Every coach grapples with today’s topic: Should you avoid bias while coaching? We kick things off by acknowledging that the answer isn't as straightforward as it seems. While many might instinctively say "yes," we explore the nuances of bias and how it can actually play a positive role in coaching.
Whether you're an independent coach or working within a company or organization, this episode is packed with insights to help you embrace your unique coaching style while still being the best support for your clients. Let's get into it!
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Bias Isn't Always Bad: We often think of bias as a negative trait, but in coaching, it can actually be a powerful tool. Our personal biases—rooted in our strengths and experiences—can enhance our coaching effectiveness. For instance, if you have a strong belief in your clients' potential, that bias can help them borrow your confidence as they work toward their goals. Embracing our biases can lead to more authentic connections with our clients.
Awareness of Preferences: As coaches, it's crucial to recognize our own preferences and how they shape our coaching style. Understanding our preferences helps us create a coaching environment that aligns with our strengths while also being transparent with our clients about how we operate. This clarity can help clients determine if we're the right fit for them.
The Balance Between Coaching and Expertise: Sometimes, coaches feel pressured to avoid giving direct advice, fearing it may introduce bias. However, there are moments when sharing our expertise is not only appropriate but necessary. It’s about finding the right balance—knowing when to ask powerful questions and when to provide guidance based on our knowledge and experience.
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Reflect on Your Biases: Take time to identify and acknowledge your own biases and preferences as a coach. Consider how these may influence your coaching style and interactions with clients.
Communicate Your Preferences: Clearly articulate your coaching preferences and styles to potential clients. This transparency can help clients determine if you are a good fit for their needs.
Balance Coaching and Expertise: Recognize when to lean into your expertise and provide direct advice versus when to facilitate a coaching conversation.
Leverage Positive Bias: Use your positive biases, such as belief in your clients' potential or your focus on strengths, to support and encourage them. Allow clients to borrow your belief in their capabilities to help them progress.
Embrace Differences as Strengths: Foster an environment where diverse perspectives and biases are seen as advantages. Encourage open discussions about biases within teams to enhance collaboration and understanding.
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Lisa: Hi, I'm Lisa.
Brea: And I'm Brea.
Lisa: And today's topic is all for coaches. And it's this question. Should you avoid bias while coaching? What say you, Brea?
Brea: Well, this sounds like it's going to be a juicy topic. That's what I say. I think it's not so clear black or white this time. I feel like there's a lot of gray here.
Lisa: Right. And I think people will be listening. You tell us listeners, did you say, I don't even know if I want to listen to this one because of course the answer is yes, I should avoid it. I don't even need to listen. Skip.
Brea: Yeah. I mean, that was my first thought was like, well, of course you should. That's my, you know, what all of the, the gold star coaching programs are going to tell you.
Lisa: Yeah, I feel like you get the message both. You should avoid bias while coaching, and you should avoid bias in all areas of life altogether. And I think a good discussion is warranted. But why don't we start with where bias would be bad. So whether you have an independent coaching practice, or you're an internal coach in a workplace, I have two things that feel like bias that you should be on watch for. One, I have an agenda for you. I want you to own your own business, not stay in corporate. I want you to have bigger goals for your revenue. I want you, those are my wants, not yours. So that could bring a huge bias. So I have an agenda for you could be a warning where you really should avoid that bias while coaching. And then the other is when my preferences blind me as a coach. And this is where I think some of the juiciness you're talking about is going to come out because I have strengths, you have strengths as a coach, every coach does. And your strengths, if they represent how you think or feel or act, your preferences, your instincts, those will often come with assumptions. And so your preferences can blind you. So I think that's another one you just have to be aware of or try to avoid bias while coaching by knowing what preferences might blind you to their perspective, which of course questions can solve for.
Brea: I'd like to talk more about that because sometimes as an independent coach with my own business practice where I'm the business owner and I've got a business model and a strategy to make profit and like all these things. My preferences play into that big picture a lot more than if I was an internal coach at a company where it was my only job was to show up for 30 minutes and coach. So maybe we could talk about preferences a little bit more.
