The Triangle coaching model conceptualizes the process of coaching as a client centered, helping relationship. There are three equally important dimensions to this relationship. Each of these dimensions is made up of four behavioral components.
Supporting: This dimension involves creating an interpersonal context that facilitates trust, openness, respect, and understanding. The four behavioral components are:
- Attending – using body language, voice tone, eye contact, and physical setting to reduce defensiveness and create an open, trusting coaching environment.
Inquiring – asking questions to elicit information, clarify perspective, and promote understanding.
- Reflecting – promoting clarity and demonstrating understanding by the coach stating in his own words what he thinks the person he is coaching is saying or feeling.
- Affirming – communicating that the coach believes the person being coached has the ability to learn, change, or develop.
Challenging: This dimension involves stimulating the person being coached to confront obstacles, re-conceptualize issues, and move forward with renewed energy and self-reliance. The four behavioral components are:
- Confronting – helping the person being coached face and understand issues, behaviors, or perceptions that are blocking him.
- Focusing/Shaping – moving the coaching conversation from the general to the specific, toward concrete, actionable outcomes.
- Reframing – helping the person being coached examine and validate his assumptions and inferences.
- Empowering/Energizing – helping the person being coached develop an increased sense of purpose, energy, and self-reliance.
Assessing: This dimension involves analytical processes that lead to measurement and goal setting. The four behavioral components are:
- Data Gathering – collecting information that will be of use to the person being coached.
- Gap Analysis – utilizing differences between the current reality and the desired future state of the person being coached to develop action plans.
- Goal Setting – helping the person being coached develop concrete plans to meet desired objectives.
- Measurement/Feedback – establishing criteria to assess progress against goal achievement and developing mechanisms for feedback of behavioral change.
The coaching model can be depicted as an interactive triangle. As indicated by the arrows, each dimension and behavioral component influences and is influenced by all others.
| SUPPORTING Attending Inquiring Reflecting Affirming |
CHALLENGING Confronting Focusing/Shaping Reframing Empowering/Energizing |
ASSESSING Data Gathering Gap Analysis Goal Setting Measurement/Feedback |
Sample Applications
The CBI was designed to help managers, consultants, and coaches assess their strengths and developmental needs using the supporting, challenging, and assessing coaching model. It is a practical, behaviorally based, self-assessment instrument that allows participants to validate their self-perceptions through discussions, feedback, and small group work. Self-awareness stimulated by the CBI often results in a “wake-up-call” for improved interactions and communication skills on the job and with family and friends. The CBI is a very user-friendly instrument and is of value in a variety of training and coaching environments. Here are some examples of past applications:
- The central instrument in coaching skills workshops. The CBI has been used in workshops ranging from one to five days in duration. The longer workshops have used videotaped role-plays, case studies, and “back home” coaching issues. It has proven very helpful in teaching managers supporting skills to help in revitalizing downsized organizational systems.
- As a component of consulting skills training. The supporting, challenging, assessing model is also fundamental to a client centered consulting approach. It has been particurarly useful for consultants moving from a technical to a more broad based consulting role.
- As part of leadership development and change management programs. Self-awareness is central to leading and helping others change.
- As part of performance management training. Performance appraisals, in order to reduce defensiveness and promote self-motivation, need to focus on helping and facilitating as opposed to judging and evaluating.
- As a communication and style clarification device between a coach and the person being coached. This is a growing application. It originated in an organization where internal coaches were being trained and assigned to a number of clients. In this application, both the coach and the client took the instrument, shared scores, and discussed the implications for their coaching relationship.
Balanced Coaching
All three dimensions are equally important for effective coaching as depicted in the diagram. Overuse of one dimension at the expense of the other two results in a distorted coaching process. A good metaphor is the head, the heart, and the feet. The head equates to the cogitative process of assessing, the heart equates to the feeling dimensions of supporting, and the feet represent the action taking dimensions of challenging.
- A big head indicates a preference for analysis
- Coaches with big heads are skilled at grounding coaching in objective measurement and relevant information
- Big heads have the challenge of developing complimentary heart and feet size (supporting & Challenging)
- A big heart indicates a preference for supporting
- Coaches with big hearts are skilled at creating an environment that facilitates a helping relationship
- Big hearts have the challenge of developing complimentary head and feet size (assessing & challenging)
- Big feet indicate a preference for challenging
- Coaches with big feet are skilled at helping people face obstacles, take action, and move forward
- Big footed coaches have the developmental challenge of developing complimentary heart and head size (supporting & assessing)
