volunteers to assist with homebound seniors and others, so I developed training programs from that standpoint. And then I had worked with the developmental disabled for a while and then for the past ten years working in the staffing world, job coaching, careers, getting people jobs, doing sales. So, the only thing was using it tangentially. But now I know it was the part of the job I liked best.

E: When you decide you wanted to be a professional coach?


C5: When I had my own “aha” moment that it was time for me to grow, that I wasn’t growing personally, in my career and as an individual. And so I did the research and kind of really dug deep and coached myself as to who I was and who I saw myself as, and where my skills were, and did research and didn’t know anything about coaching when I found it. It was really through my own exploration and talking to people and then found out about coaching and met a coach who talked to me about it and met with another coach who was not exactly…she was a career counselor, a licensed career counselor, and in the course of doing that and my own research on line, and that’s where I came to realize that coaching was my journey that I really had to take.

E: That’s a theme that seems to come up often with coaches – knowing what resonates with them, but not knowing coaching is the discipline they are seeking.

C5: Honestly, I guess to do it without your ego is the challenge, because on the one hand there is something that is so satisfying about watching someone grow, that is just so personally rewarding and yet taking it out of that space I’m learning to really not make it an ego-centric concept because what I really experienced is that you can’t have your ego in the game.

E: Sure. After you did the research and found out what coaching was all about, what made you choose the iPEC training program?

C5: I looked at all these programs on line that seemed to be legitimate, but then when I….I felt like in my research that I was kind of on the tip of something that was going to really start being something bigger because it already has gotten bigger when you look at people like Tony Robbins, and some of the names out there, and I realized right then that I wanted to be in an accredited program and so I looked at what that meant, found the ICF, and in my area, CTI and iPEC were the two programs that were the most well respected in doing my research. And then I met with the one coach who did the CTI program and she told me the pros and cons and she loved it. And then with iPEC, what she said to me what she didn’t like about iPEC was the focus on energy and when she said that, I felt like that focus really made sense to me. So the energy piece attracted me to iPEC because I’ve always felt like I read energy. And then also there was the dollars and sense piece, and iPEC financially had more to offer for the dollar. It was just the way they packaged it. For example, at CTI when you do the peer coaching, you have to find your own peer coach and then pay them individually. So it was much more all-inclusive with iPEC.

E: You mentioned the feeling of intuition and the ability to read energy, is that something you’ve always had or is it something you’ve developed?

C5: It’s one of those woo-woo topics, that those of use who’ve experienced have had quiet for years, but since I was very, very young I felt I could channel, and have had the experience of channeling things for people, but then…messages I guess is the word, but then when I was in my twenties I had an experience in doing that, that was contradictory feeling, like maybe I was entering spiritual territory that maybe was not safe. And so I kind of closed it down. Although I always had the intuition, I was much more cautious about how I used it…and how I verbalized it with others. But in words, and with those who are close to me, I was able to always bring it up


and even when I met people I guess felt like I was always…I wasn’t one of those people who could look at the colors of someone’s aura, but I always felt…I guess I didn’t know the word was “energy” at the time. I’ll say it now, but I would, I’d say to my husband, for example, “Oh, they have really good energy.” I didn’t know where it came from I just know it was that sense of being…of what someone presented to me. But, having now learned the definitions and labeled it…that’s what coaching has done for me. A lot of what I’ve always practiced, I just did intuitively, or I just felt like it was the right way, but I never, until I started reading more recently, I didn’t know it was something that…it was something special, unique, different. I mean, I knew that channeling was, but I didn’t know some of my theories or ways of interacting with people…I knew I could do it well, but I didn’t know how to define it.

E: Having selected iPEC, what were your expectations going into training?

C5: I’m not sure I had any. Honestly, I think my expectations…my…how do I put this…having made…I have spent a lot of years serving others and not myself, so just going, just knowing that I took the leap and paid the money to do something that was solely for my benefit and growth, was enough for me initially. That part was just exciting. I think the only other expectations I might have had was that I could actually have a credential for what I’ve always done. I felt like I needed to legitimize it with a certificate.

E: As you went through the training, what were your experiences?

C5: 100% worthwhile. I remember for that first module I was writing things down like a maniac, every word that came out was just so inspirational to me and so …again, it just made so much sense, like oh, yeah, this is what it is, this is how I can articulate what I felt. I think the biggest “aha” for me form the whole experience going through the training was not to problem solve, because, I think that, as much as I say I did a lot and I had intuition, I then took it to the step of “I can solve your problem.” And I think I said very early on, that I felt like I was a recovering problem solver. Some people go to AA for recovery, iPEC was my…my…

E: iPEC was your twelve step program?

C5: Yes, that was my twelve step program, absolutely. And I don’t’ say that lightly, because I really am after this time and all the training and a year later, I really, really get it, but I spent a lot of years helping people and I use that in the right context, helping and fixing people, and then the messenger got shot. They grew, and everything I said and did really was probably spot on, but often it was the messenger that got shot, and I was left out in the cold and I never understood when I put so much heart and soul into quote “Helping people” why in the long run it didn’t help me, either by friends having to walk away, or…I think that really defines it, that I really better understood why people have to solve their own problems, and how theirs are not yours and how to facilitate somebody else gain the confidence in that process. And not being reminded that you had all the answers as the messenger, and I must not be so good at what I do.

E: Is that what you mean by being the messenger and getting shot, is just not being able to answer all the questions/


C5: Yeah, it other words, shoot the messenger, in other words, I was the one telling them what they needed to do to get where they need to go. And when they got there, people didn’t want to be reminded that they didn’t get there themselves.

E: I see.

C5: Is that more articulate?

E: You were fine, I just needed some clarification.

C5: Now it’s funny, because you are bringing up emotions when I’m talking, so that’s probably why it’s less articulate. Your questions are actually…because I’m a new coach; probably the emotion is still pretty raw

E: Sure, and I don’t intend…

C5: No, I mean in a good way. And I say that because the evolution to get to where I am was not just about shoot the messenger, it was…you know, I’ve talked to you about my marriage…so being vulnerable, for me, has been part of the process, and being OK with that. It allows me to be a better coach.

E: I think the things that you have gone through with life experience, and that’s where I feel you are I am in the same boat, we are older than many in our cohort and have been on the path longer, so a great value of iPEC was being to contextualize the experiences and label them, as you mentioned.

C5: Absolutely. And it’s interesting because the coach whose business I am working with will only higher coaches who have experienced life. It doesn’t mean you have to be old, but she believes you have to have had challenges that you met and went through in order to really be at your best as a coach. And I can understand that, because the more and different types of people I coach, the more I can appreciate where they are coming from and their own vulnerability.