Lisa: That's an example. Say where I'm your customer and I come to your coaching business. and you have some preference. Give us an example of what that actually sounds like, because I think with this idea of avoiding bias, we're going to get people caught up in semantics where they're just like, nope, hard no. But I bet when you give an example, people might open their mind to the idea. Yeah.
Brea: Yeah. You know, everything from I have a preference for how many coaching calls I want to do a day or a week or a month or however, you know, how long I want those to be. Do I want that to be on video? And then within video, is there a certain platform that is easier for me? I mean, I strongly prefer zoom over things like teams or Google meet or whatever, just because I've been using zoom for, as long as I've had my business, you know, almost eight years, like I'm very, very familiar with Zoom. So I'm more free to show up for my, my customer there. It's harder for me to be fully present when I'm using their platform. So that's a preference that I think is, is good to know that I have that functional bias of just ease of use. That doesn't mean that I will only ever use Zoom, but that's what I invite my customers to do. And if they ask for something different, then I can make another choice. But I think those types of preferences are good as you're building your own practice. It's good to know where you show up best because then you're able to give your best to your customer.
Lisa: Yeah, they create clarity for you. And something that's simple and practical can be an area that allows the customer to decide if you're a good fit for them. You could think of putting out biases to the world, kind of like an exercise in saying, here's how I show up best. Here are my preferences. If these are a good match for you, we're going to be getting off to a great start.
Brea: Yep, that's right. And it's interesting, I mean, of course, all of this comes from our strengths, right? Our own talent, makeup, but even things like agenda, there are coaches out there that appreciate having an agenda as far as like, a structure, you know. There are coaches out there that every coaching session looks pretty much the same, you know. They have kind of a flow for it. There might be certain worksheets that they use or just a general outline of the hour, you know. Five minutes here, 20 minutes here. Some coaches use slide decks. I prefer to just kind of show up and I don't like to prepare a lot. I like to just meet them as they are in the moment. I don't do worksheets during my coaching sessions usually. That would be something that you can do on your own after we talk, but I like a very casual flow. Those are personal preferences that come from my talent makeup. my bias, right? And I just think being aware of who you are as a person, how that translates into your coaching, that awareness is so key. And then you can choose, okay, do I need to lean into this or away from this? Is this hindering my coaching conversation at all? But just start with awareness.
Lisa: And you're actually getting me to think even beyond preferences into advice giving when your client really wants it from you. So let's say you're an independent coach and you're an expert. You've been delivering CliftonStrengths for 10 years and you've been doing it in this specific industry. Now they come to you and they say, Hey, coach, give me your recommendations on how we should implement. And coaches get so wrapped up in this idea of not having bias. They're like, I can't have an opinion on anything. Everything in the world is met with a question that they need to answer for themselves.
Brea: Isn't that ironic? Because that in and of itself is a bias, isn't it? It is.
Lisa: Boom. Yes. And I mean, that's just going to be frustrating if a prospect comes to you and they're like, you have a skill, you have an expertise, and you have good questions. And yes, bring us all of your good questions. But if you're so avoidant, you're working so hard to avoid bias while you're coaching, that you won't even give a straight answer, you are just going to be frustrating. So I want to say yes to your preferences discussion and even amplify it further to be cautious of thinking that everything is coaching. Sometimes you're a person who's an expert in a field, and that's another word. That could be a whole other episode because some coaches are really worried about the word expert. But they just want an answer. So not everything, not every part of every conversation is a coaching moment.
Brea: Yeah. I love that. I mean, I think I run my business and just my life that way. Every interaction that I have with other people, they're just interacting with me. Priya Roper, human being, you know, who wears a lot of different hats and can do a lot of different things and fill a lot of different roles. And I think that is just part of it, you know?
Lisa: Yes. You also just pinged for me another reason why on the question, should you avoid bias while coaching your Answer might be no. And that is, what if you are a specialty coach? I thought of two things while you were talking. One is an accountability coach. If your promise of results is, I'm going to help you be accountable to what you said you want, I might use my bias and my techniques in a way that help you stay accountable to what you said. I've heard of a coach, one of my favorite niche examples is this woman who was a deltoid coach.
Brea: I mean, I'm not even kidding. What do you mean?
