After more than 20 years as an executive coach, I still ask myself the same question I ask my clients:
What makes you come alive?
Before coaching, I held a lot of roles — nonprofit leader, fundraiser, executive, facilitator, consultant. And across all of them, I kept noticing the same thing: people made more progress when I asked better questions instead of giving advice too quickly.
That observation led me to coaching. And coaching led me to Appreciative Inquiry — an approach which focusses on what's working and how to build on it. I deepened my knowledge of the approach and how to use it in coaching through the College of Executive Coaching, founded by Dr. Jeffrey E. Auerbach, where I have been teaching for many years.
This is the first in a three-part series on how Appreciative Inquiry has shaped my coaching practice — and why I believe it matters for coaches and leaders alike.
More to come.