Coaching
Becoming a Breakthrough Coach
RESULTS International Conference, July 2012
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What is Coaching
The assumption behind coaching is that something can be
made better or improved at an individual level. The
coach’s role is to help an individual recognize where they
are “stuck” and help him/her devise strategies for
removing the barriers and/or getting around them. But it
is also about learning why those personal barriers existed
in the first place so that the coachee can recognize and
manage them him or herself in the future.
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Coaching & RESULTS
 An objective of our strategic plan is to create a culture
of coaching so that people have the support they need
to do things they would not other wise do—to have
personal breakthroughs.
 The only way to become a coaching organization is to
coach—to have all of us coaching and supporting
others to do thing they wouldn’t otherwise be doing.
 We can all learn by doing. With time our coaching
will get better and better as we help more people take
action.
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Why Is coaching Necessary?
 We are operating in an arena, advocacy, where most
people have little experience: people lack the skills and
experience—so it’s not a comfortable place.
 Media portrays the controversy and not the progress
on many issues—so we become cynical
 Many people experience the world as a place where
they have little power to affect big change. Even
experienced advocates can revert to feeling cynical and
powerless.
 Discomfort, powerlessness, cynicism are present for
most people we will deal with.
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What Does This Mean for Us?

Good news: for most people even a very simple action will represent a
breakthrough

Bad news: it will take a lot of support & time to bring many people to
believe that their actions really make a difference

We need to be aware of where people are starting from—both new and
existing advocates

We need to realize that not much will happen toward creating political
will without a cadre of people supporting others to take action regularly

We need to be aware that the natural tendency may be to return to a
state of cynicism, powerlessness, and fear

We need to regularly practice helping others address feelings of
powerlessness, cynicism, and discomfort if we want to make progress
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What Does it Look Like?
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So How Do We Coach?
 Find out if they’d be willing to take action if we could
provide an action that really made a difference—ask
permission to put them in action.
 Provide examples of how our actions matters in order
to inspire
 Find actions that represent the next challenge or
breakthrough for the individual and support them to
take it
 Strive to bring out bolder and bolder action over time
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What Brings Out Your Boldness?
 Personal requests?
 Someone expressing confidence in you?
 Knowing you will have support?
 Knowing what is at stake?
 Knowing what could be achieved?
 Knowing what this could do for you personally?
 Understanding how it will improve your standing?
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Action Hierarchy
 Learn some new information and talk about it:
read an article, fact sheet, watch a video, etc.
 Take an on-line action
 Come someplace: a meeting, an event
 Write a letter in a group or alone
 Make a call: recording, front desk, congressional
aide
 Activist Milestones are a good source
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What Does Support Look Like?
 Doing the action together
 Demonstrating the action (three-way calls are great)
 Referring them to the Activist Milestones
 Setting a date and time to do the action and follow up
on it with them
 Practicing with them before they take the action
 Provide phone numbers, email addresses, web
addresses to reduce barriers to taking the action
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Conversation #1: New Action Taker
 Ask someone you know to take an action. They may
know about RESULTS, but havn’t taken action as far
as you know.
 Find out if they’d be willing to take action if the action
really made a difference
 Have examples of how our work matters to inspire.
 Find actions that represent the next challenge or
breakthrough for the individual and support them to
take it
 Ask what kind of support would be helpful (have
suggestions ready)
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Conversation #2: Someone
Who Has Taken Action
 What is different about this conversation?
 Celebrate them taking action in the past
 Show how past actions have fed into wins or successes
in order to inspire
 Find an action that represent the next challenge or
breakthrough for the individual and support them to
take it
 Ask what kind of support would be helpful (have
suggestions ready)
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Conversation #3: A Partner
 What’s different in this conversation?
 Celebrate their work as an advocate and as part of the
group
 Remind him/her of the the wins or successes to inspire
 Acknowledge the need for a bold action to create
political will, or the need for leadership in the group
 Ask the partner if he/she would consider taking this
action or role and express confidence in their ability to
do it
 Ask what kind of support he/she would need to take
on the challenge
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How Do We Create
Weekly or Regular
Coaching Situations for
Ourselves?
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Ideas
 Be aware of partner ambitions for breakthrough
 Choose a friend to work with over several weeks
 Choose an action network person to work with each
week
 Regularly ask friends, family, and colleagues to take
the action on the action sheet
 Other ideas?
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How Do We Build the Coaching
Culture in RESULTS?
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