Andrew Johnson, HCI Heart-Centered Life Coach • December 20, 2022 • 3 Minute Read
Coaching Success Stories: Andrew
BEST WRAP-UP QUESTION
Since graduating from the Heart Coach Institute’s Heart-Centered Life Coaching program, I find myself using Michael Bungay Stanier’s Learning Question, “What was most useful for you?” in many settings. This question has become my preferred way to bring closure to a conversation or meeting. I use this question at the end of business meetings, Sunday School lessons, and conversations with my adult children. It is a beautiful and elegant tool that transforms the ending of an interaction from being passive to active.
My experience is that people only really get the “ahh! moment” when they can pause and reflect on what just happened. As they reflect on the interaction, they can extract value from the experience; this is why this question is so valuable. When asked at the end of a conversation, three things happen.
1 | You make them extract the value from the conversation they may otherwise miss.
2 | You get feedback and insights from their perspective on the meeting/conversation.
3 | You reframe the meeting/conversation as having been useful.
When they explain their ahh! of what they’re taking away from the conversation, or what they are seeing in a new light that wasn’t obvious before, they are summarizing for themselves where the value was in the conversation. This process is powerful because they state the value based on their experience. It often leads them to creating an action step and an opportunity for accountability and follow-up in a future session.
Coaching is a way of being with each other. We can become more coach-like with anybody with almost any interaction when we shift our behavior by offering a little less advice and a little more curiosity. That serves you and them.
