Using Candor and Presence to Speak and Challenge the Truth

Competency No. 5

We have my dear friend and peer coach Sathya Sethuraman back with us this week to discuss with me a curious dynamic that comes up for coaches when maintaining presence: The occasional but powerful need for radical candor. In this context we mean challenging our coachee on the words they lay down and asking open-ended, short, but powerful questions to challenge inconsistencies we notice and hear or get to the root of the feelings behind what they lay down.

Clients typically want and expect this kind of candor from their coach; and yet many coaches struggle, especially when the culture they emerged from drives home respect, staying pleasant, and agreeing vs. disagreeing.
Whether you're a team lead, executive, or coach you may relate to the idea that barriers can exist in our hearts and minds when challenging the words and ideas of others. I hope today's conversation between a coach from India and one from New Zealand, two cultures which encourage pleasantries from communicators, sparks something new within you.
You can reach Sathya on LinkedIn here. Reach out to me, D G McCullough, for insights on my group coaching and training packages and individual packages on reinventing, promoting, and using your voice through refining the written word. You can find my LinkedIn profile here.