My Five Go-to, Back Pocket Coaching Questions
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My son is currently applying to colleges. Part of that process is writing and submitting a personal essay.
I’ve offered to provide feedback for his drafts. When he did request my help, I asked him, “What type of feedback do you want?”
He asked for some help with general conventions, along with support around the substance of his writing. I happily obliged.
When he requested feedback, I didn’t have to think twice about my response. Asking the person I am supporting or coaching for the type of feedback they want conveys trust in their ability to articulate the specific needs they have. I am treating them as capable instead of jumping in right away with general support.
This response is one of my go-to coaching questions.
In my second year as a systems coach, I’ve learned that some colleagues have a handful of “back pocket” questions - enough to fit on an index card that you can literally keep in your back pocket. These questions are frequently called upon in a variety of coaching situations.
There are so many questions out there for coaches for a variety of situations: preparing for a coaching cycle, calibrating observations with standards and expectations, or reflecting on experiences. To remember a key question in the right place at the right time is difficult. Having a few on hand can be so helpful.
Next are my five go-to, back pocket questions. This is not a static list. I review them periodically while considering my current skill set as a coach and how I want to grow. Consider adding one or more of the following questions to your own back pocket list.
#1 - “If you could wave a magic wand…”
A common obstacle I observe in clients is they focus too much on the challenges they feel are preventing them from achieving their goals. They aren’t thinking enough about the vision they have for what they want to achieve on behalf of their students.
The magic wand question gives permission for educators to imagine what is possible. They can brainstorm and articulate the outcomes they want for their students, their community, and themselves. This question leads to a generative (vs. reactive) thinking process, important to cultivate so the client has a “North Star” for their journey to success.
#2 - “Can you say more about that?”
This is one question I have considered removing from my top five. It sometimes isn’t even a question. I’ll just state, “Say more about that,” when I want a client to dig deeper into the thinking underneath their initial response.
And yet I find this question essential as a coach. A client’s initial thinking on a topic is often surface-level. It needs further examination.
For example, during an initial conversation with a school leader about their current literacy initiative, they shared that they wanted to see an increase in ELA scores on the state exam. My initial thought was, “You can’t control how students perform on these tests.” But I wouldn’t have been a coach. I would have been doing the thinking for them, and not creating a space for them to work through their own challenges.
So I asked them to say more about why this was a goal. The school leader went on to share that they wanted to validate that the ELA curriculum they were implementing was working. That information led me to ask about other assessments they had in place that might give them more reliable data to make this determination.
#3 - What kind of feedback would you like?
I first learned about this question during a Choice Literacy writer's workshop one summer. When we exchanged drafts, our editor (Brenda Powers) asked us to first write specific questions at the top around what type of feedback we wanted.
For me, it was a helpful question in that I had to first reflect on what might be lacking in my own writing. I had to call upon my knowledge as a writer and about literacy instruction.
As already noted, this question is empowering for the client. We express our confidence in them being able to know what they need help with, as well as being open to feedback.
#4 - What obstacle is getting in your way of…”
This question comes from Viviane Robinson, in her book Reduce Change to Increase Improvement. It places the client’s obstacle as a “third point”, something that is not their fault and can be addressed objectively, even if it is a limiting belief about their students, for example.
In one situation as a principal, I noticed a teacher reverting back to managing the classroom library on their own. Instead of asking, “Why aren’t you letting the students co-organize?”, I asked her what was getting in the way of including her students in this process. Her response was illuminating: she was getting signals that the students didn’t want to do the activity. This information led to some brainstorming about ways to engage the students in this work.
If I had asked her the initial question that came to mind, it more likely would have led to defensiveness and debate. The obstacle question communicates that I am on their side.
#5 - “I noticed ________. (pause) What’s coming up for you?”
A goal of mine this year is to surface the emotions that clients are feeling as they engage in professional improvement.
This is an area of discomfort for me; I would prefer to keep things technical, focused on behaviors. But I know that emotions are information that point toward a change in beliefs that a client is currently experiencing. This is the edge where growth occurs.
So I adapted a previous question I liked to use and came up with this one. It’s a three step question:
Point out data that you noticed or documented.
Give the client time to review and process the information.
Ask them what is coming up for them.
I haven’t used this question very much yet. I am hopeful that it will provide a safer space for clients to express whatever it is their feeling around data that show inequitable learning outcomes for students.
Emotions are information that point toward a change in beliefs that a client is currently experiencing. This is the edge where growth occurs.
What are some of your go-to, back pocket questions?
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Related…
This three minute video from Marcus Buckingham points out three fallacies about feedback. A favorite quote: “Excellence is interwoven with the person being it.” In other words, the uniqueness of each professional makes it difficult to define effective performance until you see that person in action.
In this article, Joe Davis shares an anecdote about Joaquin Duato, Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, using feedback to improve his presentations. “He will do the talk and then ask the listeners what they heard, write down the words they heard, and if they weren’t actually the words he used, he changes those words in the larger presentation as those are the words that connected with them. Secondly, he asks someone to tell him what he said, as if they were telling their family at dinner that night. He then incorporates those insights into his talk.”
One of the most read articles in this space is a list of seven questions I may ask myself before engaging in a coaching conversation with educators resistant to change. Check it out below.
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