powerful questions – Ultimate Coach University

Neil Phillips Sep 3, 2015

What Defines Importance for You?

If a stranger were to watch you for a week, how would they know what is important in your life?

We all carry around a picture in our head of what’s important. And if we talk about our values, materials wants and needs, beliefs and “why’s”, we can find a way to share that picture with someone.

My question is a little different. If someone were to shadow you, what would they say? How do you act towards what is important in your life?

One way they could probably tell is by the amount of time you spend on certain activities. The assumption is that if it’s important, you spend more time doing it. You know that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Your soul and spiritual life is important but as a percentage of time…not so much.

You spend most of your life at work. Does that make it most important?

Can “quality time” replace “quantity of time” as a way to determine importance? Does your passion matter?

I obviously don’t have the answers to these questions and yet I think they are worth pondering. How will you SHOW people what’s important in your life? When you find your answer, then your true self is obvious to everyone.

Coach Approach, passion, powerful questions, Time Management

Neil Phillips Jul 24, 2015

The Art of Coaching

How do you explain passion? How do you know with every core of your being that something is perfect or impossible? The answer lies in what Michael Polanyi calls “The Tacit Dimension.” Tacit knowledge is what we know that we would struggle to say.

Think about young Tim, a teenager just coming to grip with the concept of “love.” I can picture this 13-year-old boy coming to his father and saying, “I really love Betty.” Dad, after calming down, would ask “What makes you think you’re in love?” Tim has some ideas, but can’t come close to telling the whole story.

Tim’s problem is the one we all have. We know more than we can say. This is why we can recognize a face but not describe it. It’s those hunches that gamblers play. It’s those brass rings that let us say things we don’t even remember knowing but they fit the conversation perfectly.

Coaches get a lot of business because of this fundamental human characteristic. Good coaches ask question to let you say what you know. Great coaches ask questions to support you in digging deeper into what you know but haven’t said.

Michael Polyani, a scientific theorist, refers to this aspect of human knowledge as “the tacit dimension.” We know more than we can tell. And the more we tell, the more we know exists behind those statements.

Interestingly, we can’t get at our tacit knowledge by being told. We only recognize that deeper knowledge when asked about it.

That’s why coaches matter. They can ask the questions. They are curious. They take what you say and ask for what’s behind it. Coaches have great metaphors to describe this:

Peeling back the layers
Unpacking this box
Digging deeper

The ability to do this well is not an easy skill. It takes thought and training. Learning the science of coaching helps, but understanding the right question at the right time is really about the art of coaching. (And even great coaches can’t tell you everything about how they do it.) How can you learn:

Engage with a mentor coach. Your mentor can help you take apart a coaching sequence so you push your understanding deeper.

Practice mindfulness. Think more about your second question than your first. Take time to ask a question that pushes into the tacit dimension.

Get training. Coach training gives you the opportunity to appreciate the art of coaching. Investigate possible coach training programs and find one that seems to resonate with you. Your tacit knowledge will help you find the right one if you listen to it.

Coach Approach, consciousness, powerful questions

Neil Phillips Jun 4, 2015

What Will You Say in Your Commencement Address?

I spent most of this past week in San Antonio at the Direct Selling Association Convention seeing what different companies were doing for coaching and leadership development (but that’s a post for a different day). At one luncheon, someone at the table was explaining how he were going to have to leave early so he could get to their high school to be the commencement speaker. Everyone I could see gave a heart-felt OH.

Who among you cannot (without lying) say you never dreamt of giving a commencement address? Yeah, it may have been a fleeting thought, but I am willing to bet that you at least had an image of yourself standing on a stage saying wise things to all of those students about to embark on adulthood.

So let’s play Back to the Future!

You have the chance to go back to your high school and give the commencement address at your graduation ceremony.

What would you tell the younger you?

How could you make the younger you listen?

I can’t begin to answer those questions for you. Next time you have a break, jot down some key points on a notepad. What do you think your work mates would say to these questions?

Now let’s play Back to the Future, Part 2!

You have a chance to go 20 years into the future and meet your older self.

What would you ask?

What would s/he tell you to do or not do?

The real bottom line is very simple: Do what you would tell your other self to do.

Fear, gain from coaching, powerful questions

Neil Phillips May 13, 2015

Five Pitfalls to Avoid When Coaching for Change

I used to think that that my resistance to change was a personal problem. As soon as someone said to me, “You have to . . .” my first inclination was to do exactly the opposite. I now feel great sympathy for my leader who patiently let me rant and provided all of the details I needed to reach “my decision.”

