Coaching World Issue 8: November 2013 | Page 34

processing their thoughts and feelings, but also to
their own. We are limited in our ability to create
the potential for awareness to occur by our own
mindsets and biases as human beings. As coaches,
we need to become aware of our biases—how we
listen, what we listen for, what we include and what
we exclude so we can be more purely present as
vessels listening for and receiving the whole of our
clients.

Emerging Awareness

When the coach is fully present and has highly
attuned sensory perception and listening, it’s
more likely she will ask a powerful question of the
client or make a direct observation that prompts
deeper thinking.
The coach’s role is to provide an environment
where there is potential for awareness to emerge.
The coach cannot create awareness for the
client or have awareness on behalf of the client.
Sometimes a coach will say something like, “Wow,
that’s powerful.” Just because the coach thinks it’s
powerful doesn’t mean the client does. In these
moments, a coach runs the risk of taking away the
client’s opportunity to make her own connections
and have the joy of awareness come through her.
You will know the client is experiencing emerging

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34 Coaching World

awareness if she is silent after you make an
observation or ask a question and then says
something like, “Hmmmm … let me think about
that.” She might even say, “That’s a great question.”
Or she may say nothing at all: Often, you know
awareness is emerging when the client becomes
quiet or reflective.
As the coach, you want to be present to the signs
of emerging awareness and give your client
the space to think and reflect more. Be totally
present and just listen. Coaches often miss these
moments of gold because they’re still talking or
thinking of what they want to say next. You are
missing the very point of coaching when you step
on or over emerging awareness, or when you are
unconscious to what is occurring for the client.
Allow the client to process her thoughts or
feelings. After a while, if the client doesn’t say
anything, you might want to ask a question, such
as, “May I ask what that question is revealing to
you?” Or if the client becomes quiet and reflective,
you may want to inquire of the client, “May I ask
what you are thinking (or feeling) right now?”

From Awareness to Action

Once emerging awareness has been explored,
it’s often appropriate to ask a question around
designing actions, such as, “What would you
like to do with that new awareness?” Coaches
often miss the opportunity to see if the client
wants to create an action—even i bF