“Can you give us some more great coaching questions? Do you have a list of them anywhere?” Fielding that request over and over in coach training workshops provided the original impetus to write Coaching Questions. It’s a way to share some of the great questions I’ve collected and used (or that have popped into my head in key moments) with you.

But as I reflected on the idea, I realized that it would be possible to do something much more helpful than just provide lists of questions. Many coaching queries are attached to specific asking tools. For instance, if I inquire of a client, “What’s your ideal role? Draw me a picture of that,” I am employing the skill of visualization. By asking for an answer couched in visual language (i.e. “Draw me a picture…”), I’m helping create a description of the future the person can see, touch, get inside of, and actually experience. That’s compelling!

The question works because it is built on the idea that experiential, visual pictures touch us deeply, and therefore motivate us to change. So I’m asking in this particular way because creating a compelling, exciting, energizing picture of the future jumpstarts the change process. Once you understand the visualization technique and why a coach might use it, you’ll be able to construct your own visualization questions, and you won’t need a question list.

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
–Albert Einstein

Tony Stoltzfus is a coach, author, master coach trainer and director of the Leadership Metaformation Institute.