Change management has not gotten any easier for contemporary sales leaders. The top people in direct sales are stuck between a company trying to move things forward and a downline with an attitude worse than mine. I recently offered 30 Questions for Coaching Leaders through Major Change about the curious places I would come from as a coach. If you are a direct sales leader, the question you are most concerned about is a different one: How do I help my team move forward?

A leader-as-coach role is one of the best for supporting a team through change. However, it’s not without its pitfalls. As a leader, you have a stake in the outcome of coaching your downline. You are walking a very thin line between protecting the company’s interests, your interests, and your team member’s interests. Here are some pitfalls you can work to avoid.

Ask more than you tell. Answers to your questions will tell you lots more than nods to your statements.

Listen more than you talk. Let them talk. You’ll find out what is really bothering your team member. If they are feeling oppositional, then your talk (no matter what you say) will only make them feel more righteous in their anger. Think back to the last time you were spitting mad. How would you feel if someone said, “Will you stop and be reasonable?”

Don’t oversell. Stop and think; would you be having this conversation if your downline loved the change? The more you try to explain how good things are going to be, the more you sound like you are selling junk cars.

Every change has an upside and a downside. Your job as a leader is to help others find them both. You are in the best position when you can listen, ask questions, and let your team member decide how the changes will affect their business.

Focus on the basics. Direct selling is always about three things: selling, recruiting, and teaching others to do the same. Keep your team focused on their business activities. The rest is just stuff.

If you are a direct selling leader who has been in this situation, what advice would you give about possible pitfalls?

Coach Approach, listening, powerful questions

Neil Phillips Feb 11, 2015

When Will You Cross Your Rubicon?

In 49 B.C., Julius Caesar made an irrevocable choice. The Roman Senate ordered Caesar to either terminate his military command and return to Rome or to continue in command and give up his political aspirations. The decision occurred on the banks of the Rubicon River: the Senate warned Caesar that crossing the river with his army would be seen as a declaration of war.

History records Julius Caesar’s decision to cross the Rubicon and change history. Once he made his decision and started the march to Rome, there was no going back. He took away all of his choices. Once he crossed the Rubicon, taking the army to Rome was his only choice. And while he only lived five more years, his mark on history is written in indelible ink.

What would happen to your life if you decided to cross your personal Rubicon? When you make a decision that you can’t take back, your life changes.

You have passion where you wavered before.
Your path forward become really, really clear.
You can articulate your purpose without hesitation or equivocation.

Your unflappable commitment is not to an action. It’s to your vision. When I say that I love my wife, it doesn’t mean that we won’t argue. It means that I am committed to going beyond a squabble every single time.

My business commitment is to growing leaders and unlocking coaching moments. That’s my course even if I don’t get it right 100% of the time.

You must do four things to cross your Rubicon.

Tell the most important people in your life. Speak your commitment to your spouse, children, and close friends. You don’t make irreversible decisions and then not tell people. Make it impossible to back down.

Move forward. You no longer can stand still or go in reverse. You have to move forward. Every day, what will you do to move forward?

Dig deeper. We’re not talking about a hobby or something that would be nice in your spare time. Commitment is a long-term game. It’s about finding, refining, and fulfilling the deeper meaning in your life. To find this type of commitment, you are becoming a lifelong learner. You are going to grow beyond your imagination.

Surrender all doubt. Doubt becomes a useless thought when you can’t uncommit. Why waste the energy?

Your life changes when you cross your river. You’ll have to find a strategy and tactics to continue moving ahead. You’ll need to build a success team of supporters, mentors, and a coach.

When will you cross your Rubicon?

Fear, goals, Opening Questions, passion, powerful questions, Rubicon

Neil Phillips Feb 9, 2015

4-H’s to Start Coaching

I grew up on an Iowa farm. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. A part of my life for eight years was the local 4-H club. While I learned a lot of agriculture, I also learned that life has more to it than a day-to-day existence. Every time the 4-H club met, we said the pledge. As I reflect back on it, if offers a great beginning point for mindfulness. The four H’s are head, heart, hands, and health.

Start with your HEAD.

What do you know?
What don’t you know?
What are your key skills?
What has brought you to this point?

Focus on Your HEART.

What makes you happy?
What would make you happier?
What’s the disquiet you are feeling right now?
What are you excited to talk about?

Move to Your HANDS.

What are your tools?
What do others ask you to do?
What do want to be able to do better?
What activities come naturally to you?

