Powerful questions lead to powerful answers. Sometimes the best way to discover greater potential within us is not through seeking advice but by asking powerful and thought provoking questions to ourselves and to others. This brings greater awareness and deeper insights.
This kind of approach of inquiry and finding answers for it, is not new in India. The Vedic Upanishads, collectively called Vedanta, are the oldest and most authoritative scriptures of India, and they are actually in the inquiry-based “questions – answers” format. It is the same approach that modern-day scientists, educationists, and coaches call critical thinking.
The great western philosopher Socrates also knew about this approach of asking powerful questions to learn new things about oneself.
Powerful questions leads us to critical thinking which further leads to clarity. Clarity gives us the power to make the right decisions.
According to ICF (International Coaching federation), the art of powerful questioning is used to evoke deeper awareness and insights in the client.
Powerful Questions by an executive coach helps a leader in several ways:
An executive coach’s job is to support the client in reaching faster towards their goals and become more successful.
A coach asks the questions to facilitate a deeper thinking in the direction that brings more self-awareness to the client about their true potential.
If we take an analogy of an iceberg, then like an iceberg is 5% at the surface and 95% below the water. In the same way, what is visible at the topmost level of our existence is our results, the level of our success. What lies beneath the outcomes is our emotions and our thoughts. These 5% results that are visible to others are an outcome of 95% of our feelings and thoughts. These thoughts and feelings lie below the surface.
When we become aware of our emotions and thoughts at a deeper level, then we are more empowered to driver greater results for us.
An executive coach asks powerful questions and facilitates a shift in the client’s awareness. As the client begins to answer these questions, it brings forth several invisible aspects to the conscious awareness. The client becomes aware of both the helpful and not so helpful self-behaviors. It brings about a qualitative shift in the client’s thought process. This empowers them to make the necessary amendments and take actions leading towards success.
We at CoachKshitij believe that every leader has an innate greatness within them and through focused and deep questioning by an executive coach, they can rediscover that greatness and get the powerful results that they deserve.
Powerful questions unravels those aspects of our innate abilities which are blind spots to us. These abilities have the seeds of greatness within them which can be nurtured by focused efforts during the coaching process.
A corporate life is filled with every day challenge of survival and one thing that can make a huge difference is the focus on solution instead of problem. A typical coaching journey lasts from 3 to 6 months where a coach constantly facilitates that shift. We do have that tendency to delve on problems or the so called issues. The coach makes it a point to bring forth that shift of focus towards solutions by asking powerful questions.
The renowned author and coach Shirzad Chamine says that there are a saboteur and a sage in each one of us. When our saboteurs are active, then our mind is not able to act in our interest and drives us against it despite our best plans and intentions.
When our sage is active, our mind becomes our friend, and we can take even seeming adversities in our stride. Being in a sage state is very powerful as when we anchor ourselves in this state then our executive presence increases, we can create the desired impact, and this leads to higher success and achievement.
The objective of executive coaching is to empower the sage and weaken the saboteur by asking powerful and reflective questions.
Coach Kshitij is a CXO coach and is well-known in the field of executive presence coaching. He has worked in multinational organizations at the senior level and then as a founder of a successful training and coaching company.
It is his passion to help senior corporate executives to experience career fulfillment and achieve their most cherished goals like a promotion to the next level or starting their venture.
To discuss Kshitij’s executive coaching services for yourself or the individuals in your organization, Contact Coach Kshitij for Executive Coaching in Bangalore.
