Knowledge Base

Coaching is about performance, and performance is about the player getting better results than they had previously. These improved results might be driven by change for the player at the:

Each of these levels may have learning goals associated with them. To begin with however, look to the future and get a sense of what real success will look and sound like for the player, the manager/sponsor and if appropriate to wider systemic stakeholders (this could be the team/customers/colleagues etc). To paraphrase the great Stephen Covey, always start with the end in mind. Clarity about where you want to get to, is the key to starting the journey - or any journey - in generally the right direction. It may seem obvious but helping the player to set clear performance goals and success measures is vital to the success of any coaching assignment. It keeps both player and coach focussed on the intended trajectory of the coaching and it enables the sponsor/s to feel they will get value from the process so helping to maintain their commitment. 

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To get a clear sense of future success, you need to be specific about what that future success relates to, so it is useful to start the goal setting discussion with a conversation to put the player’s current performance into context. What is the driver for you to improve performance now? What do you want to achieve that you are not achieving already? What is your motivation for performance coaching? What areas of your work do you want to improve in and why?

These questions will elicit Performance Goals for the coaching, for instance: 

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Next, it is useful to gain more clarity on what success will look and sound like for each of these performance goals by saying: Given what you have said about where you want to improve your performance (and why), what specifically will success look and sound like for you/your manager or sponsor/others?  Using the examples above, this might then lead to specific success measures such as:

To develop leadership skills to improve team performance:

To become more confident in giving presentations in a new role:

To manage time better and delegate more:

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Once these success measures are discussed, the coach can begin to help the player tease out the relevant learning and development goals that will help them move towards the successful future they have described. For instance, taking the first example above: 

Performance Goal: To Develop leadership skills to improve team performance

 Success measures:

Learning and development goals: