5 ready-to-use ideas about InsideOut Coaching for NGOs

On March 12, Bob Parsons (Manager Global Learning & Development The Goodyear Rubber & Tyre Company) and Ben Platter (Sales Director of Business Value Services at SalesForce) introduced to 40 leaders of Romanian NGOs the training method developed by Alan Fine, called InsideOut Coaching™

The initiative of Good Bureau and U.S. Embassy in Bucharest to organise a training for NGOs started from the idea that NGOs also can achieve performance, if they can properly coach and inspire their teams. The co-founders of Monomyths Association, Emilia Radu and Corina Seler, have been part of this 1 day training and share with you 5 ideas ready to apply in your organisation.

1. Coaching vs. mentoring – What is the difference between a coach and a mentor? Are we coaches or mentors? Well, coaching is the practice of helping others to improve their performance, while removing the obstacles that blocks their capabilities. Mentoring is the transfer of knowledge between you and the mentee. It is important to decide which hat you wear in your organisation. If your role fits better the one of a coach, it’s recommended to replace the expression “should do that and that and that” with open questions so he can take them from where they are to where they want to go. You can do that by tapping into their capacity, increase their believes in themselves, and raise their level of energy and passion.
2. Focus. Faith. Fire. – What you pay attention to affects everything else. When you can stay concentrated for longer time on tasks, your performance will increase. This will help you raise our confidence in your own abilities with more energy, passion, and engagement.
3. Reducing interference – When you can’t see the way out of your problem, try to reduce the interference and make 3 steps outside to see the bigger picture. By interference, Alan Fine, the initiator of InsideOut Couching, mean anything that make you feel stuck, or that affects your performance. Most internal interference comes from fear- not only fear of physical harm, but fear of being judged, making a fool of yourself, being rejected, or failing. If we learn how to become aware of this interference and control, our mind will become quiet and relaxed.
4. Smart goals, exploring options and way forward – If you are a coach and you want to improve the success in your coaching conversations, establish a SMART goal with the person you coach that can end with a concrete plan of actions. If you keep it specific, you have more chances to make forward steps. Don’t get stuck in reality for long time. Instead, better invest the coaching time and the energy in guiding him/her to identify several options that can be realistic and time-phased.
5. Feedback – In order to have a successful conversation, provide a balanced feed-back after your partner of conversation first “empty her or his glass” and reflect on his/her current reality. Listen. Listen. Listen. And afterwards make use of the questions: what worked? Where did you get stuck? What might you do differently?