From Coach to Awakener

by
Robert Dilts

In general, coaching is the process of helping people and teams to perform at the peak of
their abilities. It involves drawing out peoples strengths, helping them to bypass personal
barriers and limits in order to achieve their personal best, and facilitating them to function
more effectively as members of a team. Thus, effective coaching requires an emphasis on
both task and relationship.
Coaching emphasises generative change, concentrating on defining and achieving specific
goals. Coaching methodologies are outcome-oriented rather than problem-oriented. They
tend to be highly solution focused, promoting the development of new strategies for thinking
and acting, as opposed to trying to resolve problems and past conflicts. Problem solving, or
remedial change, is more associated with counseling and therapy.

Origins of Coaching
The term coach comes from the Middle English word coche, which meant a wagon or
carriage. In fact, the word still carries this meaning todaysuch as when a person travels
coach on a railway or airline. A coach is literally a vehicle which carries a person or group
of people from some starting location to a desired location.
The notion of coaching in the educational sense derived from the concept that the tutor
conveys or transports the student through his or her examinations. An educational coach
is defined as a private tutor, one who instructs or trains a performer or a team of
performers, or one who instructs players in the fundamentals of a competitive sport and
directs team strategy. The process of being a coach is defined as to train intensively (as by
instruction and demonstration).
Thus, historically, coaching is typically focused toward achieving improvement with respect to
a specific behavioural performance. An effective coach of this type (such as a voice coach,
an acting coach, a pitching coach) observes a persons behaviour and gives him or her
tips and guidance about how to improve in specific contexts and situations. This involves
promoting the development of that persons behavioural competence through careful
observation and feedback.
In recent years, starting in the 1980s, the notion of coaching has taken on a more
generalised and expanded meaning. Coaching in organisations involves a variety of ways of
helping people perform more effectively, including project, situational and transitional
coaching. Project coaching involves the strategic management of a team in order to reach the
most effective result. Situational coaching focuses on the specific enhancement or
improvement of performance within a context. Transitional coaching involves helping people
move from one job or role to another.
Many companies and organisations are opting for coaching of these types, in place of or in
addition to training. Because coaching is more focused, contextualised and individually
targeted, it is frequently more cost effective than traditional training methods in producing
real change.

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Another rapidly developing area of coaching is that of life coaching. Life coaching involves
helping people to reach personal goals, which may be largely independent from professional
or organisational objectives. Similar to transitional coaching, life coaching involves helping
people deal effectively with a variety of performance issues which may face them as they
move from one life phase to another.

Large C and Small c Coaching

Clearly, personal coaching, executive coaching and life coaching provide support on a number
of different levels: behaviours, capabilities, beliefs, values and even identity. These new and
more general forms of coachingexecutive coaching and life coachingcan be referred to as
capital C Coaching.
Small c coaching is more focused at a behavioural level, referring to the process of helping
another person to achieve or improve a particular behavioural performance. Small c
coaching methods derive primarily from a sports training model, promoting conscious
awareness of resources and abilities, and the development of conscious competence.
Large C Coaching involves helping people effectively achieve outcomes on a range of levels.
It emphasises generative change, concentrating on strengthening identity and values, and
bringing dreams and goals into reality. This encompasses the skills of small c coaching, but
also includes much more.

Levels of Learning and Change in Individuals and Organisations

One of the most useful NLP models for capital C coaches is that of NeuroLogical Levels.
Both coaching and modeling frequently need to address multiple levels of learning and
change in order to be successful. According to the NeuroLogical Levels model (Dilts, 1989,
1990, 1993, 2000), the life of people in any system, and indeed, the life of the system itself,
can be described and understood on a number of different levels: environment, behaviour,
capabilities, values and beliefs, identity and spiritual.
At the most basic level, coaching and modeling must address the environment in which a
system and its members act and interacti.e., when and where the operations and
relationships within a system or organisation take place. Environmental factors determine the
context and constraints under which people operate. An organisations environment, for
instance, is made up of such things as the geographical locations of its operations, the
buildings and facilities which define the work place, office and factory design, etc. In
addition to the influence these environmental factors may have on people within the
organisation, one can also examine the influence and impact that people within an
organisation have upon their environment, and what products or creations they bring to the
environment.
At another level, we can examine the specific behaviours and actions of a group or
individuali.e., what the person or organisation does within the environment. What are the
particular patterns of work, interaction or communication? On an organisational level,
behaviours may be defined in terms of general procedures. On the individual level,
behaviours take the form of specific work routines, working habits or job related activities.
Another level of process involves the strategies, skills and capabilities by which the
organisation or individual selects and directs actions within their environmenti.e., how they
generate and guide their behaviours within a particular context. For an individual, capabilities
include cognitive strategies and skills such as learning, memory, decision making and
creativity, which facilitate the performance of a particular behaviour or task. On an
organisational level, capabilities relate to the infrastructures available to support
communication, innovation, planning and decision making between members of the
organisation.

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These other levels of process are shaped by values and beliefs, which provide the motivation
and guidelines behind the strategies and capabilities used to accomplish behavioural
outcomes in the environmenti.e., why people do things the way they do them in a
particular time and place. Our values and beliefs provide the reinforcement (motivation and
permission) that supports or inhibits particular capabilities and behaviours. Values and beliefs
determine how events are given meaning, and are at the core of judgment and culture.
Values and beliefs support the individuals or organisations sense of identityi.e., the who
behind the why, how, what, where and when. Identity level processes involve peoples sense
of role and mission with respect to their vision and the larger systems of which they are
members.
Typically, a mission is defined in terms of the service performed by people in a particular role
with respect to others within a larger system. A particular identity or role is expressed in
terms of several key values and beliefs, which determine the priorities to be followed by
individuals within the role. These, in turn, are supported by a larger range of skills and
capabilities, which are required to manifest particular values and beliefs. Effective capabilities
produce an even wider set of specific behaviours and actions, which express and adapt
values with respect to many particular environmental contexts and conditions.
There is another level, that can best be referred to as a spiritual level. This level has to do
with peoples perceptions of the larger systems to which they belong and within which they
participate. These perceptions relate to a persons sense of for whom or for what their
actions are directed, providing a sense of meaning and purpose for their actions, capabilities,
beliefs and role identity.

