Behavioral and Perceptual Coaching

Note : This article is originally submitted for the fulfillment of assignment criteria of Advanced Life Coaching Certificate program ( Nov-Dec 2021 Cohort ) conducted by Mindmasters, India

My sincere Gratitude to Dr. Ajit Kar and the team for this Learning opportunity. Kudos to them for their sincere effort and motivation for us.

Behavioral Coaching Process:

In a behavioral coaching process, the coach works with the client to realize and alter one behavior that will have the biggest impact on their performance. The modified behavior is simple and specific and includes starting doing, stopping doing, doing more, or doing less.

The behavioral coaching model believes that since most of our behaviors are learned, they can be changed through un-learning and re-learning in order to result in positive outcomes.

It facilitates the exploration of our behaviors, values, attitude, perceptions, beliefs, motives, emotions, and actions that can help us make significant changes in our behaviors. It enables us to understand if our behaviors are based on emotions and unconscious responses or intellectual and conscious thought.

The behavioral coaching model is basically derived from various disciplines such as psychology, leadership and management, philosophy, and organizational sociology. All these disciples contribute towards creating a comprehensive behavioral coaching engagement that looks towards identifying effective managerial and leadership traits, understanding human psychology towards change and identifying behavioral patterns, and building an effective and actionable plan for change.

How to understand whether you can benefit from Behavioral Coaching or not? Let’s do a quick exercise:

If you answer yes to one or more of the following questions, you could benefit from behavioral coaching:

• Do you have a behavioral blind spot that may be derailing or holding you back in your career?
• Have you received a performance evaluation/review that indicates you can improve a specific behavior?
• Do you have a given talent or strength you would like to build on by adding a specific behavior?
• Would you like to develop a specific skill, but are unsure of how to proceed?

Advantages of behavioral coaching:

1. It is measurable. You either make the new behavior a habit or you don’t.

2. Get better results

3. Experience increased confidence

4. Move forward in your career

5. Relationships with others improve

6. Reputation improves because others’ perception of you changes for the better

Perceptual Coaching :

Our attitudes and perceptions shape how we see the world. Sometimes the attitudes and beliefs can be so extensive that they have a significant cost on productivity and relationships. They may have come about as defense mechanisms or ways to cope. They probably appear automatically and usually during times of stress.

Perceptual Coaching is a coaching methodology that identifies and works to modify self and others’ perceptions of the Leaders we are Coaching — should our Coaching determine these perceptions are impediments to achieving our Leader’s personal and professional success. Here are five secrets of Perceptual Coaching that may assist you in one in Coaching efforts:

1. Perceptions Matter:

Our perceptions of our own knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences shape how we choose to interact with the world. The Pygmalion Effect, also known as “Self-Fulfilling Prophecies,” theorizes that how people perceive themselves has a strong potential to introduce Limiting Perceptions that influence their conscious and unconscious behaviors. Likewise, other people’s perceptions of our knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences impact how they choose to interact with us — to the extent that they apply reverse “Self-Fulfilling Prophecies” regarding their expectations of us. With all that said, it truly matters how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us! Perceptual Coaching works to identify and modify — if needed — our self and other perceptions — should they limit our personal and professional achievements.

2. Self-Other Disparities:

We humans go about our lives with an internal “perception” of who we are and how we present ourselves to the world. Concurrently, the world has a “perception” of us — that may vary quite significantly from the view we have of ourselves. We call these differences in perceptions “Self-Other Disparities.” Perceptual Coaching and/or Psychometric Assessments can easily and accurately identify and then communicate these differences in perceptions. In many cases, the Self-Other Disparities are simply interesting novelties, but quite often, they give Perceptual Coaches opportunities to work with our Leaders to change either theirs or the world’s perceptions of them.

3. One Can Change Limiting Perceptions:

The Leaders we are Coaching possess both innate and learned methods of communicating and demonstrating their preferences — which in turn become theirs and the world’s perceptions of their life and leadership. But these preferences are NOT our Leader’s destiny! Through Perceptual Coaching, employing the tools of Coaching, you can facilitate the discovery of limiting perceptions (either self or other) that stand between our Leaders and their Goals, Objectives, & Key Results. Once identified, you can then continue Coaching, again using the tools of Coaching, to remove or modify these Limiting Perceptions.

4. Modify Perceptions of Willingness & Ability:

One of my favorite Coaching metaphors is the “Intersection of Willingness & Ability.” The imagery of this tool is all about how Willing is your Leader to change and/or improve a Limiting Perception and how Able are they to change and/or improve a Limiting Perception? For example, if a Leader I am Coaching states “I am just not good at X…,” then I might come back with a question such as “Is that challenge a Willingness perception or an Ability perception? Over time, through Perceptual Coaching, you can work to modify your Leader’s Willingness and/or Ability with respect to self and others’ perceptions of their life and leadership.

5. Coach to New “Realms of the Possible:”

Another of my favorite Coaching tools to overcome Limiting Perceptions is the “Miracle Question” — which comes to us from the world of Psychiatry. In using this tool, you simply ask a form of “If you woke up tomorrow morning and anything was possible, what would this perceived outcome look like for you? The tool introduces the opportunity to perceive an entirely new “realm of the possible” without ANY limiting perceptions. Once your Leader envisions the new perceived outcome, they can then introduce and overcome actual limitations that will get them to this new envisioned reality.

If you answer yes to one or more of the following statements, you may benefit from perceptual coaching:

• I need to be popular
• I’m not good enough
• I can’t trust anyone
• I need to be perfect
• Nobody understands me
• I need to look good
• Nothing good ever happens to me
• I need to be the smartest

When you eliminate the limited perceptions, you can realize and appreciate the benefits:

• You feel more confident
• You’re more open and receptive to new possibilities
• You identify and move towards a new vision and goals

This was all about Behavioral vs Perceptual coaching. Which one is relevant for you ?