McLeod: Sustainable Transformations in Under 30 minutes.
At Euro-Coach Conference 16-17 November, 2013., Dr Angus McLeod (Visiting Professor of Coaching at Birmingham City University) will first run through his 4-level coaching model. This model is based upon observations of the coachee and not, as conventionally done, by focussing on the core skills of the coach. In this model, upper levels 3 & 4 are distinguished by internal, experiential, psychological-states in which coachee-physiology is markedly changed. Video from London and Australia master-classes will illustrate the model at the Conference. Examples can be seen here too.
McLeod also described the key eight factors needed to facilitate and maintain these higher-level transformative states and describes the mastery of the eight skills as ‘communicating with coachee-neurology’.
Group research-work has shown that McLeod uses many non-verbal as well as verbal interventions. Many of these have been coded with 19 of them (in three classes) to be shared with the Euro-Coach audience for the first time in a public setting. This research shows that McLeod uses as many as 7 coded interventions in the first 47 seconds – the timer starting just as the coachee sits down for coaching. All the studies were based on his master-classes where the sessions were facilitated in public arena. It might be thought that the lights, video and audiences would be un-helpful to coachee-transformation. In fact, the studies show that Level 3 & 4 internal-states are reached by the coachee very quickly, sometimes within 60 seconds of sitting down.
McLeod introduced a new model showing the stylized movement of a coachee through the four levels of coaching. This also showed how, within one minute, higher-level states can be tracked in his coachees. McLeod says that the eight factors for transformative change-work can be learned by good professional coaches during mastery-level training. Several of these skills are outside any existing measurement of coach-skills.
McLeod also said that it helps if coachees are open to transformative potential, though it is not always necessary. This has been tested, where he has used facilitative coaching without coachee-introduction to the coaching process.
McLeod avers that it is the coach that is typically the limitation: due to their own limited beliefs and absence of any experience of transformative change in short-time scales. He cited the mass of discussion between coaches who argue about the ideal session-length based upon their own prejudices, rather than real-world best-practice. He said, “Even with a new coachee, well-formed, sustainable outcomes to a motivated goal and achievement are evidenced in as short as time as 12 minutes and very frequently within 30 minutes”.