Cognitive Coaching

8/14/2019 Cognitive Coaching

1/5

What does Cognitive Coaching mean to me?

I came to be intrigued by cognitive coachingever since I read the

article from The Reflective Leader, by Ole Steen Andersen, et al. The

article has beautifully covered the human reactions in a three

dimensional way and gives an insight into the possibility of looking at

every aspect from an outside view. I have always believed that every

individual and situation is best handled head-on and best solved with

a neutral view. Many of us in decision making and leadership roles

would have faced numerous challenging situations but a very low

percentage of us would have actually tackled these situations with an

unbiased opinion.

Most of us generally assume that whatever decisions we have made

are in the best interests of everyone, but many times we do not think

of how the opposite individual concerned is affected. We get so

clouded by our confidencethat we fail to recognise and understand

what the other person actually wants or what he is really feeling

about the decision. We realise this only when either the decision has

gone wrong or when someone points out this fact. This condition is

generated by the strong influence of our possessed knowledge and

the experiences that we have had in the past, which can also be

termed as cognitive knowledge.

I believe that although this condition is experienced by many of us,

there is always a chance for improvement in beinga leader and a

better human being. I think every individual has the capacity and the

capability to observe himself and improve rather than depend on

others to point out his mistakes. And this is what has also been

covered in the introduction chapter of the above mentioned book

(Chapter 9). It tells us that every individual can prove to be a better

leader by training on his own. It teaches us to train our minds and

change our behaviour and other physical attributes especially in

1


2/5

dealing with subordinates and juniors and thereby become more

effective leaders.

I strongly agree with what the article has advocated and that is what

cognitive coaching is all about. I would refrain from getting into

theoretical aspects at this point and not cover the cognitive cycle and

other similar concepts. I prefer to mention in simple terms what I

have understood from the class and the readings. It is about knowing

oneself through self-observation and self-feedback, and furthermore

in helping subordinates in discovering themselves. Cognitive

coaching will provide us with the tools and necessary tips to help us

learn these talents.

According to me, reflectionis the most important part of cognitive

coaching. It means to havea second look on what we have

accomplished in the past and improving upon that action. Instead of

doing exactly what has been done before, cognitive coaching teaches

us, instead, to analyse the action of the past and decide if that was

the right decision or not. And based on this analysis, we modify our

decisions or actions in future with a view to improve.

It needs to be appreciated that all of us have prejudices about every

single activity or action. We always tend to behave and react to

situations in ways that we have done in the pastand more importantly

if the results have been favourable. This forms part of our cognitive

knowledge. Our perceptions about things become so ingrained over

time that it becomes difficult to get to change this approach.

Cognitive coaching, through the practice of reflective leadership, will

aim at exactly on how to overcome this limitation. Once an individual

has successfully learnt to reflect upon his thoughts and actions he will

face a much easier journey in the future.

Cognitive coaching does not stop here though. Although reflection is

the most important of all aspects of cognitive coaching, no results are

achieved till the time this reflection is transformed into the required

2


3/5

conception and finally into practice. Unless and until the reflection is

understood in more practical and simple terms it will be difficult to

implement the change that would be needed to make the whole

process work successfully. What one needs to do post-reflection is to

try and devise new ways of carrying out the particular actionsthat are

needed to accomplish the preset goals. If there is poor or improper

understanding of the reflection then the implementation of the

learning would be affected adversely. However, it should be noted

that the final step of implementationdoes not include only what the

title suggests. Besides implementation it also includes supervision

and feedback to ensure that things are going according to plan and

that the required level of motivation and interest are maintained. And

this is where the whole concept of cognitive coaching turns a full

circle.

How can I use (subject) in my life?

Having served in the Indian Army for nearly 9 years, I have had the

chance to put my leadership skills to the test and fortunately I have

been considerably successful as a leader and a coach. However,

looking back at things, I can observe that most of my past decisions

were based on learning through trial and error, and that I had never

actually applied much thought to my actions. I believe that this is the

way most humans perform, but there still exists a scope for

improvement in every aspectof leadership. What I have gained from

the concept ofcognitive coaching is the understanding of the whole

process of learning, from knowing to doing and the option of putting

that to practice in live situations.

I am looking at cognitive coaching concept as a tool to breakdown the

process of decision making and categorizing the leadership skill into

different phases in order to be more effective. I fully understand the

constraints at this nascent stage of development of my leadership

skills and also the difficulties of practical implementation of the

3


4/5

concept of cognitive coaching. However, I also have the confidence to

be able to do it systematically and in an orderly fashion.

I will not be part of any military force in the future and so I may not be

able to apply this learning to something that I have done in my past,

but in my opinion, this will not make much difference as far as

leadership is concerned. I am at a stage in life where I am undergoing

a significant transformation from one kind of life style to something

completely different that is absolutely new to me. The MBA is one of

my biggest tools to help me gain the knowledge and the expertise

that I need in order to adapt to this major change in my life. But

doing an MBA alone is not going to help me unless I have the

opportunity to put things into practice and prove myself under trying

circumstances.

This is exactly where I intend to put cognitive coaching into practical

use. In the last two months I have been able to get into a habit of

reflecting upon myself and my actions, and I have come to learn a lot

more about myself. I consider that I have been successful in forming

a very constructive habit of making rational and conscious decisions,

be it related to my studies or in personal life.

I strongly believe that one does not really need the help of another

coach to help understand own problems. Cognitive coaching has the

ability to provide one insight into ones own life and all actions

emanating on a daily basis. I am being optimistic in the sense that I

can be my own coach in every aspect of my life. I wish to use this

beautiful tool to know myself better and understand my strengths and

limitations from a completely different perspective. I wish to keep my

biases aside and think about different solutions from a more neutral

point of view.

At this point of time I may not be able to pinpoint how exactly I will

put this to use but looking at this subject from a wider outlook I can

say that it does not really matter. Unless and until I am able to make

4


5/5

this a part of myself, there will be no way in which I will be able to

make judicious use of this concept. The whole practice of coaching

and overcoming cognitions has to become ingrained into my

personality and only then will I be able to arrive at more effective

decisions in every aspect of life. I have now started to learn my

capabilities on the basis of my knowledge about my potential and I

will continue to build upon these. At the same time I will also use the

cognitive coaching tool to help me recognize what my hidden

capabilities are; something which I have never even realized that I

might possess.

5

Cognitive Coaching

Documents

Transcript of Cognitive Coaching