Experience-Based Coaching

Experience-based coaching is when a coach or leader facilitates an experience and applies sound coaching principles to the functional change being desired. For example,  you could have a team of people complete an obstacle course together and then ask them to identify who the best and most helpful teammates during the course were? Experiences are very powerful as it's often been said they shape us but all too often we wait for experiences and don't facilitate them.

Let me give you a brief example. At one of our recent client meetings we were coaching employees to facilitate a great client experience. We had each person visit their favorite restaurant establishment for socializing and come back with one observation they observed that was positive. The next task was to come up with an idea of how that observation or what they observed that was successful could be applied to their business. Many thought that this was a very far-reaching or even dumb task when in fact the results were extremely interesting. The group not only came up with two or three extremely creative ideas as a result of sharing from all of their experiences but we noticed the huge uptick in attitude and dedication to each and every client experience. We never once asked them to increase their energy or association with clients. Nevertheless, it became a result without having to ask. We believe the experience did much of the coaching for us. We also believe by structuring what to look for in using the experiences of coaching moment it became more powerful than us just telling them to do it.

 One of my favorite stories to share is actually from our progress coaching training course. Years ago when I was coaching my son Liam in basketball he had an experience that really defined his future as an athlete as well as his association with getting better. In a packed gym when the kids were only in fourth and fifth grade he came down the court down by one point and missed the last second shot the ball when in the hoop and popped out. He was needless to say devastated and humbled by the experience as people were screaming and cheering during the game. This is a big stage for anyone more or less a fourth or fifth grader. I ran over to him and said that was awesome and he responded "dad I miss the shot". I said look you're going to  miss a lot of shots but the key question is are you willing to take the next shot? I then began to share with him how his teammates were extremely nervous to even consider taking the shot so it showed great courage on his behalf. He began to smile a little bit as I started to get him to associate with that experience from a much more positive perspective versus him solely missing the shot. Years later on a traveling team he went on a shooting spree where he literally had four to five-game winners literally at the buzzer in a span of two weeks. People would come up to me and rave about his shooting ability and would ask me how did I get him to be such a confident shooter in stressful times? I replied "I reward him as much as when he misses as much as when he makes it". And I simply walk away.

All too often we use results as a guideline and instrument to interact with people when in fact the experience itself void of success can be extremely powerful if we learn from it. That is a coach’s responsibility!

Here are five ideas of how you can use Experience-Based Coaching as a tool to facilitate great coaching:

1. Have your staff simply observe people in a shopping mall in terms of how they interact with each other when shopping. Have people write down one positive observation in one constructive observation and be prepared to share with the rest of the team. The goal is to then have a discussion about those interactions and how they are applicable to the team's work environment.
2. Ask your team members to perform a random act of kindness for someone outside of the department or team and write down the reaction of the recipients and what it taught the person who is performing the random act of kindness.
3. One of the coolest things I've seen is when people post videos of where the arbitrarily help homeless people. It would be interesting to have employees do something significant for a homeless person and come back and share the experience of how they can take that behavior and apply it for internal benefits as well as to customer benefits.
4. It's often been said very few people like change but what if we took our teams to let's say a paintball facility and had them pair up in teams and strategize on how to win a paintball game. Yes this incorporates physical activity as well as strategizing in a game that most typically don't play on a continuous basis; therefore, people are forced to expose themselves and their inadequacies right away. The trick is then to ask the team what they learned about this experience as it relates to the acceptance of change in seeking change.
5. The customer experience should always be a measuring stick companies use as a byproduct of their success. Having staff interview people of other industries in terms of how they create a great client experience is invaluable and then having them come back and share it with the rest of the team is even more invaluable.

Experience should be facilitated and not waited for. Experience-based coaching is a specific method any manager can use and apply it towards the parameters or imperatives he or she is thinking for their team. Good luck!