As a coach, I am always on the look out for new ways to ask questions as I believe the more flexible we are with our questions, the better we can serve our clients.
One way that I have developed this flexibility is through reading. The medium does not matter as much as the content, but I love reading books, blogs and magazines. Reading quenches my thirst for learning and inspires my coaching styles. This passion for reading has lead me to collect many thought-provoking quotes over the years. I find quotes to be effective as people often see themselves in quotes. For this reason, I share them with clients as another resource to spark a new way of thinking. My collection of quotes has become a powerful tool in my coaching toolbox.
Top 10 Quotes to Empower Your Coaching Questions.
- “It is not that I'm so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.” - Albert Einstein.
Sometimes we're quick to jump in and ask another question if the client is slow in answering. Take a deep breath and wait. Let them be with the question as long as they need. - “Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.” - William S. Burroughs.
Your job as a coach is to ask the question and wait. Don't rush in. Bite your tongue if you have to, but wait...give the client space. - “The key question to keep asking is, 'Are you spending your time on the right things?' Because time is all you have. ” - Randy Pausch, from The Last Lecture.
This one gets me every time because in a world so often lured into someday thinking, this question is a great reality check. - "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?” - Martin Luther King Jr.
As coaches we are always in service of others. The privilege of this is profound. - “In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” - Fred Rogers.
Is this not a great description of coaching? Remember to listen with your ears AND your heart. - “The Answer to the Great Question... Of Life, the Universe and Everything... Is... Forty-two,' said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.” -Douglas Adams, from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Do you ever notice that often our work is simpler than you think? This quote may seem silly, but it points to how complicated we can make things. What if the answer really is 42? - “The minute we begin to think we have all the answers, we forget the questions.” - Madeleine L'Engle.
As a coach it's important to remember we don't have to have all the answers, and we don't have to have it all handled. Remember your humanity. - "That's the big question, the one the world throws at you every morning. 'Here you are, alive. Would you like to make a comment?” - Mary Oliver.
If someone asked you this question today, what would you say? - “The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he's one who asks the right questions.” - Claude Levi-Strauss
- “I find relief from the questions only when I concede that I am not obliged to know everything. I remind myself it is sufficient to know what I know, and that what I know, may not always be true.” - Maya Angelou
Sandi Amorim is an Erickson Alumni, Master Coach, Founder of the Created Life Academy and author of The 100 Day Promise.
