Research Paper: The Role of Intuition in Coaching

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Name: Jamie McConochieDate: July 17, 2012Student ID: 265130Email: [email protected]

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The Role of Intuition in Coaching

A research paper submitted as a final assessment for theCertified Professional Coach Program

International Coach Academy

Jamie McConochieJune 2012

© Copyright 2006 International Coach Academy Pty. Ltd.Use is governed by the Terms and Conditions at http://www.icoachacademy.com

Last updated Feb 2006

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Contents

Introduction ………………………………… 4

Coaching Competency No.2 ……………… 4







Conclusion …………………………………. 13

References ………………………………….. 16



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Introduction

At the mention of the word intuition, ideas come to mind such as “gut-

feeling”, knowing something without understanding why, acting on

instinct, realizing when something is wrong because it “just doesn’t

feel right”, and so on. The last decade or so has seen intuition

creeping more and more into the language of business and managerial

decision-making models, challenging the traditional rational-analytical

approaches. In contrast, intuition has also become virtually

synonymous with many spiritual beliefs and practices, and can be

found generously peppered throughout the literature on popular

psychology and new-age philosophies. The broadness of intuition

makes it both appealing as a universal terminology, and at the same

time troublesome to define and investigate. The extent to which

intuition plays a part in coaching can be seen in relation to the

coaching competencies, as set out by the International Coach

Federation. This paper will explore some of the research on intuition

and attempt to relate it to the coaching process in the context of the

ICF competencies.

Competency no. 2: Establishing the Coaching Agreement

The first competency in which intuition can be said to play a role is the

second one of establishing the coaching agreement. This is defined by

the ICF as the ability to understand what is required in the specific



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coaching interaction and to come to agreement with the prospective

client about the coaching process. During the first introductory or trial

session with the client the coach must determine whether there is an

effective match. This decision must be made on the basis of the

limited information gained during the session, and the coach will need

to listen to the signals of their own intuition. The coach will have to

decide if this client is compatible in terms of alignment with the

coach’s orientation, coaching niche and previous experience.

Given the relatively short time of the trial session much of these

judgments will likely take place at a non-conscious level by the coach,

with more experienced coaches arriving at a decision more quickly and

intuitively than less experienced coaches. In a study of intuition in

managerial decision-making Dane & Pratt (2007) point out that

intuition involves decisions made without conscious analysis. Relating

their research to psychological studies they argue that there is a

process of non-conscious pattern recognition involved with simple

cognitive structures, which enables a person to pick up any “warning

signals”. Furthermore this process also involves more complex

cognitive structures linked to long-term memory, allowing previous

experience to enhance the functioning of intuition. This is consistent

with the conclusions of Dreyfus & Dreyfus (1986) who looked at the

use of intuition in the context of industrial engineers and found that



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experienced professionals are more likely to use intuition, whilst

inexperienced ones are more likely to resort to more formal and

rational approaches to make a decision.

Another feature of establishing the coaching agreement involves the

coach explaining their particular approach and openly enquiring if the

client would feel comfortable with that. In 2009 Mavor carried out a

study of 14 experienced executive coaches in which she interviewed

them regarding their use of intuition in coaching. She reports that

coaches found intuition to be more powerful when they openly

contracted with clients in the initial session that it would be used along

the way. In a sense this gives coaches permission from the client

which, together with the internal permission of acknowledging intuition

as part of their skill set, appears to create better conditions for

intuition to be more effective.

Competency no. 3: Establishing Trust and Intimacy with the

Client

Establishing trust and intimacy with the client is essential for a

successful coaching partnership, and facilitates the process in many

ways. Mavor (2009) describes how coaches who are aware of using

intuition report the need for creating this intimate relationship, and

that having a good rapport is conducive to the manifestation of



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intuition in the coaching process. This is consistent with the findings of

others (Murray, 2004) that focused attention is more intense when you

have a close rapport with someone. This in turn facilitates non-

conscious processing of subliminal signals in voice and body language.

Competency no. 4: Coaching Presence

Coaching presence is defined as the ability to be fully conscious and to

create a spontaneous relationship with the client. The coach needs to

be fully present in the moment to be able to know when to apply

appropriate coaching strategies, confidently shifting perspectives and

experimenting with new possibilities. This competency is fundamental

to the coaching process and is over-arching in its scope, being

intertwined with many of the other ICF competencies. The ability to

access intuition and trust one’s own inner knowing is of great value

when having to move in the moment with the client.

In his detailed review of the characteristics of intuition Kautz (2003)

points out that the conscious direction of the attention can lead to

more awareness of intuition. It follows that the more a coach is able to

direct their attention and maintain an effective coaching presence,

then the more they are able to use intuition in the coaching process.