E: I’d like you to describe a typical coaching session now that you have received the training. How do you prepare to go into a coaching session?

C5: It’s evolving. It’s really very interesting because, to give you an idea, as I’m getting more and more clients I can tell you what I’m learning also, but for example, on Thursday, I literally had five coaching sessions back to back and I’m learning how I don’t want to do it and how I do want to do it, in the process. But, what I try to do because sometimes it can be a very condensed time in between my sessions, and I know I do believe it’s best to give yourself some in-between time, even if it’s just 15 minutes, to just kind of focus and center yourself. But what I try to do is the day before the session, I really do try to read through my notes from the week before, really try to get a sense of where we left off, so that when I arrive if for whatever reason my day is crazy and busy, I still have that memory from the day before of where that person is coming from. And that is only because I am condensing my coaching right now, a lot of it into one day, and that’s pretty complicated. But, how do I prepare? I think it’s different if it’s a phone


coaching session or an in person coaching session. Because when it’s a phone coaching session, I can have everything sitting out in front of me, and I can kind of be looking at it while I listening and pulling from it. When it’s in person… I am attentive equally to both, but how you visually appear makes a difference in and in-person session. So you have to have to have eye contact. When I’m just auditory, I can be wiring and reading and listening and I can still like really use my intuition really well. But, you didn’t ask that, you asked how do I prepare. I guess I prepare by really trying to clear my mind of anything that happened in the course of the day. I try to remove any of my own personal stuff that maybe…happened in the day, so if I had a hard day at work or I was late or I’m cold or anything external like that, or internal, I really try to just put it in another place, I really get rid of it. I focus for a few minutes before the first person walks in, either on whatever I’m doing, their resume, their notes, an just kind of visualize the last interaction I had with the person. And then when they arrive, I remind myself of a couple things. I remind myself that I have to be curious, I have to be interested, and I have to come from a place of intuition and really not from my head. That’s kind of my centering.

E: When you think about intuition, what is the difference between intuition and reflection?

C5: I am going to need to process that a little bit, but I would say, that it comes in two places. I reflect, because I hand write my notes, some coaches type their notes right into the system as its happening if it’s on the phone for example or even in person. I hand write my notes and then I retype them, and I find I get a lot of reflection when I retype the notes and reflect on the experiences. So that is one time when I have reflection. But I think there is also reflection in the course of session when I pause and I really try to take time to make sure when the person is speaking that I pause and I guess I almost use the pause as a reflection, a bit, because for me, intuition, when I’m really in the zone, it just comes to me. It’s not coming from my head or my thoughts. It took a little bit of time after a couple of sessions to really…I really almost touch my heart, my stomach, before when it’s happening to make sure I am staying in that space, the hear t space versus the head space, because I’m a problem solver by default. So, I really consciously pull it down, so that I don’t fall into the problem solving trap. And, you asked me about reflection versus intuition, so that’s how I really find that place of intuition, and for example, something, and then you asked for reflection, sometimes after something comes out of me, like an observation or a pattern that comes to me and for me sometimes I feel like it’s that channeling space, I don’t know where it comes from it just kind of shows up, I would reflect o it then, like “Wow, where did that come from?” it feels powerful to me. It’s almost out of body. I’ll give you an example if it helps, and I’m not sure this is a good one, but it powerful for both me and the person. She was describing an experience of anxiety, well, we came up with it together that it was anxiety, and how she goes into a tailspin when she comes and confronts situations that, she’s a very controlling person, that puts her out of control. And we, certainly in the course of coaching, identified control and all of that. And so my first visual of the energy around her, because she came in in that space, was, I said “I’m looking at you and I’m seeing spinning, just going on around you.” That was the energy force I saw. And I said when you go in that like a pilot, you almost go into that tailspin. And when you’re in that tailspin, you don’t know up or down, you don’t know how to react and you’re just pulling. And was just whatever, it was just bringing it up, it wasn’t so profound. But after we spoke more, an analogy came to me and this is a New York City person, so I said you’re not much of a driver, because you live in the city, but when you’re driving on ice, the rule is you turn in the direction that you’re spinning. I said, so if


we can find how you can turn your flow, your energy, into the direction that you’re spinning, you’ll be able to find your center, calm down, and be able to get out of that spin. And using the analogy of driving on ice, she came back the next week and said to me, “do you know how many times I’ve used that?” She said “If it wasn’t for me understanding how to go in that direction, she goes “I feel like I can drive now.” And she said I keep saying to people when they ‘re out of control I’ll go you know how to drive, it’s just that you’re driving on ice.” And I can tell you, I’ve never used that analogy before, it didn’t come from my head, it just flowed out of me. So I don’t know if this defines it or describes it, but I reflected on it, you asked about reflection, and I reflected on that. Like where did that come from, you know what I mean? Like, it was just there. And then it resonated with her so much, that it’s come back, I mean, she texted me during the week “I was in a situation, if you hadn’t helped me figure out how to drive through it I wouldn’t have been able to handle the road so well”…just fascinating to me.

E: It is interesting how you related intuition and reflection. What is the greatest challenge you’ve had in coaching?

C5: One of the first coaching sessions, I was given by somebody else to handle, because it was given to me because he didn’t like the coach that was before him. And so I already knew it was going to be a challenge, and it was the first one that I had to tape. So all of my stuff got in the way, oh my god, this guy didn’t like his first coach, I’ve never coached anybody like this before, it was a foreign student, so there was a language barrier, he was coming from a place of expectation, I was worried I wouldn’t meet his expectation, so I can tell you that I was 100% in my head and it so was not productive. And I found myself challenging him and there was almost a defensiveness that was coming out, and he challenging me instead of being in a coaching mode, I found myself trying to problem solve, and trying to allay his challenges. I would tell you that I 100% felt like I bombed it, I actually listened to the tape after and it wasn’t as big of a bomb like I felt that it was, but I realized that it was because I wasn’t’ being where I needed to be to be a coach. But it turns out that the next session, I was able to just do whatever I need to…I really did research on his area that he wanted coaching on and then I realized because I was so prepared and so…I meditated and I really grounded myself,…that I realized, oh, it probably goes back to your first question, where does somebody have to be to be coached. He totally didn’t understand what the coach’s role was, so that is one of the things I would say to identify that question you asked me earlier. They have to understand what the role of the coach is. In this particular instance, because I was career coaching, he came from the place of “well, tell me how to get this job.” And when you gave him questions or whatever, he’d go “Well I did that, I did that I did that, you’re not telling me anything I don’t know.” And I had to get out of my space that I’m a consultant, because this is the kind of job I do, versus I’m a coach. And I got lost in what my job was. When I did the next session, I think I coached very well, but I realized he couldn’t accept what coaching was, nor did he choose to. It was an excellent experience for me, because it was early on and it really grounded me, because it was like…Oh, no, I’m going to be…I mean the whole ego thing… I’m not going to be able to do this, are you kidding me.” You know.

