What is a coaching mindset?
As Dr Monica C. Singh, Associate Professor at SriBUILD—The MDP and Consultancy Department, of Sri Balaji University, Pune, notes, a coaching mindset is an empowering and curiosity-driven approach that believes that individuals are capable within themselves of finding answers to their own set of problems. This mindset empowers people and can be inculcated when they are exposed to powerful questions, enabling them to think deeper in their own context.
Thinking deeply and answering these powerful questions posed by an expert practitioner may lead to numerous outcomes. Sometimes it may lead to identification of the underlying issue; on some occasions the issue might appear insignificant; in certain cases it might lead to a perspective shift, encourage solutions-orientated thinking, or enable individuals to identify the barriers they are facing.
As individuals, we can train ourselves to ask the right set of powerful questions, enabling us to identify the root cause of an issue. We can quickly shift from the problem mindset to the one generating solutions. So, the right amount of input in the form of a powerful question may help people see their problem in their own context. “When I say, ‘their own context’, it means the kind of individual they are with respect to their set of situations and how they want to respond to situations. Because every individual is different, your solution cannot be my solution for the same set of problems, or something that has worked for you might not work for me. Every person thinks differently; their experiences are different, and this is where a coaching mindset works,” she says.
Coaching for MBA aspirants
For MBA graduates, a coaching mindset will help them grow in numerous ways. Dr Singh says that there are two ways through which a student can elevate their career through it. Number one, the MBA students in their final years who are working towards their placement—coaching may help them identify how to deal with their personal and professional issues.
Number two, coaching helps them understand the beginning of self-constraining belief, and powerful questioning helps them identify the root cause. And many a time the end result has been that the students start working towards the areas in which they want to see an improvement in themselves, say confidence, communication, facing the interviewer, etc. The possibilities are endless.
“In my coaching experience of almost 200 students at Sri Balaji University, Pune (SBUP), I identified that self-limiting belief is the major cause that is leading to underperformance in students. When they come to the coaching sessions and powerful questions are asked of them, it sets their thinking—coaching works on identifying the causes, such as being unable to speak and perform well in interviews or being unable to stand in a GD and speak with confidence,” she adds.
Does AI have any role in coaching mindset? Dr Singh agrees to it. She says that in delivering coaching there are a lot of AI tools, including the AI coaches and AI robots in the coaching space. But the debate is still on about whether they are able to replace the human connection.
“What I very strongly believe in to date is AI has not been able to replace human empathy, which is the backbone of coaching. So, well-trained coaches having experience is something that will always be looked up to,” she says. Prof. Singh informs us that AI is trained through inputs, and its ability is limited to the kind of data it is fed with. So, whatever it has not been taught to feel, it will not do well. “Maybe in the future, we will have something that can do that very well,” she notes.
The need for coaching and for everybody to have a coach is immense. However, this concept is not very popular in India. “We understand tutoring, counselling, or therapy, but coaching as a concept is very nascent in India,” she says.
Benefits of Coaching
Coaching helps you feel that you are powerful or you are the answer to all your solutions; it is just that you need to ask or be asked the right set of questions. And so, you can deal with anything on your own; you don't need external support. “A coach is a person who has a lot of curiosity, is non-judgemental, and listens very actively not only to your words but also to your feelings. They give you a lot of space to think in your own context by asking a lot of powerful questions, and I have experienced it. I have coached more than 850 people to date, and I have seen brilliant insights unfolding for all these people,” she notes.
“There is always an inhibition in opening up yourself in front of a stranger. You feel judged sharing your thoughts even in front of your closest friend or a family member. But coaching gives you that choice—if you are not comfortable answering something from the list of the questions, you may choose not to respond, and the coach will take a different route. But for the majority of the questions, you should be in a position to answer honestly; then only coaching will be beneficial, otherwise not,” she says.
Developing the coaching mindset
Each and every one of us, if not, can take up a course in coaching; at least we should understand the coaching mindset, as it can unlock the immense potential that we have in us, and of course, we can at least get acquainted with a few tools and techniques that are very helpful.
As per Dr Monica C. Singh, there are two tools which she follows in multiple settings throughout her coaching sessions: the wheel of life and blame frame - outcome frame. “I use them for the purpose of diagnosing issues and then finding out ways that resolving these issues can be approached. I am not saying that you will get a final solution using these tools. But at least you will get a starting point to approach the issue at hand. What is it? And how do I need to approach it? Coaching helps you go to the root cause of the issue,” she concludes.