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Mavor (2009) found from her study of experienced coaches that

intuition is employed to a large extent in relation to coaching presence.

Her results show that coaches used intuition to know when to speak

and when to stay silent, in identifying patterns, and in challenging the

client’s perspectives. The coaches in the study also described how

they used intuition to be bold with coaching strategies, sometimes

taking risks and pushing back boundaries both for the coach and the

client.

In another related aspect of coaching presence Mavor also found that

coaches reported “listening” to their own physical sensations, such as

feelings in the stomach, chest, prickly head etc. These indicators

helped them know what their intuition was telling them.

The role the body plays in intuition has been the focus of much

research, due to the relatively easy methods available for measuring

physiological phenomena. For example Bechara et al (1997) carried

out an interesting study in which participants had to play a game

involving risk but without knowing the rules. They found that

participants generated significant skin conductance responses before

engaging in higher risks even though they were not consciously aware

of the higher risk. Other researchers have also suggested a link



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between intuition and physiological response; Bastik (1982) directly

ties intuition with “body knowledge”, and Agor (1986) and Hayashi

(2001) link the use of intuition with specific “body cues”.

Competency no. 5 Active Listening

Connected with the previous competency of coaching presence, active

listening is the ability to focus on the client, and to hear the client’s

concerns, listening between the lines, and make connections with what

the client is saying or not saying. As has been mentioned above,

intuition comes into play through consciously directed attention.

Focused listening allows for processing of implicit information in the

client’s speech, which may be words, tone of voice, pauses, pace, or

avoidance of topics etc. This ability to pick up information other than

simply words has been demonstrated by numerous researchers. In a

study by Lewicki (1986) participants were shown photos of facial

expressions and were able to detect minute variations of the basic

proportions of the human face. The participants reported feeling that

something was wrong with the faces, but were not able to specify what

exactly.



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In another study by Ambady and Rosenthal (1993) undergraduates

watched a 6 second clip of a teacher giving a seminar with the sound

turned off. They were then asked to rate the teaching ability of the

teacher. Their rating was then compared to those of other students

who had actually been present in the seminar of the teacher. They

found a significant correlation between the ratings of the students who

only had visual information about the teacher compared with those

who were present in the seminar with the teacher.

Lieberman (2000) cites this as an example of intuitive processing,

which involves non-consciously drawing inferences about other

individuals on the basis of subtle sequences of nonverbal cues.

Mavor (2009) also reports that coaches used a lot of nonverbal cues

when listening for indications about the client’s state. Intuition was

used extensively to understand what was “behind” the client’s words.

Setting aside judgment during active listening was also important for

the effectiveness of intuition, using it as an offering rather than as

truth.

Competency no. 6 Powerful Questioning



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A direct result of active listening and coaching presence is the ability to

ask questions that reveal information or help the client make

connections. The use of intuition can result in the most appropriate

questions that evoke discovery and insight.

In their exploration of intuition in managerial decision-making Dane

and Pratt (2007) postulate that intuition involves both a process and an

outcome. The process typically involves non-conscious pattern-

recognition, as has been discussed above in relation to coaching

presence and active listening. Intuitive outcomes are the actions that

directly result from the intuitive processing, which in the case of

coaching are the strategies and questions employed by the coach.

This is consistent with Mavor’s findings in which she refers to the

process as intuiting, and the outcome as intuitive judgments (Mavor

2009). Her survey shows that intuition is used to inspire coaches to

sometimes ask about something “out of the blue” that had not been

mentioned by the client. She reports that intuition is often used to

direct the flow of questioning.

Furthermore, using imagination to create powerful questions could also

be related to intuition. As Kautz (2003) points out imagination is

important in cognitive processes for filling in gaps of perception.

Hence imagination can be used to lead to intuitive judgements.



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Competency no. 7 Direct Communication

The ability to provide feedback and choose the most appropriate

language in sharing alternative perspectives is very much tied in with

the previously discussed points on intuition. All the qualities of

intuition are involved here and are a further example of intuitive

judgments as an outcome of intuition.

Competency no. 8 Creating Awareness

Within the ICF framework this is defined as the ability to integrate and

accurately evaluate multiple sources of information with the end of

helping the client to gain a greater awareness.

This integration of information appears to be a salient feature of

intuition. As Dane and Pratt (2007) point out intuition comes into play

in circumstances where rational analysis cannot function. Typically

this is when multiple streams of information need to be encoded very

rapidly at a non-conscious level. Psychological studies have suggested

that in making non-conscious holistic associations individuals map



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stimuli onto internal cognitive structures or frameworks (Dane & Pratt

2007). This is consistent with other findings that have associated

intuition with the ability to synthesize unconnected memory fragments

into a new information structure (Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel,

1998).