E: It sounds like it was a tremendous learning experience.


C5: It was an incredible learning experience, I grew so much from it and fortunately the person who gave me the client, who was a coach, came from the right place of not saying well maybe this is not going to be workable for you, but rather what did you learn, how did you grow from this, and what can you do the next time. And that really also helped me to reframe the experience to be really positive.

E: What would you say has been you greatest success?

C5: You know, I’d like to say that I’ve now had a few clients that I’ve taken through a number f sessions to completion, where they left feeling like they could accomplish what they set out to accomplish, that they never felt that they could before. So I guess getting those people feeling like they had the confidence, or at least the tools…I think that’s been my greatest reward and accomplishment, because ultimately that’s what we set out to do.

E: Yes.

C5: And luckily for me, unbeknownst to me, which was even more fascinating, because I had some private clients that gotten more good feedback on, and I’ve gotten one that I asked for a letter, because I needed it to get where I am now, but separate from those, this company that I’m working with, they were sending out testimonial requests to see…that they do after coaching is finished, and I didn’t know that, so they said, “By the way, did you see the testimonials that you got?” No, and I think reading those, were extremely rewarding.

E: It was great validation for you.

C5: Oh yeah, it was really like…because it was like nothing I even knew was happening, so it was that much more rewarding I guess. It’s not like I said, “Write me a testimonial.”

E: Validation and acknowledgement are some of the most valuable things we do as coaches, so it works equally for us to get feedback on the results of the success of your coaching. That can be pretty powerful.

C5: It really is very powerful. I think the hard part I had to learn is particularly since some of the people I’m coaching are for career coaching, that it’s not unsuccessful, I don’t want to use the word failure, if they don’t end up with a quote “job” at the end of our coaching. That’s not what my responsibility is, you know. I want to feel like “oh, you’ve got everything out of it.” But what I’ve had to accept and acknowledge is, it’s the process that’s important and that what they get out of it is the sense that they can do it on their own, or move forward, or they’ve gotten new insight into who they are, and that alone is good. And the other big “aha” for me was, that every session doesn’t have to be an “aha” moment. I’ve had a series of them, and this was some coaching advice I got, I had a series of, every time these people, and I’m still having it, but would come in and get these “aha” moments of this “wow, I didn’t see it that way” and then I was like, “Oh, I did really well because they had an “aha” moment.” And what I’ve since learned is, you almost don’t want your client to have an “aha” moment every session, because they’ll feel like when they don’t have that every session, that the process isn’t working. And as coaches, what we learn is, that it is a process, and even though in that session they might not


realize that they’d gotten something out of it, as they reflect in the course of the week, or even after three weeks, because it’s building blocks. It is just as important. So, I think I went past your question.

E: No, that was fine. The way you described the refraining from the “aha” moment, sound like helping them not to have unrealistic expectations about the coaching process.

C5: Exactly.

E: Have you had to deal with any ethical issues?

C5: Depends on how you define ethical. I had a situation where one of my colleagues was coaching a boss, and I was coaching the assistant. And making sure the confidentiality was protected. And at one point I remember my only…I guess I was trusting my colleague, that if we shared information, it didn’t get back, you know what I mean? But that was because…it was early on and I was like, if I tell you what she’s thinking, which is basically to quit this job that is paying to get her coaching, is that going to affect anything. And it didn’t and you know…but that’s not really anything other than that. Have you heard of other ethical situations in coaching?

E. No, not during this study. I ask the question because I think that ethical issues would require more reflection and introspection, to ensure that whatever decision the coach makes is aligned with his or her values.

C5: That’s true. I’ve talked with somebody who’s a new coach and she hasn’t had very many clients, and I don’t’ agree with this, but her feeling was that you shouldn’t coach people, and it made no sense to me honestly, but she is adamant that you don’t’ coach people in level one, that most people in level one are in need of therapy. And I don’t buy that. I think I had a situation where somebody was in therapy, and in coaching, and the only dilemma for me was to determine if the person seemed to have any eating disorder. And I had to…I just had to say that it was not my expertise, and that, even though she wasn’t considering herself as having an eating disorder, and I suggested that she consider speaking with her therapist about it. And it wasn’t an area that I could really tackle, but if she wanted me to find referrals, I could. I don’t know if that counts as an ethical question.

E: I think that is a good example. I that it is a significant consideration for coaches – not going into an area that we are not qualified. We have to always be aware when we are getting into an area that may require therapy, and make the appropriate referrals to people better trained to provide service in those areas.

C5: And I do think that even those with dysfunctions can be in therapy and also be coached. Because I think they come from different places, and I’ll tell you, I think that person that I was coaching who was in therapy, expressed to me, because of the way I approached her as functional, in where we were coaching, said she had so much more rewarding value to her than what she had been getting out of her therapy, because we were taking it from moving forward, and not staying stagnant in looking at where she’s not thriving.


E: Therapy and counseling get in to those mechanism’s in the brain and the body that need more stringent interventions and possibly medication, whereas coaching, we are still rewiring the brain, but it’s happening in a more natural fashion with a functional person.

C5: Exactly, exactly.

E: So looking at where you are now, how do you see yourself developing as a coach? Do you have a more formal framework for your own professional development as a coach?

C5: I wish I did. You know, my goal has been to quit my job and be a fulltime coach come the new year. And I’m on that path. And the way to be on that path is I joined up with this coaching group who is so supportive of me that she wants to help me meet that goal, and therefore is also giving me more and more clients to coach. Obviously I have to prove myself to get that, but so far so good. So my framework of coaching for financial as well as opportunity reasons, and kind of just going with the flow in that it’s career coaching that the company gets the clients from . I can tell you that in all of the career coaching that I have been doing, I would say 15% percent of it ends up focusing on career, and most of it is all about life, which is interesting. The career piece is probably, if I have an 8 session package or a 10 session package, I would say maybe three sessions end up being career at the end. Just based on where the person really has to dig deep first, to know what career they should actually be looking at. So, it really becomes more of a…and I’ve done some relationship coaching now, and I’ve done some straight life coaching for somebody, and I still see myself potentially being there for parent coaching. So I think I’m just going to let it evolve and right now I’m just going to do what makes me money, and then I’m going to find my niche as I go along. Although, I guess the one are that I am going to focus from a business standpoint is that healthcare arena. My next big personal marketing push is to work with hospitals and nursing homes.

