Presence in Group and Team Coaching

As coaches one of our greatest instruments is ourselves and our presence. Over the last month my travels have taken me to several ICF chapters to deliver in persona nd virtual training, and I've also had the chance to work with several teams of leaders and facilitators as well. Interestingly enough, the concept of presence has emerged as a key discussion point in a lot of these discussions.

Presence = Our being. Who we are

Consider your recent work with teams and groups and how you have shown up in this work. Is it any different than your presence with an individual coaching client?

One theme I have been talking about has been the different role of the group or team coach where we "fade in and fade out" of the coaching conversation, more often than not, encouraging group and/or team members to direct the conversation amongst each other. Our presence plays a different role than in individual coaching where  it is only us and one other person.

Our presence is key in setting the context or container for the work we do. Our energy will have an impact, positively or negatively, with clients we work with. Consider how your presence has added to, or detracted, from the coaching conversation recently with team and group coaching clients.

Here's an activity to undertake :
Reflect on your presence - what three adjectives would you use to describe your presence in recent coaching engagements. Think of how this is different in a couple of examples.
Where possible, ask for feedback from clients or those you have worked with, regarding your presence. What three adjectives do they use to describe how you show up, and what space you create for your clients.
Over time be noticing what common themes and adjectives are being used to describe your presence.
What changes do you want to make?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPCC, CPT
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2009) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
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