How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 586

Describe a situation where you have had to NEGOTIATE a solution
to a challenging situation
CONTEXT
On arrival in Spain I was confronted with a completely different
organisational structure within the university. I was the first man to go
to Valencia from my university and my role there was to test this new
exchange programme and to negotiate the terms for future exchanges. I
found that the structure of the courses were to the disadvantage of the
Kent students and would affect the overall result of the degree. As the
spokesperson for the UKC students I had to influence both sides on
reaching a new agreement.
ACTION
I explained the situation to the academic staff at UKC and negotiated
new terms for the exchange programme.
RESULT
Being the spokesperson of my university, I successfully persuaded the
administration in Seville to accept these conditions during this period. I
learned that it takes sometimes a lot of time, effort and patience to
achieve common agreements, especially when two different cultural
backgrounds are involved.
How have you used your communication skills to PERSUADE
others to follow your lead?
CONTEXT
As a camp counsellor I was responsible for a hut housing a group of ten
children, helping the children settle in to the camp and encouraging
them to join in activities. The hardest part was getting the children to
keep the hut tidy and join in the daily 'household chores' session - a
problem which I found was shared by other counsellors.
ACTION
We decided to motivate the children by turning this session into an
inter-hut competition with a progress chart and prizes and arranged for
the camp director to carry out daily inspections. I produced a wall chart
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