E: So, do you see coaching being your final career.

C5: Coaching? Absolutely. Where it evolves, I don’t know, but yes, absolutely. Like you, who knows, if all goes well, I’d still like to go back and get my PhD.

E: Good for you. I hope that works out for you.

C5: Thanks. I just said to my husband today…I’m reading a book and I said…I’m reading it and it really codifies it, as you said, in a way, and it’s almost frustrating, because it’s everything I’ve always said and done. But I’m not the expert on it, you know what I mean?

E: Sure. Well that is the end of the questions. Do you have any questions for me?

C5: No. This has been fun. Good luck with the project.


Appendix I

Coding of Coach 1 (C1) Interview Transcript

2nd Pass 3rd PassC1 my own personal development developmentC1 become a better leader goalC1 gain a lot of prominence recognitionC1 corporate community is looking at coaching recognitionC1 leader development process nicheC1 leadership development process nicheC1 investigating several different programs recognitionC1 leadership coaching for organizational performance nicheC1 coaching not only for yourself goalC1 others to improve performance in an organization nicheC1 how do I improve myself growthC1 through that process of introspection introspectionC1 teaches you not only about yourself outcomeC1 I was aware of it recognitionC1 primary driver motivationC1 leadership goalC1 personal development developmentC1 Developing the self as leader goalC1 larger concept of leadership nicheC1 coming up in a lot of the research recognitionC1 coaching as another means to help developmentC1 self-improvement developmentC1 organizational improvement nicheC1 lot of the coaching is the same standardsC1 fundamentals of coaching are the same standardsC1 any accredited coach training program for ICF is going to be similar standardsC1 certain foundational criteria standardsC1 in that way they were similar standardsC1 beneficial for my own personal development developmentC1 programs are designed standardsC1 do a lot of soul searching introspectionC1 look at where you are introspectionC1 a little bit about where you’ve been reflectionC1 mostly about where do you want to go visionC1 looking at what’s preventing you from going there limiting beliefC1 a lot of the internal introspection introspectionC1 what’s holding you back introspectionC1 how do you overcome that goalC1 face those fears, and issues, and limiting beliefs introspectionC1 everything else in yourself introspection


C1 before you can lead somebody else through the same process role of coachC1 really helped clarify outcomeC1 not only where do I want to go visionC1 where I know I don’t want to be reflectionC1 changed my perspective on what the future looks like growthC1 you do a lot of peer coaching practiceC1 Oh my gosh, really, I have to do this again practiceC1 reiteration of the fundamentals over and over practiceC1 they’ll say something, and you’ve practiced it practiceC1 I was in a session with a client reflectionC1 what’s the agenda for this session goalC1 what do you want to get out of this goalC1 what would success look like visionC1 I can’t think of anything to talk about limiting beliefC1 that’s understandable acknowledgingC1 if you could think of something to talk about, what would it be questioningC1 I sure did a pretty good job of talking outcomeC1 using the questioning the way we do practiceC1 it ended up being a really powerful session reflectionC1 one of the things that I reflected on afterwards reflectionC1 this stuff really works reflectionC1 it can be pretty powerful reflectionC1 really do have some things that they want to work on goalC1 they’re not sure where to start limiting beliefC1 you really become that guide in getting them to expand their thinking role of coachC1 I’m at a loss, I don’t have anything to talk about limiting beliefC1 I don’t even know where to start limiting beliefC1 Well, if you did, what would it be questioningC1 “Well, I suppose I would” client agendaC1 OK, let’s…let’s work with that role of coachC1 it can be really beneficial to them outcomeC1 it was really pretty powerful reflectionC1 I don’t have anything left to talk about limiting beliefC1 limiting beliefs limiting beliefC1 we’re not perfect beings reflectionC1 there’s always something that could be improved developmentC1 it’s really getting the client to be willing and open to look a little deeper role of coachC1 there’s nothing I want to work on limiting beliefC1 there is always something developmentC1 willing and open enough to explore something at a little bit deeper level shared attributeC1 client was interested in changing their occupation goalC1 dissatisfied with where they were and what they were doing introspectionC1 over the course of several sessions we explored that role of coachC1 we worked through some of the limiting beliefs role of coachC1 holding them back limiting belief


C1 now they have opened their business outcomeC1 brokered a very nice severance package outcomeC1 left their job outcomeC1 went out on their own outcomeC1 seem to be pretty happy about doing that outcomeC1 success of my client outcomeC1 I do feel like I helped get them there role of coachC1 I helped guide them through that process role of coachC1 so that they could better explore what they want to do client agendaC1 what their future looks like visionC1 how they can get there action stepsC1 gives you that little bit of confidence boost outcomeC1 Maybe I’m not so bad at this outcomeC1 Maybe I did pay attention in a few of those classes outcomeC1 value added of having a coach recognitionC1 they’re trained coach skillsC1 area of expertise is in how to ask the right questions questioningC1 powerful questions questioningC1 questions you wouldn’t ask yourself questioningC1 isn’t going to think of everything role of coachC1 only going to think of things through your own mindset, and bias, and

perspectiveassumptions & interpretations

C1 different perspective chime in role of coachC1 a question that you wouldn’t normally think about questioningC1 that’s what the coach brings role of coachC1 able to look at it from a different perspective role of coachC1 You know, I never would have thought of that outcomeC1 the onus is on me role of coachC1 get you to realize that the box is an illusion role of coachC1 what would you do if there was not box visionC1 How would your thinking expand visionC1 if there were no limits visionC1 that’s what you bring to the client role of coachC1 there are no limits visionC1 Limits are illusions visionC1 mostly self-imposed limiting beliefsC1 fundamental human thought processes limiting beliefsC1 fear of success limiting beliefsC1 what happens if I do succeed introspectionC1 getting a client to remove those barriers to their own success role of coachC1 recheck in on what our agenda was reflectionC1 what did you get out of the session reflectionC1 what did success end up being outcomeC1 How were we successful reflectionC1 what are the next steps vision


