Life/Professional Coaching with Greg Porter

Nowadays, zoom coaching is more of a thing. It's surprising given how things have been the past year and a half. That being said, internet connections become more of an issue. I'm sure many of you have experienced a work meeting where you're struggling to keep an internet connection. It's such a bothersome moment where someone is in the middle of speaking and one of you freezes. They stop talking, and you both have to check in to say, "Alright, it's good now." It feels very much like medieval medicine: the network's humors were slightly off just then but now because it has clean air, more sun, and leeches, it is good, you may restate what you just said. In terms of coaching (specifically the coach's perspective), what does one do if there is a bit of lag or if the audio cuts out? There are some options. If you ask the client to repeat, that would kinda derail their flow. Instead, you could try asking a question like "Tell me more." or ...

Let's talk about active listening. First off, what is it? It's a way of describing how one can/should participate in a conversation. If you were merely listening, you're just passively consuming information. Actively listening, however, emphasizes that it is not passive; you've got to do stuff. Quickly googling for tips yields some solid results. Joseph Topornycky and Shaya Golparian, in their paper , describe five key techniques of active listening (with some examples): Paying attention (maintain eye contact) Showing that you are listening (nodding)  Providing feedback (paraphrasing and providing reflections) Deferring judgment (letting the speaker finish before you respond) Responding appropriately (respond in a way that the speaker would want to be treated) Let's look at this with coaching in mind.  The coach should have the ability to focus on both what the client says and what they don't say; it's listening to the whole person. The coach should check to...

Coaching Presence is all about the dynamic the coach brings to the coaching session. But, before we get into the specifics of that, let's get into the client's shoes. You have a problem and you are going to talk to someone about it. Maybe you know that, in order to discuss the problem, you're going to have to be vulnerable. What type of person do you want for a coach? Perhaps, first things first, you'll want someone you can talk with  rather than to . You want them to be fully present and invested in the conversation.  Have you ever been to a doctor's office where the doctor comes in and asks a bunch of questions without asking you what's up? On one hand, sure, maybe the doctor knows lots of stuff but it doesn't feel particularly good. Heck, if a doctor asks me what's wrong, I'll spill everything, most of which, I'm sure is vague and useless but it feels good to get it out there! Now, in terms of the International Coaching Federation, they have s...