Setting your coaching on F.I.R.E.

Have you ever gotten into a coaching conversation only to find yourself unsure of the desired outcome? I have. This usually happens when I have failed to take the time to have the person I am coaching clarify what it is they hope to get out of our time together.

Keith Webb of “Creative Results Ministry” offers a sure F.I.R.E. way to get the conversation headed in a productive direction. (I am sharing this with his permission.)

Focus
At the beginning of the conversation, we want to spend time determining the focus. Remember, the topic comes from the person being coached, not from us. We might ask questions like, “What would be most helpful to work on?” or “Where would you like us to focus the conversation today?”

Importance
Once the focus has been established, it is good to ask the coachee about the importance of the topic. We want to help them explore, clarify, and further focus on the topic. Questions like, “What makes this important to you? What would achieving that do for you? For others?” or “What is the bigger issue behind this situation/problem?” will help promote discovery and perhaps relief for an overwhelmed coachee.

Result
We will not know whether we succeeded in helping the person being coached move forward unless they express their desired result for the conversation. Simply asking, “What result would you like to take away from this conversation?” ensures both the coach and coachee are headed in the same direction.

Evaluate
Lastly, it is important to evaluate or check in with the coachee throughout the conversation to ensure we are making progress toward their desired result. About halfway through the conversation, you might ask, “How are we doing at getting to the result you wanted?” or “Are we on track? How would you like to proceed?”

By adding F.I.R.E. (focus, importance, results, evaluate) to our coaching conversations, we help the person being coached clarify what they want to move forward and ensure we stay focused on their desired outcome.

How could this F.I.R.E. help your coaching conversations?