C1 what are some things that come up out of the session that are actionable forward actionC1 the client can then work on forward actionC1 layout some of those steps role of coachC1 between now and two weeks relationshipC1 you’re going to do these things forward actionC1 not me directing what the client’s going to do action stepsC1 it’s the client saying, I will work on these things action stepsC1 I just help them be accountable accountabilityC1 everything is the client’s client agendaC1 just recap reflectionC1 what are the next steps action stepsC1 action steps moving forward action stepsC1 you agreed to these things accountabilityC1 send that to me in an e-mail accountabilityC1 they write it down accountabilityC1 hold that for the agenda accountabilityC1 we talked about doing these things accountabilityC1 how did we do accountabilityC1 always learn something reflectionC1 learn something about my client that I didn’t know reflectionC1 useful in helping them advance their progress reflectionC1 I learn something about myself introspectionC1 changes my ability developmentC1 now I have another perspective reflectionC1 I wouldn’t have had reflectionC1 mindful of paying attention focusC1 I grow every time I interact with a client developmentC1 my own chance to grow developmentC1 reflecting, post-session reflectionC1 I could have asked that question a little better reflectionC1 How did I word that one reflectionC1 When I said this, it fell flat with the client reflectionC1 I should have been reading the client better reflectionC1 I need to be more aware and in tune with how the client is showing up reflectionC1 stop post-session and look at, what just transpired reflectionC1 what was really useful reflectionC1 what resonated with the client reflectionC1 what didn’t reflectionC1 insight into your own processes and thought processes developmentC1 how to make each session better reflectionC1 take notes during a session sessionC1 how do I interact with the client reflectionC1 also take notes for myself developmentC1 something I want to research a little bit more for future sessions improvementC1 continual learning development


C1 always trying to learn more developmentC1 reinforcing of knowledge, skills, and abilities developmentC1 gain more knowledge developmentC1 to become an expert developmentC1 I often reflect on where I’m at reflectionC1 where am I going visionC1 ultimate end-state goal visionC1 doesn’t change a lot visionC1 path to get there maybe changes a little bit visionC1 what drives me introspectionC1 I like teaching introspectionC1 like teaching more than I like coaching introspectionC1 master coach who teaches other coaches visionC1 where I kind of see myself visionC1 leadership as well nicheC1 leader as in the individual nicheC1 help an individual become a better leader role of coachC1 does leadership nicheC1 coach their direct reports and employees role of coachC1 What skills do you need to be able to do leadership well nicheC1 what skills do you need to make you a good leader nicheC1 take you from where you are current stateC1 more optimal space in the future visionC1 make the individual leader role of coachC1 you have certain innate talents current stateC1 turns those talents into strengths developmentC1 how do you raise the level of that performance to a very high standard role of coachC1 put the high performance parts into the leader role of coachC1 It’s the action piece that carries you forward action stepsC1 you have to take action action stepsC1 creating the type of environment that’s conducive to high performance developmentC1 you have to spend so much time looking internally introspectionC1 looking internal and comparing it to the external introspectionC1 I have these traits, how does that make me a better leader introspectionC1 if I want to be the best leader I can be goalC1 what traits am I lacking introspectionC1 what traits do I need to increase my proficiency visionC1 causes you to look at that introspectionC1 I want to continue up that scale of energy in my leadership goalC1 what do I have to do introspectionC1 gets you to start looking introspectionC1 taking the whole person from present to future developmentC1 to an even higher level developmentC1 upward trajectory into the future developmentC1 I need to be better goal


C1 strengths that you already have introspectionC1 innate talents that you are already very good at introspectionC1 how to become your optimal, high-performing self developmentC1 helping me define areas introspectionC1 I might not have looked at as strongly before reflectionC1 get a better sense of who I am authenticityC1 what I’m about introspectionC1 helping me clarify that definition of self introspectionC1 push us towards our optimal self developmentC1 start understanding outcomeC1 what it takes to get there action stepsC1 what actions do I need to do action stepsC1 what areas do I need to focus on introspectionC1 what mindsets do I need to change introspectionC1 what am I missing introspectionC1 I don’t have knowledge of now introspection


Appendix J


2nd Pass 3rd PassC2 process of helping an individual role of coachC2 become clearer of their inner world outcomeC2 help them reach their goals in the most efficient manner role of coachC2 help them become who they really want to be role of coachC2 dissatisfaction with the career I had chosen introspectionC2 recognizing how my strengths were not really being utilized introspectionC2 enrolled in some coaching programs action stepC2 liked the content reflectionC2 loved the questions that they asked reflectionC2 loved the deep diving reflectionC2 it’s kind of what I feel naturally at authenticityC2 sounded like it really agreed with who I am authenticityC2 my values introspectionC2 little dissonance between who I thought I was internally and the practice

of coaching externallyintrospection

C2 differences in who I thought I was and how I had to present myself in the world.

introspection

C2 ignoring the things that I liked and enjoyed introspectionC2 going for what I thought I should do based upon my family values and

what my parents expected of meintrospection

C2 just reasons for wanting to be accepted introspectionC2 making decisions purely on a logical level introspectionC2 not realizing that there’s more to life than just that aspect introspectionC2 you have to find out what you like and what you’re good at seekingC2 I never took the time to make decisions from that place reflectionC2 it just wasn’t part of my thinking process growing up reflectionC2 it was kind of like the light bulb went off reflectionC2 reading all my inspirational books seekingC2 my spiritual books seekingC2 allowing it to happen naturally reflectionC2 just going into what I was interested in seekingC2 no structured path like I had normally done reflectionC2 it just never clicked reflectionC2 I was already in reflectionC2 had to keep pushing myself reflectionC2 I can’t any more reflectionC2 I felt like I gave myself enough chances to try different things introspectionC2 I was exposed to people who were doing it recognitionC2 so many thing I was confused about reflectionC2 I just got so much clarity clarity


this is really great that you did this…maybe you should talk more about this in your paper. Include something in your findings about how this right column (3rd pass) led you to your themes - just a thought


