Coaching: an alternative view....

I was very fortunate to have this article published in the March 2012 edition ADI News. What are your views?

Over the last 18 months or so I have watched the evolution of  “coaching” as a principle and technique in driver training go from an object of derision, to one of suspicion and then reluctant recognition. Now it has reached acceptance and even adoption by some, with the latest evolutionary (revolutionary?) instalment being the DSA’s own National Driver/Rider Training Standard actually having “client-centred” learning right at the top of Role 6 Unit 2  (Design Learning Programmes), which pretty much underpins the whole document. Not to mention the self-evaluation and monitoring processes in units 6.5 and 6.6.

Unfortunately, many people within our industry still remain at the “derision” stage, with the number of instructors growing ever smaller at each of the evolutionary stages to which I give description.  Understandably, with any significant change it takes time for people to come around to new ways of thinking and working, never mind the sense that as an industry we are usually slower than most at doing so. However, the change is happening, and therefore the ability to adapt to it will prove a challenge that we will all have to overcome if we wish to remain successful.

There is one unexpected phenomenon that I have witnessed since coaching became such a hot topic, though. It is the advent of individuals who have taken, or are taking, training in coaching techniques, and may indeed have a list of impressive sounding qualifications, but yet do not seem to implement the principles of coaching in their everyday interactions away from the training car (I have no basis on which to comment on what happens within it).

At this point I should probably quantify my own position somewhat, as I can already hear the “who the … does he think he is?” I do not presume to be an expert in coaching, or an expert on anything else in particular either. I’ve been an ADI for 11 years, and when I attended a Coaching for Driving Instructors course in 2010 I had something of a revelatory experience – I found a philosophy, method and techniques that matched my own internal beliefs.

And this is where I feel that the current vogue for coaching may miss something in the evolutionary process. My take on the practicalities of coaching is that it is a range of techniques that enable me to do something more effectively, that I already want to achieve, i.e. the understanding, facilitation and support of another person’s goals on a non-judgmental, equal basis in order to reach a mutually beneficial outcome. Not the snappiest of descriptions I’ll grant you, but it’s mine. I think coaching works because I believe in the philosophy that it is based on, and it dovetails nicely with the personal and professional values that I have, both towards others and myself. I am increasingly encountering individuals who have clearly studied the theory of coaching more than I, but yet in the way that they address, negotiate and generally interact with people it seems their learned coaching “skills” remain where they were first encountered: in Theory.

Not, of course, that this means I personally always get it right. Far from it, as not only is it virtually impossible to please all of the people all of the time, often pleasing anyone any of the time is a challenge! But if you believe that self-reflection, self-analysis and self-remedy are key components of the coaching philosophy, then you have to embrace change, as it is through changing what you do that you improve upon it. My hope is that this leads to pleasing most people most of the time. I have come to the personal conclusion that without either the belief that the ability to change is a pre-requisite, or the strong desire to forge a meaningful relationship with the individual that you are interacting with, effective coaching cannot really take place.

Those people that I have been fortunate enough to encounter who champion the coaching cause have gained my respect and admiration because they live, breathe and communicate the philosophy of coaching. Not in an evangelical way, but because it appears to be fundamental to their own beliefs and values. If you truly wish to embrace the coaching evolutionary process, I guess as good a place as any to start is in front of a mirror.    


Gareth Marchant 
www.marchdrive.co.uk