How to Coach Yourself and Others How To Perform On The Job Coaching | Page 32
Coaching Tip 5 - Basic Guidelines to Reframing — to Seeing Things Differently
By Carter McNamara
Basic Guidelines to Reframing — to Seeing Things Differently
Reframing is seeing the current situation from a different perspective, which can be tremendously
helpful in problem solving, decision making and learning.
Reframing is helping you or another person to more constructively move on from a situation in
which you or the other person feels stuck or confused.
The aim of reframing is to shift one’s perspective to be more empowered to act – and hopefully to
learn at the same time.
Many times, merely reframing one’s perspective on a situation can also help people change how
they feel about the situation, as well.
Many fields regularly use reframing, including therapy, coaching and even marketing and sales.
Techniques of reframing can also be used to cultivate creative and critical thinking skills.
When working to reframe perspective on a situation, consider the following basic guidelines. Keep
in mind that, even though the following examples are about another person’s comments, you can
use the guidelines to shift your own perspectives, as well.
Shift from passive to active
For example, if the other person said, “I really doubt that I can do anything about this,” you might
respond, “What is one small step that you might take?”
Shift from negative feeling to positive feeling
For example, if the other person said, “I don’t want to work on that now because it makes me feel
sad,” you might respond, “What small part of that might you work on for now, that might even
leave you feeling a bit more happy?”
Shift from past to future
For example, if the other person said, “I’ve never been good at public speaking,” you might
respond, “If you imagined yourself to be successful at public speaking, how would you be speaking
that would be successful?”
Shift from future to past
For example, if the other person said, “I can’t seem to get started on achieving this goal,” you might
respond, “Has there been a time in the past when you achieved a goal and, if so, what did you do
back then to be successful? How might you use that approach now?”
Shift from others to oneself
For example, if the other person said, “They don’t seem to like me,” you might respond, “What do
you like about yourself?”
Shift from a liability to an asset
For example, if the other person said, “I’m such a perfectionist,” you might respond, “How might
being a perfectionist help in your job and life, though?”
Shift from victimization to empowerment
For example, if the other person said, “That always seems to happen to me,” you might respond,
“Sometimes we even do that to ourselves. Perhaps it’d be useful to explore if you’re somehow
doing that to yourself, too?”
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