Coaching: Just Ask Questions

Profiles Make It Easy to Coach All Kinds of Clients

“One thing I love about coaching,” says certified personal coach and former pastor Frank Maycock, “Is that I just ask questions.”

Frank’s unique approach at his coaching and consulting firm Kinetos has had a significant impact on executives, entrepreneurs, and teams whether faith-based or not – made easy in the crossover thanks to the Leading From Your Strength profiles. More people have come to a deeper faith as a result of his coaching, says Frank, than did during his 25+ years as a pastor.
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Frank sees himself as a quiet thought partner in the process of helping his clients move from where they are and where they want to be. “I ask the questions, help with assessments, and hold a client accountable as he journeys through the process of discovering and clarifying his thoughts,” says Frank.

Start with a Premise: We Sabotage Ourselves

Frank Maycock

Whether a new client is an individual or a team, Frank starts a coaching relationship with a premise: we use our strengths to sabotage ourselves.

It’s a principle that first surprises his clients but soon makes sense as they explain their frustrations and begin the process of working through them with Frank.

“It’s natural for us to look at things we are not doing well,” says Frank. “We identify those as weaknesses and force ourselves into a mindset of scarcity.”

Scarcity highlights our limitations and insufficiencies in everyday life, particularly among those leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs pursuing a vision, a dream, or a desire. Those same limitations force us to use our strengths even though it is uncomfortable to do so. We fight the very thing that allows us to flourish, says Frank.

Take a Strengths Assessment

Once Frank and his client have established a relationship of trust, Frank guides them through the Leading From Your Strengths process, using Leading From Your Strengths when working with individuals and teams and Position Insights as part of the hiring process.

He has found that the profiles work for leaders and groups regardless of whether they are faith-based or not.

“I tell them it’s a faith -based tool,” says Frank. But at this point he has already earned the right to be heard. Ministry Insights helps further by omitting scriptural references from the profiles at Frank’s request.

In fact, Frank has found LFYS to be his preferred strengths assessment in that it incorporates the DISC format, but also allows the user to feel empowered rather than pigeon-holed – often the case with Myers Briggs.

“People want to feel they are created uniquely,” says Frank. “And they are!”

The profiles give him opportunities to be creative with clients as they move forward with clarity and purpose. Such was the case with one entrepreneur who explained his perpetual feelings of dissatisfaction and stress. Frank asked the man to complete the LFYS assessment so he could understand why he was sabotaging himself.

“The profile makes it sound so easy to understand my frustration,” said the client. He had been aware of his high Aggressive personality but had mistakenly believed it limited his choices. “In reality, we have thousands of choices in every situation,” Frank pointed out. As he and Frank worked through the data, the client began to see that his aggressive optimism is a strength to embrace and use, not a liability from which to push back.

Teams, in particular, use the profile to learn how to better communicate from a place of discomfort. A realty company team, coached by Frank, explained the conflict they experience during particularly stressful periods. One reflective team member needed affirmation and did not like abrupt conversation from an aggressive team member who became more and more short when under stress. The Reflective became paralyzed in her work environment. As Frank led the team through a series of questions allowing them to express how they best operate under stress, the participants were able to develop stronger cohesiveness. Today, this team has learned strong communication skills and skirts conflicts quickly even during high periods of stress.

Just Ask Questions

Questions open up dialogue, says Frank. He combines his personal gift of discernment and the profile data to frame questions for a client such as “Have you ever thought about faith?” or “What kind of image do you have of God?”

“They come to faith from where they are,” says Frank. The profile data simply offers a springboard.

“I don’t have to impose my faith on anybody. I don’t fix anybody,” he says. “I just ask the questions.”