• In-person coaching is judged most effective by 70% of executive coaches.

• 89% of those who purchase coaching see in-person as the most effective. 

• 96% of those who have worked with an executive coach say in-person coaching is best. 

• Personal and life coaches believe that phone coaching is more effective than in-person communication, by a 54% to 46% margin. 

"Be willing to let your clients solve their own problems.   Learn the skills that make you "able to enable". As a Sherpa, clients will bring you challenges; situations in which solutions are quite clear to you. The simple thing to do is provide your client the answer. The Sherpa resists the urge to solve clients’ problems. 

Your job is to reflect your client’s words back to him, so he can see things objectively. Let him draw his own conclusions and learn his own lessons. When you are tempted to put an answer on the table, ask questions instead.  Clients will live by the solutions they come up with on their own."

Cincinnati, Ohio - August 3, 2007 - 

Marshall Goldsmith, world's leading executive coach and best-selling business author, has signed on with Sherpa Coaching for three university speaking engagements.  Goldsmith will speak alongside 'Sherpa Guide' authors Brenda Corbett and Judith Colemon on: 

Goldsmith will be a guest speaker in the Sherpa Coaching Certification at all three universities. Students registered in this program will hear Goldsmith speak alongside the authors of "The Sherpa Guide: Process-Driven Executive Coaching”, the program’s textbook. The 60-hour Sherpa Coaching Certification runs in two week-long blocks, with hotel and meals provided on campus.

“Brenda Corbett and Judy Colemon are a dynamic team, and they're great people. I am happy to be sharing the platform with them.”, Goldsmith said. “This sort of collaboration could only happen on campus. We thank the universities for making the arrangements. “

Goldsmith adds:  “Corbett  and Colemon are the next generation of world leaders in coaching. 'The Sherpa Guide' and my new book, 'What Got You Here Won't Get You There' work well together. Together, they deliver the passion and the process we call coaching.”

Sometimes information can be shared with a client’s superior or colleague, with the client’s consent. When that happens, both the organization and the employee have a sounding board, an outside perspective.

Why is it so easy to blame?  Well, it can save someone the effort of being caught up in an issue they never cared about, don’t want to be involved in and don’t have the energy for. 

If your client plays the game of placing blame, then the first thing a Sherpa will direct them to do is to fly straight into the face of negative consequences, and get some practice at taking the heat instead of deflecting it.

These three guidelines could change the way your client listens: 
1.  Present your idea, thought, or information completely, and then close your mouth.
2.  In a team discussion, let the other team members speak. Wait for someone to ask your opinion.
3.  While a discussion is taking place, use all your senses and skills. Watch for body language, inflection as well as the words

Have you mastered silence?

We've heard coaches object that Sherpa coaching is 'too structured'. It's detailed, yes. It has structure, yes. It enables you to duplicate your successes. It's the only approach that builds a 'rational / technical' foundation for the coaching profession. 

Yet, you can coach a thousand clients, and use entirely different sets of tools and resources each time. The Sherpas process is  flexible, and encourages personal creativity. 

Book excerpt: "Teach your client something new every week. The Sherpas Guide offers a wealth of material. Use everything you can that applies to each client.  Do not leave a client without some  “gem” for his repertoire. Take it right from the book, but make it yours and make it meaningful."

Gary was a Vice President of Operations.  He was intimidating at times. We spent 12 weeks working on listening.  Gary put his arms around his weakness and addressed it with his staff and peers.  His biggest revelation was this:  he was unable to stop talking when he was passionate and excited about something.  That led to his people clamming up and not sharing their views and ideas. 

Gary learned to identify when this happened and constantly worked on this issue.  Gary's goal was relatively straightforward, but extremely important to his success.  Gary's learned to identify when he needed to stop talking, and really listen.

Silence makes people nervous because they don’t know what will happen next. Use this to your advantage, to get information when you need it. You're talking with an employee who is upset. Keep in mind that he needs to vent, to be heard.  Give him a chance to do just that.  Participate in the conversation, of course, but once you have said your piece, be quiet. 

Sherpas work with their clients until the client can reach a satisfactory answer on his own. Often, a coach does not have to say much more than “Why is that?” and wait for a response. If your client is avoiding a difficult truth, or coming up with answers that won’t solve the problem, challenge that client, again and again, until he gets it right. This can be frustrating for your client. Be sensitive enough to challenge him in a way that’s encouraging at the same time. Be honest in a caring way. That’s what you’re paid to do.

I noticed that Jeff was beginning to tap his foot rapidly, and use his hand to cover his mouth. I asked him why. 

Jeff told me that when he did this, it meant that I was getting close to the core of problem. He hated that there was “nowhere to hide”.

He was getting a little nervous. Noticing those signals allowed me to extract honesty from my client.

It took time to figure out why Dana was overloaded. It took time to find workable answers to the problem. Once she’d admitted things couldn’t continue as they were, once she’d acknowledged she needed to do something about it, we were on our way.

Yahoo Hot Jobs wrote about the hottest new certification programs, including Sherpa Coaching at Penn State.

www.sherpacoaching.com/conf07.html
 

What are the “activities of a system”?  Have them give detailed and precise examples from their organization. 

What does “held responsible” mean?  Get the definition of responsibility before moving on. 

Your client has to know what accountability means, and create a 'buck stops here' mindset for themselves. This means that, no matter what, your client will become the final decision maker, creator, and manager of what needs to be done. 

1. Is it Precise? Are we talking about a problem, a symptom or a feeling? Sherpas only spend time on problems. 

2. Is it Personal? If it's too personal, we don't continue.

3. Is it Present tense? Sherpas live in the moment, and in the future,  not the past.

4. Is it Possible? Will a change in your client’s behavior actually fix this problem?

We deal only with specific, achievable business behavior. Our process makes sure of that. 

Potential barrier # 2: The attitude barrier.

Clients sometimes consider goal setting, planning and follow through to be exercise in futility. A client who feels relatively powerless might feel as if it’s no use. Remind your client he must choose to succeed. Accomplishing these goals is not something that will happen outside or around him. A positive attitude helps organize his thoughts and behaviors. It helps him move forward positively. We all set goals many times in the course of a day. Let’s pay attention to the really important ones.

Sherpa coaches spend time in honest discussion about the barriers that inhibit goal setting, action planning and successful follow-through. 

Clients might just as easily fear success as they fear failure. Why?  It involves a trip into the unknown. What are the ramifications of reaching their action plan? They’ll have more work to do, perhaps, or more challenges. They’ll be more visible, more subject to criticism.

Any breakthroughs, 'ah-ha' moments to share? 

The goal, and accountability for reaching it, is so important that they can't acknowledge defeat. Instead they'll say: “I did the best I could. We ended up with the best results we could have achieved, under the circumstances. “  This client has to have his feet held to the fire. He must acknowledge that he's not getting the job done. He has to face up to his failures, learn and practice new behaviors, even if it hurts. 

In another variation of the ‘true outcomes’ scenario, a client will assume they have more power than they do, or will try to take responsibility for a decision that's not really theirs, because being in control puts them in their comfort zone.  In these scenarios you, as the Sherpa, might want to bring up the word truth.  “Do you ‘skirt’ the truth? Do you always tell the truth?  Is this the outcome you want,  or the outcome that should be?”

In the scene where a female client's boyfriend visits the camp, observe  the  interaction between  Sandy Pitman (client) , expedition leader Scott Fisher (executive contact), Scott’s friend Rob Hall, leader of a separate expedition and the Sherpa guide, in a coaching role. 

Watch for the role and authority level of the Sherpa and the complexity of a coaching relationship: client, coach, executive contact, related parties.