C2 I had a lot of self-doubt reflectionC2 thought there was something wrong with me reflectionC2 I just thought I was being lazy reflectionC2 a lot of self-judgment reflectionC2 it just kind for normalized it for me reflectionC2 gave me so much energy to make decisions reflectionC2 I don’t like it, but I should like it reflectionC2 No, this is not me reflectionC2 I can make a decision and move forward reflectionC2 I didn’t expect it to be as interactive reflectionC2 I expected more theory and less practice reflectionC2 I didn’t have time to do that while I was getting my law degree reflectionC2 I never really had the time to integrate it reflectionC2 I started to integrate everything at a really deep level growthC2 I was able to coach myself growthC2 acknowledge and validate them role of coachC2 makes such a world of a difference outcomeC2 incorporating that into my life now has completely shifted everything outcomeC2 a lot of shifts that have taken place since then outcomeC2 very centered, high level of energy coach attributeC2 allows the space for the client coach skillC2 reflect the clarity that the coach is already bringing reflectionC2 coming with all their confusion and questions client attributeC2 they can’t do on their own recognitionC2 you’re just offering an energy to them role of coachC2 allows them to figure it out on their own role of coachC2 They get clarity because you have clarity outcomeC2 you are really just asking questions questioningC2 help them to unravel the knowledge role of coachC2 they just can’t do by themselves current stateC2 show the client how smart and capable and perfectly role of coachC2 give them confidence in whatever they are going to do role of coachC2 they do it with confidence outcomeC2 has a lot to do with the energy you bring coach attributeC2 the questions do help questioningC2 developed their intuition intuitionC2 they trust themselves coach skillC2 trust the client coach skillC2 they are not trying to fix the client role of coachC2 very low level of judgment coach attributeC2 patience is definitely necessary coach attributeC2 being fearless coach attributeC2 you just have to have this inner stability coach attributeC2 no need to save them from anything current stateC2 need to be able to interject when it is time to interject coach skill


C2 I heard enough, let’s move on because we’re off track coach skillC2 You said you wanted to meet this goal accountabilityC2 I am going to help you do that role of coachC2 I’m not really your friend role of coachC2 we have an agenda to meet accountabilityC2 let me ask the right questions questioningC2 I had to grow past that developmentC2 expand to this new place developmentC2 what about your energy reflectionC2 what you are bringing to the table current stateC2 I had to look at myself reflectionC2 what about me reflectionC2 am I getting too attached reflectionC2 too involved reflectionC2 am I not stepping back far enough reflectionC2 You’ve got to be pretty highly conscious coach skillC2 you are constantly growing developmentC2 the questions are not enough coach skillC2 use your intuition more intuitionC2 Where did they get that from reflectionC2 They didn’t teach us to do that reflectionC2 I didn’t understand it at the time growthC2 I’m starting to see a little bit more of it in myself growthC2 my relationships go so much better when I don’t care reflectionC2 removing myself from somebody else’s story coach skillC2 listening and just giving them the space to figure it out coach skillC2 sometimes I step outside of my lane reflectionC2 figuring it out on your own growthC2 figuring out what you are supposed to be doing growthC2 but only you really know introspectionC2 coaches are so valuable recognitionC2 We really do trust you to know the answers coach skillC2 it’s normal for us to get involved in each other’s stories reflectionC2 asking the client what they want the session to look like visionC2 What do they want to get accomplished in this session visionC2 forward the action forward actionC2 now that you have these insights, what do you want to do action stepsC2 plan something visionC2 sometime they’re not there yet processC2 Sometimes they want to journal client actionC2 it is forward for them outcomeC2 maybe they’re stuck in the past limiting beliefC2 it’s bringing them to today role of coachC2 I just want to think about it more client actionC2 what happened reflection


C2 what’s going to happen after that visionC2 asking them if they want to do something action stepC2 be held accountable for it accountabilityC2 respecting them if they don’t client agendaC2 they don’t need that hand holding client agendaC2 I ran into an issue with a client reflectionC2 didn’t have firm enough boundaries reflectionC2 that’s a theme, it was a theme of mine, all throughout my life reflectionC2 I had to do my self-reflection as to why I was attracting that reflectionC2 that’s no longer an issue to me growth as coachC2 I came to the conclusion that it was a personal problem self-reflectionC2 I allowed things to be crossed reflectionC2 because of my caring nature introspectionC2 I did set guidelines and boundaries in the beginning reflectionC2 I didn’t enforce them reflectionC2 I think that it was a personal thing reflectionC2 I try to practice it whenever there’s an obstacle action stepC2 it really has become part of my life introspectionC2 always looking to develop as a person developmentC2 always reading up on stuff like that developmentC2 for my own personal growth growthC2 I feel like it helps me be happier introspectionC2 this stuff really cuts out a lot of drama introspectionC2 I am always looking for change and expansion growthC2 I’ve always been that way reflectionC2 constant thirst for growth seekingC2 realize my full potential seekingC2 I’ve always wanted to get better and to be better seekingC2 I had to go inside to get that introspectionC2 wasn’t until I started to realize that I was kind of in the wrong place introspectionC2 started to become the self-development junkie reflectionC2 it just didn’t support my values valuesC2 I’ve always been into compassion valuesC2 there’s something deeper introspectionC2 there’s always something deeper than the eyes can see introspectionC2 totally in alignment with my values valuesC2 where are you coming from questioningC2 what is the energy you are putting out there questioningC2 You are trying to help people role of coachC2 I want to be emotionally connected to this introspectionC2 I want to be driven by this goalC2 I want to feel like this is an extension of myself goalC2 inner and self-reflective based goal


Appendix K


2nd Pass 3rd PassC3 I was a motivator role of coachC3 I helped bring out the best in the individuals role of coachC3 I taught them role of coachC3 based on my skillset role of coachC3 based on what I’d know from before role of coachC3 same elements in life coaching recognitionC3 motivating a person role of coachC3 to be accountable accountabilityC3 goals they decide client agendaC3 supporting them role of coachC3 decision that they make client agendaC3 helping them role of coachC3 make decisions goalsC3 what’s best for them client agendaC3 helping them role of coachC3 come up with what is blocking them limiting beliefsC3 what is steering them interpretationsC3 taking them that step forward moving forwardC3 be who they are meant to be authenticityC3 coach is a confidante role of coachC3 fears that they have limiting beliefsC3 motivation that they need role of coachC3 whatever they’re seeking seekingC3 coach is the confidante role of coachC3 helps them find that direction they are looking for role of coachC3 show that faith role of coachC3 be whatever it is they are trying to be client agendaC3 someone who is open client attributeC3 willing to talk about everything client attributeC3 not hold anything back client attributeC3 get a picture of what is going on role of coachC3 asking the right questions questioningC3 get them there role of coachC3 answering those questions questioningC3 use your intuition intuitionC3 where they are with their lives currently current stateC3 did not know what it was recognitionC3 wasn’t familiar with life coaching recognitionC3 situations started happening in my life critical incidentC3 I started looking for answers critical incident


