Coaching Conversations in Academic Advising Gail Fairfield Office of Completion & Student Success Indiana University Coaching Conversations in Academic Advising

Today’s Agenda What’s the Value of a Coaching Conversation– in academia What’s at the Heart of Coaching with college students? Sample Coaching Conversation What’s the arc of a Coaching Conversation? Sample Powerful Questions for the arc Q&A INDIANA UNIVERSITY

What is COACHING in an Academic Setting? An opportunity for students to deepen their learning, take responsibility for their actions, improve their effectiveness and consciously create their outcomes in life. LifeBound Academic Training and Certification Academic Coaching vs. Life Coaching We are helping them create THEIR outcomes but we have some investment in the agenda  student success. Life Coaching is based SOLELY on the client’s agenda. Copyright 2011 www.lifebound.com www.caroljcarter.com Copyright 2016

Q: Why is Coaching so valuable right now Q: Why is Coaching so valuable right now? A: Employers Want these skills and Coaching can help students develop them Fortune 500: 1970 Fortune 500: NOW Forbes: NOW 1 Writing Teamwork 2 Computational Skills Problem Solving 3 Reading Interpersonal Skills Decision Making 4 Oral Communication 5 Listening Skills Plan, Organize, & Prioritize Work 6 Personal Career Development Obtain & Process Information 7 Creative Thinking Analyze Quantitative Data 8 Leadership Technical Knowledge Related to Job 9 Goal Setting/Motivation Proficiency with Computer Software 10 Ability to Create/Edit Written Reports 11 Organizational Effectiveness Ability to Sell and Influence Others 12 13 Reading Skills INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Why is coaching so valuable right now? A student story . . . In January, a student who was planning to graduate in May, came to see her advisor, who had recently participated in professional development related to coaching conversations. The student explained that she had always hated her field of study, Biology, but did not want to slow herself down, so she continued to take Biology classes. In her earlier advising sessions, she had only discussed plans for completing her declared major and her Spanish minor. She divulged that, if she had thought it through in her first two years, she might have chosen to major in Political Science instead. Although, in her final semester, it was too late to reverse the clock, by responding to coaching questions in her advising session, she found a way to apply the analytical and research skills learned in Biology to a job in policy research for a political party, one with a largely Spanish-speaking constituency. However, her college experience might have been more satisfying if she had encountered some coaching conversations much earlier! INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Q: Why is Coaching so valuable right now Q: Why is Coaching so valuable right now? A: Coaching can help students develop some skills they need in order to succeed in the WORKPLACE . . . and in LIFE They need to Develop and Maintain: Ongoing Curiosity Self-Awareness and Self-Advocacy The skills for making Strategic Plans for oneself The capacity to Follow-through & be Accountable Resilience – the willingness to expend the effort and stick with a problem The habit of approaching challenges with a Growth Mindset The interpersonal skills for Working with Others INDIANA UNIVERSITY

What’s at the Heart of a Coaching Conversation with a College Student? An Assumption that the STUDENTS are the EXPERTS in their lives An Assumption of Basic WELLNESS Questions that lead to a Balance of Insight & Action Curiosity! INDIANA UNIVERSITY

What characterizes Coaching Conversations? May be short May be incorporated into regular meetings with students May allow the meetings to be more meaningful and useful Are NOT a default for every situation! INDIANA UNIVERSITY

SAMPLE COACHING CONVERSATION INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Sample Coaching Conversation How long did this Coaching Conversation take? What did you notice? How could you follow this within a 30-minute advising session? What else might YOU have asked? INDIANA UNIVERSITY

What are some Coaching Tools? Genuine Attentiveness & Caring Listening Observing Acknowledging Asking Powerful Questions Leveraging Three Dimensions of a Student’s Intelligence INDIANA UNIVERSITY 10

Powerful Questions Are open-ended Trigger self-reflection Reveal choices Elicit a different idea of what’s possible Weigh costs and benefits of a choice or action Establish the level of importance (scale of 1-10) Encourage shifts in perspective Unpack assumptions or limiting beliefs Incite action Promote accountability & follow through Copyright 2011 INDIANA UNIVERSITY

The Dimensions of Intelligence used in Coaching Conversations Analytical Thinking Creative Thinking Practical Thinking Dr. Robert Sternberg, psychologist who explored/developed the concept of Successful Intelligence. During his time at Yale he researched the notion of intelligence. As he traveled around he realized we consider the gifted/talented students as very intelligent because they have strong analytical skills, but when he gave them creative thinking exercises they didn’t all fare well. However, when he tested some of the remedial students, many had creative thinking skills that were off the charts. As he explored the skills needed to successfully navigate the world, he theorized that we all need to be able to think in more than one way . . . specifically, in education, we tend to emphasize the analytical and practical over the creative. WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A BRICK? http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/gpr/3/4/292/ Concept of the Coaching arc: www.lifebound.com www.caroljcarter.com 12