Finish on Your HEALTH (your whole commitment).

What would you do, even if you weren’t paid?
What’s the passion that you can’t contain?
What deserves your full attention?
What do you want to be know for?

Are you considering hiring a coach? Think about these four H’s first.

Are you a coach working with a new client? Start with the four H’s.

Awareness, powerful questions

Neil Phillips Feb 4, 2015

Pay Attention to Your Words

Occasionally we hear about studies that give unbelievable “facts” and expect us to believe them. Unfortunately, these are often myths passed down by trainers rather than actual results. Take for example the “fact” that nonverbal communication overwhelms other channels that we have.

The speaker will tell us that studies show that 93% of communication is nonverbal so we need to pay attention to how something is said. It’s one of those myths.

In this case, there is such a study, but its conclusions have been stretched beyond reasonable bounds. Albert Mehrabian studies the relative importance of various channels of communication in the late 1960’s. His results are often reported as concluding that in all communication:

7% happens in spoken words.
38% happens through voice tone.
55% happens via general body language.

That’s not what his study concluded. He looked at situations between partners (husband-wife, boyfriend-girlfriend, etc.) in order to study the communication of feelings. Within that type of situation, his formula is:

Total Liking = 7% Verbal Liking + 38% Vocal Liking + 55% Facial Liking

His conclusions don’t apply to all types of communication. As Mehrabian states on his website: “Please note that this and other equations regarding relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages were derived from experiments dealing with communications of feelings and attitudes (i.e., like-dislike). Unless a communicator is talking about their feelings or attitudes, these equations are not applicable.”

His studies do point to some important concepts:

Meaning from a situation doesn’t come from something simple. It’s a combination of a variety of factors.
Emails, where tone can’t be heard, are fraught with the possibility of misinterpretation.
Don’t underestimate the importance of language in communicating. Words matter.

If you want to read more for yourself, go to:

Business Balls

Changing Minds

Albert Mehrabian’s website

listening, powerful questions

Neil Phillips Jan 26, 2015

The Medium Changes the Coaching Message

The medium (vocal, visual, textual) that you use for coaching affects what can occur during the coaching and after. Nearly five decades ago, Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase. “The medium is the message.” While it seemed somewhat revolutionary at the time, we’ve all come to recognize the importance of the medium as an influence on the shape of the message. Any user of Twitter, Instagram or Facebook could hardly disagree. What we don’t often realize is that the statement is equally true about the medium in which we coach.

Most of my coaching is done on the telephone. Thoughts can sometimes wander through the exchange and the client who is working very creatively may be very difficult to follow. I can tell when the client and I are feeling the same way when I ask a question like, “So where are you going with this?” and the client responds by saying that “That’s a good question.”

Recently, I challenged a client to use a different medium and the clarity was astounding. Elizabeth, my client, was sorting out her thoughts on work, values, and what she really wanted in five years. We’ve talked about this before and while Elizabeth was moving forward, I challenged her to go away to write answers to four questions:

What do I really, really want?
Is what I’m doing getting it for me?
What do I need to stop doing?
What do I need to start doing?

For Elizabeth, writing rather than talking about these topics made an enormous difference.

Thoughts that were swirling in her head had to be made into sentence. Thoughts are seldom complete and very seldom in sentence form. As thoughts became sentences, Elizabeth’s thinking clarified.

Spoken justifications may sound reasonable–until put on paper. Elizabeth was more willing to throw a foul flag when she saw some of her thinking in writing. In hindsight, she called saw some of her excuses “lame or half-formulated.”

Progress is still at a very measured pace. However, Elizabeth is clear on the direction she wants to go and is very steadily moving to her goal.

How can you switch medium with your client?

assisting a client, Awareness, coaching process, powerful questions

Neil Phillips Jan 19, 2015

Why coaches say: It depends

When I first started as a coaching student, we went through a mind-opening exercise in one class. We were paired with other students, coached them for five minutes, and couldn’t tell them what to do. We couldn’t give advice, offer suggestions, and were even supposed to avoid answering questions. After a while, I started to realize that my challenge wasn’t to solve the other student’s problem. It was to control myself. Once I understood what my problem was, I could figure out what to do.

There is an old saying, “Who owns the problem, owns the solution.” Good coaches try to keep that in mind.