Lisa: I mean, this is not our typical mindset coach, life coach, executive coach kind of topic that we're normally talking about. This is literally your shoulder deltoid coach. I want you to have your killer looking deltoids. Yes. Looking, feeling strength, mobility and appearance. OK, right. How cool is that to just be so drilled in? Is she going to have bias? Yes, she is going to have a system, a structure. It's going to be really clear. Maybe people will argue system, structure, preferences are different from biases, but she's going to have an agenda for you.
Brea: Yeah, and I think it's kind of similar to us as strengths coaches, right? I'm going to show up to every conversation that I have with a very, very strong bias toward focusing on what's working, what's good, what's right. That is the bias that I'm intentional about leaning into that, you know? So just like she is intentional about leaning into the deltoid, if that's what you're trying to do is is to refine that particular muscle in your body, that's exactly what you want. If you want overall conditioning or strengthening of your body, that's not what you want. So that's why it's so important for the person who's being coached to set their outcome And then us having a strong bias towards strengths, if that's what they're looking for, as far as how to get to their outcome, how to accomplish the outcome, we use that strengths bias to get us there. That's a good thing, right?
Lisa: Right. I mean, you just had head explosion emoji for me because I was thinking about how we talk about specific cognitive biases that exist. There are a dozen of them, but one that we talk about often is we have a negative cognitive bias as a human. We're wired to figure out what's wrong. We're wired for protection. Well, then by definition, on the flip side, wouldn't positive cognitive bias, I'm making that up, but us leaning into strengths, trying to have a positive cognitive bias, isn't that a bias?
Brea: Yes, it is. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's interesting because I think most of the time people hear the word bias and immediately they think negative. Because of that negative cognitive bias, right? That is a natural default mode for us as humans. So it's important to recognize that we can use bias for good. And yeah, there are times when that's appropriate and even needed, necessary, helpful, you know, all the things.
Lisa: Yes, I have one final example of when avoiding, okay, doing the should you avoid bias while coaching? This question twists up my brain because the obvious answer is yes, but our answer today is resoundingly often no. Sometimes, yeah. Sometimes. So this example is Kind of on that topic of agenda, but people will come to me and they want to believe something bigger about themselves, about possibilities in their life or their career, and they're not there yet. And I am happy to let them borrow my belief in them because I believe in them so strongly. It's so easy for me to believe in my clients. Yes. And that's a bias. I am biased toward their success, their skills, their capabilities, their potential. And I think it's totally appropriate. And I want them to get this skill for themselves, because eventually they need to believe in themselves. But if they're like, Hey, I run a talent development department today. And in 2 years, I want to be out on my own with an independent coaching practice. I can't see myself getting there. I don't think I have the juice to be attracting clients while I'm here. And if I leave, I think I'm going to lose the farm. And they are doing the doomsday kind of snowball effect of their thoughts. And I can let them borrow the beliefs I have in them so we can bridge them to get there.
Brea: You are just so good at believing in people and encouraging them and just giving your beliefs. And I think that's what we're talking about, being aware of our own strengths as coaches, our own talent profile, so that when the person in front of us needs that positivity, needs that belief, needs the talents that we have, We can give them and we can give them freely and we can just let that flow.
Lisa: Yeah, the thing that happens often, I find, is people say, okay, I'm going out on my own. But I don't know. I mean, I don't know if I have what it takes to be a business owner. I don't know if I can cut it. I don't know if this, I don't know if that. But then they also say, I'm not getting new clients. I'm not attracting new clients. I don't know why. And that to me indicates you might be asking your prospects to believe in you more than you believe in you. It's really unfair. So, helping you get there, I might be pulling some bias in to help you with some tools I know. Now, they're going to be great questions. They're going to be coaching questions and you're going to come up with them. So, it's a mix. It's bias pulled into coaching and questions still totally directed by that person.