X The ARC of a Coaching Conversation Powerful Questions + Successful Intelligence = The ARC of a Coaching Conversation   Elicit CREATIVE Thinking WHAT CAN YOU IMAGINE? WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO HAVE WHAT YOU WANT? IN AN IDEAL WORLD . . .? X   Elicit PRACTICAL Thinking WHEN AND HOW WILL YOU TAKE ACTION? HOW WILL YOU HANDLE CHALLEGES? HOW/WHEN WILL YOU CHECK IN? HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE? Elicit ANALYTICAL Thinking WHAT DOES _______ MEAN TO YOU?   WHAT’S IMPORTANT ABOUT ________? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT? CREDIT for concept of the ARC: LifeBound COACHING ARC Think Analytically: gather and analyze information about the current challenge, situation, decision – what’s at the core of the issue - Think Creatively: shift perspective, brainstorm choices, envision outcomes and possibilities and challenge their assumptions Think Practically: action plan, next step, possible roadblocks and solutions, accountability, mindset needed to move forward TENDENCY is to go from Analytical to Practical and skip Creative – but the practical solution will be more effective and relevant – and result in more buy-in and accountability – if creative first! CHALLENGE FOR COACH: Resist supplying answers (going across the bottom of the coaching arc) – watch for the change in the student’s body language TEMPTATION INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Coach the PERSON, not the problem Remember . . . Coach the PERSON, not the problem INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Powerful Questions for triggering ANALYTICAL Intelligence What does _____ mean to you? What’s important about _____? What do you already know about what you want? What do you already know about this? On a scale of 1-10, how important is this? What’s important about this? What might be the cost associated with having this? What good thing might you lose? What might be the benefit of having this? What might you gain? What’s the impact of doing/having this? Of not doing/having it? Tell me about a time when you’ve successfully . . . INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Powerful Questions to trigger Creative Intelligence WHAT DO YOU IMAGINE? WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO HAVE WHAT YOU WANT? IN AN IDEAL WORLD . . .? If you could wave a magic wand . . . ? What might be the result immediately? In 1 (or 5 or 20) years? If you could, just for a minute, put the restrictions aside, what would you want? How would it LOOK if you had this?1 How would it FEEL if you had this? What would it be like if you could HARMONIZE _____ and _____? What might you be saying to yourself? To others? What’s the best result that could occur? If money were no object, and the world was your dream, what would you do?   What needs to be there for someone to be creative? Neutrality Safe Space Playfulness Open-mindedness “Relax the Constraints” “If money were no object and the world were your dream . . . .” Sense of brainstorming Sense of “enough time” Introvert – time to think Extravert – brainstorm, think out loud Hitch-hiker stretch INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Why Am I Talking Remember . . . Ask a question and . . . INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Sample Powerful Questions for Practical Intelligence WHEN AND HOW WILL YOU TAKE ACTION? HOW WILL YOU HANDLE THE CHALLENGES? WHEN AND HOW WILL YOU CHECK IN? HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE? What’s the first small step you could take to make this happen? What kind of support can you find? What resources do you need? Where can you get them? How will you maintain the mindset of ______? How will you remember to _______? What are the challenges or roadblocks that might arise? How will you meet those challenges and stay on track? How and when – and with whom – will you check in along the way? How will you celebrate? INDIANA UNIVERSITY

When coaching through the full arc, what comes before and after it?   Elicit CREATIVE Thinking Elicit ANALYTICAL Thinking   Elicit PRACTICAL Thinking Transition to a Coaching Conversation May I Make a Suggestion? Offer a Resource? SAMPLE COACHING Gain Rapport INDIANA UNIVERSITY

IU Kokomo: Training and Practice Reinforce Powerful Questions

IU Kokomo: Preparing to Coach New Students INDIANA UNIVERSITY

IU Kokomo: Student Feedback Advisor helped me make a choice I was comfortable with: Definitely yes (97.7%) Advisor helped me with a plan to follow through with my choices: Definitely yes (96%) Advisor was eager to learn how I meet challenges and solve problems: Definitely yes (91%) I feel more confident in my own ability to solve future problems: Definitely yes (87.4%) INDIANA UNIVERSITY

IU Kokomo: Student Feedback “My advisor made me feel very comfortable and more confident with my test scores when meeting. She made me feel like I'm ready to go to college.” “I had a great experience that really calmed my nerves about my first year here at IUK.” “I had fun talking with my advisor and she really helped me understand what I needed to do.” INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Summary: Coaching Conversations Assume: Basic Wellness That the Student is the Expert in his/her/their life That you want the student to have Insight and take action Coaching Conversations can be short and part of regular meetings with students Coaching Conversations are based on Powerful Questions that trigger three kinds of intelligence A Coaching Conversation follows an arc from Analytical to Creative to Practical Remember the TOP of the arc Remember to W.A.I.T. INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Gail Fairfield gfairfie@iu.edu Contact with questions or for information about Training or Certification: Gail Fairfield gfairfie@iu.edu INDIANA UNIVERSITY