You, as the coach, are undermining the possibility of your client’s success if you don’t allow them to own their own problem and the solution. Coaches in the direct selling profession are especially good at this. As a leader, you recognize the issues that your team struggles with every day. You’ve been there and done that. So when:

Susan, your downline leader, says, “I need to have $100,000 in sales by June.” You say, “How’s your recruiting?” Susan thinks the problem is sales. You don’t. As a coach, you’ve stolen her problem and she is dependent on you for the solution.
Jane says, “I don’t know, what do you think?” You feel trapped. Jane want’s your opinion so you give it. You now own the solution.
Your company just announced a new incentive trip. You open your coaching call with Chris by saying, “Isn’t the trip something else! What do you need to do to go?” You have become a one-to-one trainer.

The problem is that when things start to go wrong (even if it’s just a little thing), the coach starts to get the blame. Your downline leader starts to say things like:

I’m not you.
This is what she’d do, not what I’d do.
She’s not in my shoes. If she were here, she’d know this wouldn’t work.

As a coach, you’ve made things tougher for everyone. Your downline client is losing faith in you, in coaching, and in her potential for success.

To fully enter the coaching moment and to put the power of ownership in your client’s hands, you have to avoid being the coach with an opinion. One of the easiest ways to do that is to ask another question. You can say:

“It depends. What did you do want to do?”
“It depends. What’s the first thing that comes to mind?”
“It depends. What worked last time you wanted to reach like this?”
“It depends. What possible ideas are you getting from other leaders?”

As a coach, you don’t have to be a subject matter expert. You have to be a coach. Your problem is to be the coach. Let your client own her problem and its solution.

I’m open to ideas. How do you, as a coach, make sure that your client owns the agenda?

coaching process, coaching vs training, powerful questions

Neil Phillips Jan 16, 2015

Change Your Habits in 2015

If you are like most of us, you made a resolution or two to start the New Year. If you were like me, you probably made a wish and then gave a thought or two of planning an action step crossed your mind. The sad news is that there is very little likelihood that anything worthwhile will come from your resolution. One researcher found that by the end of January, 30 percent of us would have failed and by the end of June, over half would have gone by the wayside. Michael Hyatt says that between 150 and 200 million Americans make resolutions and the research shows around 8% succeed with them.

Now about wiping your slate clean and trying something different? Most of us fail at our resolutions because we plop this idea down in the midst of a lifetime of habits. So instead of a resolution, think about changing a habit and see if you can be more successful. Here are five questions to ask yourself. Your answers will be the pathway to a successful change in 2015. By the way, whether the habit is having sweet deserts, Facebook, or interrupting people, the process works the same when it comes to changing a habit. We’re going to talk about sweets, since that is my annual resolution and has been for several years.

What’s the habit I want to change? The more specifically that you identify the habit, the better you will be able to change it. The answer to this question may take some time. Habits are routines, and most pieces are performed subconsciously. Take some time to think about your trigger. In my case, the difficulty is stopping at a meal. I wanted to go back for second helpings until I developed a habit of having something sweet as a signal to my system that the meal was over. Now I have a new habit of having desert. (I’m not sure which is worse.)
What’s the replacement for the habit? We can’t create a vacuum in our behaviors or thoughts. We have to find a substitute. In my case, I decided a healthy sweet would be the way to go. So what I want to do is have coffee with a sweetener or maybe some dried cranberries.
How do I begin strongly? You can’t just ease into a new habit. If you ease your way in, you’ll soon find yourself easing your way back out. Draw a line in the sand. Say or do things like:

–Announce it to people (more on this later).

–Write it down.

–Set a starting day and time.

–Have a clear new routine. My question used to be, “What’s for dessert?” Now, it’s “Ready for some coffee?”

How do I stay strong? There is no better way to say it that the old cliché: DO NOT DEVIATE DESPITE TEMPTATION. What will you do when tempted? How will you avoid temptations?
Who will I ask to hold me accountable? If you are a softy, you might want to call this, “Who do I ask for help?” For either question, you are making your behavior change public. Moreover, once you announce it, you make it hard to retreat. If you are making a giant change or an unpleasant one, then think about a support team. There is no limit on the number of supporters you can have. You might even want to work with a coach if you are talking about a deep-seated habit. There is some pretty clear research that making public support does very powerful things to your efforts. id

How will you know when your habit is changed? The answer is that you will know when it feels wrong to not engage in the replacement behavior. Since I’ve given up on desserts, I feel guilt reaching for one when it’s offered. That’s a good sign. Since I’m still tempted, I know I don’t have the new habit in place.

What’s your new habit going to be?

Goal, Goal Setting, goals, habit, habit changing, powerful questions

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