70 Great Coaching Questions from the Houston ICF

A question not asked is a door not opened. ~M. Goldberg

 

 

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I trained experienced ICF coaches in Houston on the principles of Appreciative Inquiry.  They loved learning about how to create appreciative coaching questions. They discovered that all they needed to do was ask the right question and a 10-second-transformation would result.

Check out the Appreciative Coaching Questions they came up with.
Try one on yourself, your team or your partner and see what happens.

Coaching Questions that Support an Entrepreneurial Spirit

1. What could you imagine doing if you knew you couldn’t fail?
2. What will it mean to you when you are successful?
3. What would success look like?
4. What would success feel like?
5. What is the upside of a successful effort?
6. What is a wild and crazy idea?[Tweet “Are you stuck? Ask yourself: What is a wild and crazy idea?”]
7. What impact will this have on others?
8. What inspired you to start this?
9. What have you accomplished already?
10. On a scale of 1-10, how important is this to you?

Coaching Questions that Support Loving Relationships

11. What do you appreciate about your partner?
12. On a scale of 1-10, with one being not at all and 10 being perfect, where would you rank your relationship? What would move your score closer to a 10?
13. Tell me about the most loving relationship you have ever had.
14. Describe a loving relationship.
15. What was a peak moment in a loving relationship you had?
16. What are you most proud of when you are in relationship?
17. How do you model a loving relationship to others?
18. What kind of relationships bring out the best in you?
19. What is your vision of a loving relationship?
20. What could you do today to create a model loving relationship?
21. What loving relationships do you have now?
22. What is one thing that excites you in your relationship?
23. What did you do to show love in your relationship this week?
24. How does a loving relationship change you?
25. What do you want more of in a loving relationship?

Coaching Questions that Support Engaged Teamwork

You can download more great appreciative question to jumpstart your team here.

26. How does the team define success?

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27. What would it take for your team to be successful?
28. Tell me about a time that your team felt fully engaged.
29. What does “fully engaged” mean to you?
30. On a scale of 1-10, where is your team in terms of engagement?
31. On a scale of 1-10, how could you move your team closer to a 10?
32. What would motivate you to move forward as a team?
33. What would your team gain by being fully engaged?
34. How do you see yourself functioning when your team is fully engaged?
35. What can you do in the next few days to move the needle in the direction of engagement?

Coaching Questions that Support Well-Being

36. What does well-being mean to you?
37. What is your connection to others with your sense of well-being?
38. On a scale of 1-10, what would you like your well-being to be?
39. What is one step you could take that would move your well-being closer to a 10?
40. When you have a sense of well-being, what are you doing?
41. When you have a sense of well-being, how do you know?
42. How important is a sense of well-being to you?
43. Who can support you in increasing your well-being?

Coaching Questions that Support being an Inspirational Leader

44. When are you inspired?
45. Describe someone who inspired you?
46. How do you share your inspiration?
47. When are you inspiring to others?
48. What have you inspired others to do?

[Tweet “Ask yourself: What have you inspired others to do?”]
49. What has been a peak experience when you inspired others?
50. How does it feel to inspire others?
51. What is an inspiring strength?
52. If you were going to be an inspiring leader what would you tell me?
53. What does an inspiring leader look like to you?
54. How would you define an inspiring leader?
55. What is important about being an inspiring leader to you?
56. How do you show up in the presence of an inspiring leader?
57. What do inspirational leaders accomplish?

Coaching Questions that Support a Growth Mindset

Learn more about the Growth Mindset here.

58. What are ways to learn more about yourself?
59. What opportunities are available now for learning and growing?
60. How could you leverage those opportunities?
61. What have you learned today?

[Tweet “Best Question ever: What have you learned today?”]
62. Tell me about a time when you were in a growth mode?
63. What would happen when you tell that story from another perspective?
64. What are some benefits that come from this?
65. Who is a model for you in this?
66. What would it look like if you successfully developed a growth mindset?
67. What energizes you?
68. Do you think the same way as a 16-year-old? In what ways do you think differently now?
69. What are you curious about?
70. If you had all the time and money in the world, what you do?

Curious about how these appreciative coaching questions can create 10-second transformations?  Read about ah-hah moments here.

What is your favorite question?  Lets us know!

Author

Dr. Lynn K. Jones is a Board Certified Coach and an Advanced Certified Personal and Executive Coach based in Santa Barbara, California and a sought after coach and consultant for organizations and individuals across the US.   Her doctoral work completed at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University concerned organizational culture; she coaches, consults and trains organizations on what they need to do to create organizational cultures that are aligned with their vision and values using a process of Appreciative Inquiry.  She coaches individuals on achieving their reflected best selves.  A MSW@USC faculty member, Dr. Lynn K. Jones, MSW, DSW, CSWM, teaches Human Behavior and Social Environment and Leadership to social work students at the University of Southern California.