Neuroscience in Coaching
Through the coaching of his own clients and the teaching of others to become
coaches, Rock noticed that there was a biological change that happened in
successful coaching. This change was observable on camera, and in people’s
biology. Rock refers to this tangible change as the ‘moment of insight.’
5 Coaching World | February 2012 | www.coachfederation.org
“I discovered that nobody really knew what was at the heart of coaching and making
it work. I had this theory that all coaching and leadership is about putting people’s
brain in a state where they see something they hadn’t seen otherwise.”
Working on the assumption that truly understanding how the brain functions and
interprets data would become extremely helpful in having the coaching skill to
increase the number of insights: a much larger issue became apparent. Rock
began to see how valuable understanding the brain would be for the coaching
profession overall.
“Understanding the brain enables coaches to work with clients on a much deeper
level, in a much faster amount of time with significantly less resistance,” says Rock.
Research
“People have this kind of shift where you can see when the moment of insight
occurred,” explains Rock. “And often there were lots of these moments. People
would change where it was physically observable. I came to see that this “insight”
was the active ingredient in the heart of coaching.”
In the early 2000’s the field of Neuroscience was much less established than it is
today. Rock’s research in this newly organized field led to a lot of meetings with
neuroscientists and eventually a theory was brought forth about what coaches
should look for to increase insight.
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Most coaches would agree that there are several requirements or ingredients in
successful coaching. Things like empathy, being solution focused, asking good
questions, caring about your clients, and active listening. While these are extremely
important pieces of the coaching practice, Rock had a gut feeling that those skills
were not sufficient.
Seeing these real-time shifts occurring in both coaches and their clients inspired
Rock to further research the moment of insight and the scientific reasoning for these
shifts. Eventually he found himself immersed in the field of Neuroscience.
Benefits
14 years ago as Rock began his coaching practice it became absolutely clear to
him that the coaching process creates powerful change in people. But how does it
work? Why specifically does coaching seem to get such extraordinary results?
“I really wanted to unpack the process of coaching,” says Rock. “…to really
understand coaching and be able to explain its effectiveness.”
According to Rock, coaching sessions without insight can be a pleasant, rewarding
experience for both the coach and the client. However, without having that moment
of insight, the coaching experience will not necessarily be change producing. Real
live-altering human change involved these physical, mental and biological shifts.
Profiles
David Rock has a scientific mind. He is continually
curious in how things work, and is often prone to
question even the most basic of truths that people
take for granted. His unique nature of continually
‘taking things apart’ is perfectly suited for his work as
a professional coach. However, a curious observation
about the effectiveness of coaching soon became an
intense obsession of D