Levels of Processes Within Individuals and Organisations

In summary, coaching and modeling must address several levels of factors:
Environmental factors determine the external opportunities or constraints which
individuals and organisations must recognise and react to. They involve considering
where and when success occurs.
Behavioural factors are the specific action steps taken in order to reach success.
They involve what, specifically, must be done or accomplished in order to succeed.
Capabilities relate to the mental maps, plans or strategies that lead to success.
They direct how actions are selected and monitored.
Beliefs and values provide the reinforcement that supports or inhibits particular
capabilities and actions. They relate to why a particular path is taken and the deeper
motivations which drive people to act or persevere.
Identity factors relate to peoples sense of their role or mission. These factors are
a function of who a person or group perceives themselves to be.
Spiritual factors relate to peoples view of the larger system of which they are
a part. These factors involve for whom or for what a particular action step or path
has been taken (the purpose).

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Levels of Support for Learning and ChangeA Roadmap for Large C Coaching
The task of the capital C Coach is to provide the necessary support and guardianship
which help clients to successfully develop, grow and evolve at all these levels of learning and
change.
Guiding and Caretaking
Guiding and caretaking have to do with providing support with respect to the
environment in which change takes place. Guiding is the process of directing a
person or group along the path leading from some present state to a desired state. It
presupposes that the guide has been there before, and knows the best way (or at
least a way) to reach the desired state. Being a caretaker, or custodian, involves
providing a safe and supportive environment. It has to do with attending to the
external context and making sure that what is needed is available, and that there are
no unnecessary distractions or interferences from the outside.
Coaching
Traditional coaching (i.e., small c coaching) is focused at a behavioural level,
involving the process of helping another person to achieve or improve a particular
behavioural performance. Coaching methods at this level derive primarily from a
sports training model, promoting conscious awareness of resources and abilities, and
the development of conscious competence. They involve drawing out and
strengthening peoples abilities through careful observation and feedback, and
facilitating them to act in coordination with other team members. An effective coach
of this type observes peoples behaviour and gives them tips and guidance about how
to improve in specific contexts and situations.
Teaching
Teaching relates to helping a person develop cognitive skills and capabilities. The
goal of teaching is generally to assist people to increase competencies and thinking
skills relevant to an area of learning. Teaching focuses on the acquisition of general
cognitive abilities, rather than on particular performances in specific situations. A
teacher helps a person to develop new strategies for thinking and acting. The
emphasis of teaching is more on new learning than on refining ones previous
performance.
Mentoring
Mentoring involves guiding someone to discover his or her own unconscious
competencies and overcome internal resistances and interferences, through believing
in the person and validating his or her positive intentions. Mentors help to shape or
influence a persons beliefs and values in a positive way by resonating with,
releasing, or unveiling that persons inner wisdom, frequently through the mentors
own example. This type of mentoring often becomes internalised as part of a person,
so that the external presence of the mentor is no longer necessary. People are able
to carry inner mentors as counselors and guides for their lives in many situations.
Sponsoring
Sponsorship is the process of recognising and acknowledging (seeing and
blessing) the essence or identity of another person. Sponsorship involves seeking
and safeguarding potential within others, focusing on the development of identity
and core values. Effective sponsorship results from the commitment to the promotion
of something that is already within a person or group, but which is not being
manifested to its fullest capacity. This is accomplished through constantly sending
messages such as: You exist. I see you. You are valuable. You are

important/special/unique. You are welcome. You belong here. You have something to
contribute. A good sponsor creates a context in which others can act, grow and

excel. Sponsors provide the conditions, contacts and resources that allow the group

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or individual being sponsored to focus on, develop and use their own abilities and
skills.
Awakening
Awakening goes beyond coaching, teaching, mentoring and sponsorship to include
the level of vision, mission and spirit. An awakener supports another person by
providing contexts and experiences which bring out the best of that persons
understanding of love, self, and spirit. An awakener awakens others through his or
her own integrity and congruence. An awakener puts other people in touch with their
own missions and visions by being in full contact with his or her own vision and
mission.
This complementary group of competenciescaretaking, guiding, coaching, teaching,
mentoring, sponsoring and awakeningdefine the skill set of large C coaching. These are
essential skills, regardless of whether one is coaching a little league baseball team, a
coworker trying to improve his or her ability to communicate, a project group in a company, a
person making a life transition, or the Chief Executive Officer of a multinational organisation.
Each of the different levels of support requires a different quality of relationship on the part
of the coach and a different tool set. The tools of mentoring, for instance, are distinct from
those of teaching, guiding or awakening.
Many situations will require a combination or sequence of tools, skills and types of support.
The purpose of my new book From Coach to Awakener (Meta Publications, 2003) is to
define the types of contexts and situations which call upon the capital C coach to focus on a
particular rolei.e., caretaker, guide, coach, teacher, mentor, sponsor, awakenerand to
provide a specific tool set for each role. In other words to provide the tool set an effective
coach needs to manage the entire scope of large C coaching activitiesfrom caretaking to
awakening.

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