Coach the system, not the client

Mature coaches coach very differently to their less mature colleagues. It’s not just that they are less concerned with following process, it is that they attend very differently. At a base level of maturity, coaches see the client, the problem and the solution. It’s a very linear perspective, but it works (up to a point) with simple performance or skills issues. Gradually, they learn to pay attention to the client’s internal systems – what’s going on within them that is supporting or hindering the outcomes the want to achieve. Some coaches evolve to attend additionally to the client’s immediate systems – their family, boss, peers and direct reports etc – and the relationship between the client and each of these. This is what’s typically described as systemic coaching.