30 coaching questions according to the SHIFT! coaching model

As a coach, it is our job to provide people with greater insight into themselves. We do this by actively listening and asking questions with genuine interest. The right coaching questions are a powerful tool for coaches! In this article, we provide you with 30 coaching questions according to the SHIFT! coaching model. Use this as a guide or inspiration to structure your next coaching conversation to a successful conclusion!

• Specify your goal
• Honour & explore reality
• Identify obstacles
• Find resources
• Turn into action
• !Be alert
• Coaching Questions: A Tool, Not a Success Formula

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Specify your goal

A coaching conversation always starts with a goal. However, it is not always clear for some coachees what they specifically want to achieve. It is the coach’s task to ask the right coaching questions that lead to greater insight for the coachee:

• What do you want to achieve exactly? What is the desired shift?
• What change do you want to see in yourself?
• What will this bring you?
• In what context do you want this? Where? With whom? When?
• Suppose you achieve the goal, what will be visible, audible, and tangible? What does success look like to you?

By painting a picture of success, you not only provide the coachee with a vision of the end goal but also the accompanying feeling. People remember a feeling much longer than a conversation or a thought.

Honour & explore reality

Now that you have a picture of success, you can mirror this to the coachee’s reality. First, you want to outline the current situation, context, and scope. Then, understand how the coachee thinks, feels, and acts to grasp how they maintain the current situation.

Do this without judging or blaming. Always assume that someone’s intent is positive. Underneath the coachee’s behavior are a series of beliefs, thoughts, and emotions that they may not be consciously aware of. As a coach, your goal is to increase awareness around this during the coaching session so that the coachee can handle it themselves.

Some coaching questions you can ask are:

• What are you satisfied with today? What is going well?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you place yourself now?
• What would you like to retain from the current situation?
• When, where, and with whom does it already work?
• What actions have you already taken? What has been the effect?

More often than not, the coachee has already attempted actions to change the current reality. This also needs attention during the coaching session! The success or failure of their actions can impact personal beliefs, self-confidence, and thus the entire change process. On the other hand, it may also highlight potential and strengths that you can leverage later in the coaching process.

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Identify obstacles

The third step in the coaching conversation is to determine what obstacles and challenges are standing in the way of achieving the desired Shift!. For example, does the current situation also have advantages for the coachee? The coachee might be comfortable in their current position and lack sufficient motivation to change.

Additionally, unconscious habits or beliefs may be hindering the change. By addressing these during the coaching conversation, you can anticipate and bridge potential difficulties later in the process.

• What is difficult for you in achieving the desired Shift!?
• What skills or knowledge are still lacking?
• What is standing in the way?
• What risks are associated with the desired Shift!?
• What is the advantage of the current situation for you?
   

Find resources

What resources can help the coachee achieve the desired Shift!? As a coach, it is not your role to generate solutions yourself but to ask questions that allow the coachee to identify opportunities on their own.

By using these coaching questions, you not only provide more insight but also encourage the coachee to think critically. You explore how their thinking, feeling, and actions can change to facilitate the Shift!. What mindset Shift! is needed to help the coachee get on the right path?

• What and/or who could help you with this?
• Who is a role model for you in this area?
• What could already help you take the next step?
• What options and possibilities do you have to support the Shift!?
• The Nespresso question: ‘What else?’ or ‘What more?’

There are numerous tools that can support the coachee in their self-development process. These can be external, such as a trusted person, or internal tools like new routines, productivity apps, a journal, etc. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Each coachee is different, with varying preferences, learning styles, relaxation methods, and so on.

Turn into actions

Change can sometimes be daunting. Remember that every change, no matter how significant, begins with the first step. During the coaching conversation, you want to emphasize that each step in the right direction brings you closer to the desired Shift!.

• What do you now see more clearly than at the start of our coaching conversation?
• What insights have been gained?
• What do you see as the next step?
• What specific actions will you take now?
• In what context could you experiment?

The coachee is in control of their own life. To move closer to the end goal, they must take the actions that lead to it. Anticipate any potential difficulties. For example, what happens if you miss your routine for one day? Will it derail the entire Shift!?

!Be Alert

After the coaching process, you are not done growing! A common misconception is that coaching sessions will transform you into a completely different person. While a good coaching process can indeed provide new insights, mindsets, and tools that make you more confident, a change in mindset and behavior is not enough if you cannot sustain it.

Therefore, in the final step of the coaching conversation, we emphasize the importance of awareness! We want the coachee to embed the change into their daily habits and routines. In other words, when will the ‘new path’ become the standard path?

To ensure the anchoring of the Shift!, we pose coaching questions that lead to reflection, follow-up, and (self)awareness:

• How will you measure progress?
• Who can provide you with feedback?
• How will you know if you are getting closer to the desired Shift!?
• How do you assess the likelihood of success?
• How will you celebrate those successes?
   

Coaching Questions: A Tool, Not a Success Formula

There are hundreds of coaching questions that help both you and the coachee gain more insight. While these questions are useful in a coaching conversation, they are not a guaranteed key to success. Coaching is not about firing off a series of questions but about actively listening and engaging with the coachee. One coaching model to keep in mind is the LSD or ‘Listen-Summarize-Ask’ model.

Avoid your own beliefs and biases, and support the coachee in finding their own answers. Coaching questions can certainly be used to initiate the conversation and then continue based on what is said and discovered in the moment.

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