Brea: Yeah, the other thing that comes up for me with bias is, from a strengths lens, is in communication. So this is certainly applicable in a coaching conversation, but it has a greater application to really any conversations you're having with anyone ever. But the idea that when someone says something to you, you receive that and interpret it through your talents, right? So your strategic hears, oh, I want to go out and start my own coaching business in two years. Your strategic hears that in a way that's very, very different than my communication, right? Yes. Initial, initial thoughts, initial interpretation. Very, very different. and how we respond, you know, in that coaching conversation that will take us on very different paths, right? If we just naturally let those talents lead that response, so.
Lisa: I was just, I was thinking of so many workshops where that has come up, where I ask a question, the question reflects my strengths, my preferences, my biases. The teams who are answering it, they're coming from totally different planets, and they're reflecting their own biases in their questions and their reactions. And that whole discussion around bias, this, I always just call it cognitive bias, we're just different, we're wired different from our skills, experiences, strengths, talents, all those things. And it's just cool to explore instead of hearing the word bias and go, eek, run. Instead, like, bring it. What are your preferences? What would you normally assume given a situation like this? What should we talk about? Where are you coming from at your norm? And maybe we should know this about each other as a team. What a cool tool as a coach to be able to offer to your teams, to your coaches, to your clients. I mean, that is a great use of bias. You're literally bringing bias as a tool.
Brea: So cool. It's so cool. And recognizing that we all have different cognitive patterns, right? So having so many different perspectives around the same question or around the same task, around the same goal is only going to help. You know, it's only going to aid us if we also agree that we're all moving together in the same direction, that our differences are advantages. We have to have that trust in each other. We have to have that common goal and know that our own individual biases are actually there to help and to work together.
Lisa: Yeah, yeah. Your phrase, differences are advantages, is just the perfect way to sum all of this up and call them out. Mind them. hang around and talk about them a little bit, figure out what they are, because it's not like they instantly go away like some magic trick. They're there, and they could be used as actual advantages if you do it with purpose. So if someone wants to do that with purpose, with you, Brea Roper, tell us how to find you.
Brea: brearoper.com, that's the best place to go. B-R-E-A-R-O-P-E-R.com and we can talk about an individual coaching plan, we can talk about coming in and doing some coaching with your team, we can talk about whatever it is that you need and then I can offer a solution. How about you, Lisa?
Lisa: Yeah, come on over and find me at leadthroughstrengths.com. Check out the link called Tools for Coaches. That's where I have a membership for independent coaches. And I also have a Workplace Edition for those of you who are internal coaches and just want all the goods, the tools, the decks, the worksheets, the content, the things you can borrow. to put these practices into your life. And then for the independent coaches, we really double down on evergreen marketing and systems so that you have a nice foundation for your business that lasts for years at a time.
Brea: Amazing. Yeah, this is good. But again, I think maybe the best way to close is just to say, recognize that you do have bias and avoiding bias for the sake of avoiding bias is really only gonna set you up for failure because it's detracting from your authenticity. It's blocking you from actually connecting if you're trying to just avoid bias. It's taking your humanity out of you and all the things that make you special as a coach. So finding a good blend of who you are and good coaching principles and foundation. I think that's where I would land. What about you, Lisa?
Lisa: Agreed. Let your differences be your differentiators, both for you and for the coachee and you're solid.
Brea: Strengths snaps. Hey.
Lisa: See you next time.
Brea: Bye.
“Remember, hard work doesn’t have to feel hard. Aligned with your strengths, it actually feels easy, energizing, and fun!”
MEET YOUR CO-HOSTS
BREA ROPER
Communication | Woo | Activator | Futuristic | Connectedness
If you need a Strengths Hype Girl, for yourself or your team, connect with Brea at brearoper.com. She’s ready to deliver an inspirational keynote, empowering training, or transformational workshop. If you’re looking for an expert guide to support your internal Strengths efforts, reach out today!
LISA CUMMINGS
Strategic | Maximizer | Positivity | Individualization | Woo
To work with Lisa, check out team workshops and retreats at the Lead Through Strengths site. For 1:1 strengths or life coaching, check out the Get Coached link. For independent coaches, trainers, and speakers, get business tools support with our Tools for Coaches membership.
The Fine Print: This podcast is not sanctioned or endorsed by Gallup in any way. Opinions, views and interpretations of CliftonStrengths© are solely the beliefs of Lisa Cummings and Brea Roper.