When you learn a new dance, step by step, it may feel awkward at first. Odds are, you won’t feel like Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers in the the beginning.
With time and practice, 
though, you develop the muscle memory that allows your body to flow within the dance.
Eventually you integrate the foundations of the dance steps to the point that you can go beyond them and improvise, combining other steps in more complex patterns. You learn to trust yourself to relax into the rhythms of the music and play with the dance.
And the dance really becomes fun because you connect with yourself and other dancers through the music and the movement. You experience the freedom within mastery.
Consider that a coaching session is a dance, and each question you ask within that session is a single dance step.
As you proceed in your development as a coach, you’ll learn how to do combination steps so your dance will be even more fluid, spontaneous and powerful.
You will improve your coaching by adding more coaching approaches, and as a result offer more value to your coaching clients.
Translated into practical application, what this means is:
As you grow in your mastery in coaching, you will combine your questions with other coaching dance steps. These include reflections, observations, acknowledgements, and using context as a frame for a question.
The result:
- A balanced back and forth dialogue focused on supporting your client’s discovery.
- A stronger sense of connection and intimacy because it IS a two-way conversation with space for you, coach, to share authentically yet remain in curiosity.
- A joyfully flowing exploration allowing spontaneous side-trips into the deeper learning and change possible within masterful coaching.
Along the way, be aware of these possible pitfalls in your coaching dance:
1) Not enough variety in your dance routine: Getting locked into the same old dance steps with canned questions.
2) Racing toward a finish line instead of dancing in the moment: Asking questions so you can gain enough information to come up with an answer or solution.
3) Not allowing yourself to improvise: Get the fundamentals down in your coaching dance, then loosen up by trusting your intuition and instincts.
4) Going through the motions; disregarding your client’s rhythm: Stay present and stay connected to yourself, your dance partner and the music of the moment.
5) Dancing too fast: Allow your client time within the dance by giving him/her space to reflect on the questions you ask.
Ready to update your dancing routine? Feeling the call to stretch into a few new moves in your coaching? If so, consider joining the next Coaching With Love class/ coach mentoring group. You’ll learn how to choreograph from your most masterful coaching presence to bring lasting value to your clients!
