What is effective listening in coaching?

Content Some background My research question The literature Research philosophy & methods Data capture & coding Top level themes Points of discussion Implications Limitations & future research

Some background – my ethos Creating a relationship in which the client feels safe is the ‘Holy Grail’. Allowing clients to feel able to expose their innermost thoughts and feelings with regards to their experiences. Enabling a degree of critical self-reflection well beyond the normal run-of-the-mill conversation. At the heart of which is our ability to listen effectively. In this sense, I see listening as active and not inert. As such, it covers ways of expression that ensures our clients feel heard.

Some background – why choose listening? Listening is generally acknowledged as one of the key skills in coaching. Very few practitioner texts explain it in any depth. I have yet to find any research into the nature of listening in coaching. Just one theory-based model of listening in the literature.

My research question ‘in coaching being misunderstood by the coach could have useful consequences for clients, since it causes both to examine their perspectives and beliefs, which in turn enables them to look more closely and constructively at what they intend’ Cox, 2013, P. 57 (1). “Being misunderstood by the coach: useful for clients?”

The literature Listening and the coaching relationship. If listening is important, who is doing the listening and to whom are they listening to? Listening in the wider field of human endeavour.

Research philosophy & methods Philosophy:  Phenomenological hermeneutic approach.  Reality is socially constructed and subject to on going revision.  Human understanding is productive – ‘meanings are… created in interaction between… speaker and listener’ Hyde, P. 180 (2). Methods:  Qualitative methods to provide rich, contextual data.  Template analysis within a phenomenological approach. Research design:  I am interested in developmental coaching, it forms the bulk of my practice and the sources for my research focus on that space.  4-6 Coaching pairs providing a recording of a coaching session  Recorded 1:1 semi-structured interviews based on an adaptation of the Critical Instance Technique.

Data capture & coding: Process A Priori Themes: Listening: Empathic Stance Active Listening Authentic Listening Misunderstanding Self-awareness Feeling Heard

Data capture & coding: A Priori Themes Listening: broken into 3 component themes:  Empathic Stance: Defined as one of four elements of therapeutic empathy. The listener demonstrates by their demeanour their desire to be there for the speaker, holding a helping orientation, showing an appreciation of what they are going through ‘with a sense of benevolence, curiosity and interest’ Thwaites and Bennet-Levy, P. 597 (3).  Active Listening: Shotter (4) refers to the verbal and non-verbal ticks that indicate we are listening and understanding. Collins and O’Rourke (5) include the listener testing their understanding through mirroring and reflecting back.  Authentic Listening: Authentic listening ‘involves helping clients to explore their values and beliefs in relation to the paradigms and theories that they hold fast to’ P. 55 (1). Here Cox is building on the work of a number of contributors, including Hyde (2) and Stewart (6). Misunderstanding: Either my own interpretation of the data, or the explicit comments of coach and client. This is not a judgement of the quality of the coach’s intervention. Self-Awareness: Asking questions and making observations that brings aspects of the client’s behaviours into conscious awareness. E.g.: Behaviour patterns revealed by the coach and/or acknowledged by the client. Includes my observations of these moments, even where the client and/or the coach haven’t observed it. Feeling Heard: This is a reference to the client’s feelings of being heard by the coach and is a consequence of the listening skills of the coach.

Top level themes MAJOR THEMES 1.Rapport building 2.Acknowledging client’s story 3.Interpretive listening 4.Interruptions 5.Understanding 6.Non-coaching interventions 7.Distractions INTEGRATIVE THEMES A.Empathic stance B.Self-awareness, shifting perspective & encouraging self-reflection C.Dance & play D.Feeling heard & understood E.Active listening F.Authentic listening G.Intuition

Points of discussion The relationship:  Empathic stance (Thwaites & Bennet-Levy, 2007).  More than active listening? Challenging perception:  Challenging perceptions of reality.  Lack of judgement or agenda.  Curiosity. The authenticity of the coach:  Letting go of needing to know.  Being there, in the moment, focused on the client.  Willing to openly share what is seen, felt & heard without attachment. Being misunderstood:  Clients’ & coaches recall of instances of misunderstanding.  Authenticity and misunderstanding.  Lack of agenda & judgement & misunderstanding.

Implications The themes were broadly present for all coaches. The greater the coach’s clarity on their way of listening, the greater the enthusiasm of their client. The learning available to both coach and client. The value of recorded sessions as an aid to critical reflection.

Limitations & future research Recruiting participants proved difficult. The sample size is very small. The impact of the research on the participants. The delay between the recorded sessions and interviews. The potential for using Case Study. The limitations of the use of voice recordings. The time constraints and volume of data. My own affinity for Cox’s model.

References (1)Cox, E. (2013). Coaching Understood: A pragmatic enquiry into the coaching process. London: Sage Publications. (2)Hyde, B.R. (1994). ‘Listening Authentically: A Heideggerian Perspective on Interpersonal Communication.’ In K. Carter & M. Presnell (Eds.), Interpretive Approaches to Interpersonal Communication. New York: State University Press, pp (3)Thwaites, R. & Bennett-Levy, J. (2007). ‘Conceptualizing Empathy in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Making the Implicit Explicit.’ Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 2007, 35, pp (4)Shotter, J. (2009). ‘Listening in a Way that Recognizes/Realizes the World of ‘the Other’.’ The International Journal of Listening, Vol. 23, pp (5)Collins, S.D. & O’Rourke, J. (2009). Interpersonal Communication: Listening and Responding. (2 nd Ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. (6)Stewart, J. R. (1983). ‘Interpretive Listening: An Alternative to Empathy’, Communication Education, Vol. 32, No. 10, pp