C3 she was seeking answers seekingC3 she was seeking help seekingC3 she confided in me role of coachC3 it was successful outcomeC3 she was happier and more confident outcomeC3 being a confident woman outcomeC3 in the past had lacked reflectionC3 abusive relationship critical incidentC3 she didn’t make it out alive critical incidentC3 another trigger critical incidentC3 to have the confidence to speak out goalC3 I was looking for answers seekingC3 made me interested in helping women nicheC3 coaching women in confidence nicheC3 finding their inner beauty nicheC3 letting go of their insecurities nicheC3 looked into the credentials recognitionC3 realized they were life coaches recognitionC3 decided to focus on life coaching nicheC3 interest in improving the confidence and inner beauty of women nicheC3 tend to shove my intuition aside intuitionC3 using my intuition intuitionC3 acknowledging that I have this intuition intuitionC3 get out of my head introspectionC3 be more authentic authenticityC3 definitely had this intuition intuitionC3 “in tune” moments intuitionC3 you freak me out when you do that reflectionC3 shut mine off throughout the years reflectionC3 I just wasn’t acknowledging reflectionC3 I started learning about the intuition reflectionC3 I knew what was going to happen intuitionC3 looking through different programs recognitionC3 life coaching was clearly new to me recognitionC3 ICF certification standardsC3 top schools for ICF certification standardsC3 I want to be a trainer goalC3 wanted to be a teacher one day goalC3 something that is inside me that I want to do introspectionC3 get over that fear introspectionC3 fear of public speaking limiting beliefC3 definitely something I have known about myself introspectionC3 fear of judgment assumptionC3 I have to get over that fear introspectionC3 learning how to communicate better goal


C3 learning how to listen better goalC3 just acknowledging acknowledgingC3 being able to acknowledge and validate acknowledgingC3 first wanted to apply it with myself goalC3 become more self-aware growthC3 enhanced my listening skills greatly developmentC3 made me more conversationally present developmentC3 able to shut off my mind growthC3 just be present developmentC3 be authentic authenticityC3 not overanalyze and over think developmentC3 reflect on just how well reflectionC3 what did I do wrong here reflectionC3 huge shift in the coaching-client relationship outcomeC3 just let my intuition guide intuitionC3 help me reflect back on what I learned that session reflectionC3 recurring reflection I would make reflectionC3 just be present and use my intuition intuitionC3 helped me to be more authentic authenticityC3 before the coaching session to relax and do some centering centeringC3 be fully present mindfulnessC3 shut my mind off mindfulnessC3 make sure I am fully present mindfulnessC3 acknowledging and validating acknowledgeC3 When I’m present I can acknowledge acknowledgeC3 mirror back to them validateC3 shut your head off and just listen and be present mentoringC3 I always know when you are just letting your intuition guide you mentoringC3 feel that synergy between us mentoringC3 relaxing, getting my mind clear mindfulnessC3 trying to be fully present mindfulnessC3 be held accountable for client goalsC3 anything that they’d like to work on for the next session client goalsC3 kind of disappointed judgmentC3 disappointed with the subject matter judgmentC3 feel that I judged it judgmentC3 my greatest interest is in helping confidence and inner beauty in women nicheC3 diving into life purpose nicheC3 long term goals going into life purpose nicheC3 workshops for women nicheC3 Once I get over that fear introspectionC3 want to impact the lives of others in a positive way goalC3 continue to grow and learn goalC3 my own personal growth goal


Appendix L


2nd Pass 3rd PassC4 helping somebody talk through a challenge, a success, an issue role of coachC4 process it and move forward role of coachC4 the conversation back and forth role of coachC4 wanted to be a teacher goalC4 wanted to inspire kids goalC4 not super engaging reflectionC4 I felt so much like myself on those car rides authenticityC4 want to get paid to listen to people goalC4 I feel so much like myself in those moments authenticityC4 really locked in with that person connectionC4 giving them space to kind of just speak role of coachC4 then reflect back validateC4 therapy seemed too heavy introspectionC4 wasn’t how I wanted to spend my day introspectionC4 something just in my intuition was just very relieved intuitionC4 role of the coach is to ask really good questions questioningC4 listen to the answers listeningC4 coach through my intuition intuitionC4 listening to the things that aren’t said intuitionC4 reflecting those things back to the client reflectionC4 open to share client attributeC4 open to letting the conversation go where it will go client attributeC4 then they realize it is really something completely different outcomeC4 underlying issue outcomeC4 being open to covering those things client attributeC4 the client leaves with a feeling client agendaC4 leave feeling the way they want to feel client agendaC4 leave with more consciousness about who they are outcomeC4 what they bring to a situation client attributeC4 feel more in control of lives outcomeC4 more peaceful, more confident outcomeC4 ideal outcome is that “aha” moment outcomeC4 when the light bulb goes on outcomeC4 found my first coach through twitter recognitionC4 first time that I knew life coaching was a thing recognitionC4 I knew I wanted to get paid to listen to people introspectionC4 felt so much like myself in that moment authenticityC4 learned that coaching was a thing recognitionC4 didn’t know at this point that life coaching in a legitimate thing recognitionC4 gone through iPEC and raved about it recognition


C4 coaching as an industry recognitionC4 modality for goal setting and healing and personal growth recognitionC4 learning just grew from there outcomeC4 wanted to learn about myself goalC4 wanted to learn the skills to be a successful coach goalC4 I felt confident that iPEC would be the best one recognitionC4 learning more about myself introspectionC4 personal growth growthC4 coaching has changed my life outcomeC4 always in reaction mode introspectionC4 coaching has changed you personal growthC4 you are such a joy to be around personal growthC4 I realized I had had some shifts introspectionC4 gave me the tools developmentC4 I developed the tools developmentC4 respond instead of react outcomeC4 acknowledge and validate her acknowledgeC4 reflection is something that comes very naturally to me reflectionC4 observing myself and how I am responding to a client introspectionC4 I think that the reflection is key reflectionC4 providing space to do that reflectionC4 reflection can be very vulnerable reflectionC4 busy almost as a defense mechanism reflectionC4 they do to avoid having time to think about things client stateC4 Being in your brain can be very scary and vulnerable current stateC4 That’s where the most judgment is judgmentC4 more judgment in your own brain than there is with anyone else judgmentC4 always been a part of me reflectionC4 ability to do so has grown significantly growthC4 coach myself through things growthC4 Intuition to me is in my core intuitionC4 reflection is rooted in my brain reflectionC4 Intuition hits in the moment intuitionC4 reflection comes after the fact reflectionC4 thinking about things reflectionC4 so there is the intuitive hit intuitionC4 then reflecting on that reflectionC4 reflecting on how does this hit fit in this context reflectionC4 making a judgment call judgmentC4 if you don’t follow your intuition, there is going to be a lot more

reflection necessaryintrospection

C4 take a few deep breaths centeringC4 feel my feet on the ground centeringC4 get into my body more than in my head centeringC4 just take a few deep breaths centering


