What is effective
listening in coaching?
www.changeplussolutions.co.uk
Content
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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
INTERVIEWS
A Priori Themes:
SESSION
RECORDINGS
TRANSCRIPTING
CATAGORISATION
TEMPLATE
CODING
DEVELOPMENT
INTERPRETATION
PRESENTATION
REFLECTION
A PRIORI
THEMES
• Listening:
• Empathic Stance
• Active Listening
• Authentic Listening
• Misunderstanding
• Self-awareness
• Feeling Heard
Data capture & coding: A Priori Themes
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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
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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. 169-186.
(3) Thwaites, R. & Bennett-Levy, J. (2007). ‘Conceptualizing Empathy in
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Making the Implicit Explicit.’ Behavioural
and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 2007, 35, pp. 591-612.
(4) Shotter, J. (2009). ‘Listening in a Way that Recognizes/Realizes the World
of ‘the Other’.’ The International Journal of Listening, Vol. 23, pp. 21-33.
(5) Collins, S.D. & O’Rourke, J. (2009). Interpersonal Communication:
Listening and Responding. (2nd Ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
(6) Stewart, J. R. (1983). ‘Interpretive Listening: An Alternative to Empathy’,
Communication Education, Vol. 32, No. 10, pp. 379-391.