This idea of the holistic nature of intuitive process can also be traced

back to the Jungian concept of “the big picture” or seeing things in

their broader context (see Anderson, 2000; Singer, 1994).

These ideas all tie in with the findings from Mavor (2009) that coaches

use intuition to make connections from what the client has said, to

corroborate the client’s words with their behavior, and to identify

patterns. This intuitive integration of information gives rise to intuitive

judgments which, according to the coaches in her study, resulted in

challenging the client, raising awareness, and creating shifts, all of

which benefitted the client in terms of moving towards achieving the

agreed on goals.

Often, the use of intuition in itself can create awareness regardless of

the accuracy of the intuitive judgments being made. As Whitworth et

al (2007) succinctly put it,



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“The thing about intuition and coaching is that intuition always

forwards the action and deepens the learning, even when it lands

with a clang instead of a melodious ping”.

Conclusion

The importance of intuition in coaching is something that probably

most professional coaches would acknowledge. However when viewed

in the context of the ICF competencies the prevalence of intuition

throughout the coaching process becomes strikingly apparent. In

spite of being aware of it or not it seems that coaches naturally fall

back on intuition at every step of the coaching process. From the

findings discussed here it could be argued that the use of intuition is

integral to, even synonymous with, good coaching in which the

competencies are being fully realized.

The form in which coaches use and express their intuition may,

however, vary greatly depending on factors such as coaching niche,

individual beliefs, or spiritual orientation. Indeed the concept of

intuition is so broad that it could cover the whole spectrum of non-

spiritual beliefs across to religious leanings. These personal

differences would certainly dictate the way in which an individual

might develop their intuitive skills and how they are applied in their

coaching.



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Whilst the issue of how to define and develop intuition is somewhat

beyond the scope of this paper a general idea can be gleaned from

some of the research discussed so far. It would seem that using

intuition involves non-conscious processes and requires a heightened

state of focused attention. Learning to listen to body cues would also

seem to be important in guiding the use of intuition. Thus in simply

employing the coaching skills of active listening, coaching presence,

rapport, trusting in the process, in short being a good coach, provides

the basis for intuition to freely flow. Whitworth et al beautifully

describe this integral nature of intuition as a part of the coaching

process:

“Speaking from your intuition is extraordinarily available in

coaching.

Like the wind in the trees, it may not be visible, but we can see

and hear its effects.”

(Whitworth et al., 2007)

At a time when this relatively young profession is starting to gain more

worldwide recognition, further study along this line of research would

serve as an excellent underlying thread running through out coaching

in all its varied and beautiful forms.



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References

Agor, W. (1986) The logic of intuitive decision making: A research-

based approach for top management. Quorum Books (New York).



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Ambady, N., & Rosenthal, R. (1993). Half a minute: Predicting teacher

evaluations from thin slices of nonverbal behavior and physical attrac-

tiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 431-441.

Andersen, J. A. (2000). Intuition in managers: Are intuitive managers

more effective? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 15, 1, 46-67.

Bastick, T. (1982). Intuition: How we think and act. England: John Wiley

and Sons.

Bechara, A., Damasio, H., Tranel, D., Damasio, A.R. (1997). Deciding

advantageously before knowing the advantageous strategy. Science,

275, 5304, 1293-1295.

Dane E., Pratt M G. (2007). Exploring intuition and its role in

managerial decision making. Academy of Management Review, 32, 1,

33-54

Dreyfus, H.L., Dreyfus, S.E. (1986). Mind over machine: The power of

human

intuition and expertise in the era of the computer. Oxford: Blackwell.



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Hayashi, A.M. (2001). When to trust your gut. Harvard Business

Review at Large, Feb, 59-65.

Kautz, W. H. (2003). Opening the Inner Eye: Explorations on the

Practical Applications of Intuition in Daily Life and Work. iUniverse.

Lewicki, P. (1986). Nonconscious Social InformationPprocessing. New

York: Academic Press.

Lieberman, M. D. (2000). Intuition: A social cognitive neuro- science

approach. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 109–137.

Mavor, P. (2009). Intuition in Coaching: Preliminary Findings of an

Exploratory Study Lane4 EMCC UK Conference.

Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. and Lampel, J. (1998). Strategy safari: A

guided tour through the wilds of strategic management. New York, NY:

The Free Press.

Murray, E. (2004). Intuitive Coaching. Industrial & Commercial Training,

36, 5, 203-206.



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Whitworth, L., Kimsey-House, K., Kimsey-House, H., and Sandahl, P.

(2007). Co-Active Coaching, 2nd edition, Davies-Black Publishing.



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Research Paper: The Role of Intuition in Coaching

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