C4 shake off my own stuff mindfulnessC4 be centered and present for the client centeringC4 felt very vulnerable for me introspectionC4 women that I want to work with nicheC4 my heart was so big and full outcomeC4 I was able to use my intuition intuitionC4 when I am able to use my intuition I am very full and satisfied and kind

of powerfulintrospection

C4 more thinking and processing as the call goes on reflectionC4 more intuition-based intuitionC4 Think about that this week forward actionC4 Some people really want that client agendaC4 some people don’t want it at all client agendaC4 they just want to talk on the call client agendaC4 use the call as a reflection kind of point reflectionC4 others will take the assignment and just think about it all week client agendaC4 fewer notes when I am feeling more intuitive reflectionC4 Sometimes I have a hard time staying focused reflectionC4 If I’m not locked in to my intuition reflectionC4 if the client isn’t going deep on things reflectionC4 I find my mind wandering reflectionC4 after talking for five minutes, we realized that that wasn’t the thing introspectionC4 underlying problem introspectionC4 having trouble with the mother introspectionC4 talking about acknowledging that she was spiritual acknowledgingC4 I asked her what she wanted her mother to know introspectionC4 I asked her to write a letter to her mother action stepC4 biggest thing was reflecting back to her reflectionC4 what I really hear and feel is love intuitionC4 what I heard, that she didn’t even recognize intuitionC4 what she gained from the session was confidence outcomeC4 practicing and reflecting reflectionC4 trying things that might feel scary coaching skillC4 following my intuition intuitionC4 It’s almost like a muscle you have to build, in following that intuition intuitionC4 I think it’s mostly just practicing coaching skillC4 we all have the ability to listen to it intuitionC4 To hear it and to make decisions based on it intuitionC4 the more you do it, the louder it will speak coaching skillC4 more freely it will speak to you intuitionC4 Helping them learn, develop, grow role of coachC4 looking for somebody to come in and mentor role of coachC4 I just see the best in people all the time coach attributeC4 as a coach I want to bring that out role of coach


Appendix M

Coding of Coach 5 (C5) Interview/Transcript

2nd Pass 3rd PassC5 taking people from being functional to being optimal role of coachC5 be a facilitator role of coachC5 use my intuition to help guide the conversation intuitionC5 use my curiosity intuitionC5 pinpoint questions that help the person dig a little deeper questioningC5 have them tell their stories opennessC5 touching something in them in our conversation role of coachC5 when they realize that there’s more to who they are outcomeC5 what maybe they haven’t yet tapped into introspectionC5 desire to want to be there client attributeC5 willingness to be open-minded client attributeC5 curiosity about themselves client attributeC5 willingness to share client attributeC5 be a bit vulnerable client attributeC5 intuitively get a sense intuitionC5 touching those places role of coachC5 the curiosity client attributeC5 the willingness client attributeC5 I can see the vulnerability coach skillC5 I know I can tap into it coach skillC5 I can feel it coach skillC5 do my questioning questioningC5 sense of curiosity coach attributeC5 They have to feel confident that it will work client attributeC5 did not want to work with the dysfunctional introspectionC5 you don’t’ have to come in feeling broken to be coached client attributeC5 I’ve always had the gift of intuition intuitionC5 able to motivate others coach skillC5 wanted the tools more specifically to be able to do it goalC5 I had my own “aha” moment introspectionC5 time for me to grow introspectionC5 I wasn’t growing personally introspectionC5 coached myself as to who I was authenticityC5 who I saw myself as introspectionC5 where my skills were introspectionC5 found out about coaching recognitionC5 coaching was my journey that I really had to take growthC5 satisfying about watching someone grow outcomeC5 personally rewarding outcomeC5 accredited program standards


C5 most well respected standardsC5 I felt I could channel reflectionC5 experience of channeling things reflectionC5 contradictory feeling limiting beliefsC5 entering spiritual territory that maybe was not safe limiting beliefsC5 always had the intuition intuitionC5 sense of being intuitionC5 I just did intuitively intuitionC5 I knew I could do it well reflectionC5 I didn’t know how to define it reflectionC5 solely for my benefit and growth growthC5 could actually have a credential recognitionC5 legitimize it with a certificate recognitionC5 I had intuition intuitionC5 facilitate somebody else gain the confidence in that process role of coachC5 being vulnerable, for me, has been part of the process introspectionC5 being OK with that acceptanceC5 allows me to be a better coach growthC5 their own vulnerability acknowledgingC5 learning how I don’t want to do it introspectionC5 focus and center yourself centeringC5 read through my notes from the week before reflectionC5 get a sense of where we left off reflectionC5 trying to clear my mind mindfulnessC5 remove any of my own personal stuff mindfulnessC5 really try to just put it in another place mindfulnessC5 focus for a few minutes centeringC5 I have to be curious coach attributeC5 I have to be interested coach attributeC5 I have to come from a place of intuition intuitionC5 not from my head introspectionC5 That’s kind of my centering centeringC5 I get a lot of reflection when I retype the notes reflectionC5 reflect on the experiences reflectionC5 that is one time when I have reflection reflectionC5 also reflection in the course of session reflectionC5 use the pause as a reflection reflectionC5 intuition, when I’m really in the zone, it just comes to me intuitionC5 not coming from my head or my thoughts intuitionC5 staying in that space, the hear t space versus the head space intuitionC5 sometimes I feel like it’s that channeling space intuitionC5 all of my stuff got in the way reflectionC5 I meditated and I really grounded myself centeringC5 He totally didn’t understand what the coach’s role was reflectionC5 They have to understand what the role of the coach is client attribute


C5 I got lost in what my job was. reflectionC5 I grew so much from it growthC5 what did you learn introspectionC5 how did you grow from this introspectionC5 what can you do the next time visionC5 helped me to reframe the experience role of coachC5 left feeling like they could accomplish what they set out to accomplish outcomeC5 getting those people feeling like they had the confidence outcomeC5 the sense that they can do it on their own outcomeC5 insight into who they are outcomeC5 wow, I didn’t see it that way introspectionC5 they had an “aha” moment outcomeC5 what we learn is, that it is a process growthC5 as they reflect in the course of the week reflectionC5 I suggested that she consider speaking with her therapist about it role of coachC5 can be in therapy and also be coached role of coachC5 we were taking it from moving forward moving forwardC5 I’m on that path growthC5 wants to help me meet that goal role of coachC5 most of it is all about life [coaching] nicheC5 based on where the person really has to dig deep first introspectionC5 to know what career they should actually be looking at outcome

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