Professional Coaching and Agile Coaching: Differences and Similarities with Justin Thatil and Erica Menendez

Agile Coaches' Corner

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by two of his colleagues, Erica Menendez and Justin Thatil, to talk about the intersection between Professional and Agile Coaching as well as their differences and similarities.

In this episode, Justin shares his knowledge that comes from his own experience in the field of Professional Coaching that started 10 years ago. Dan, Erika, and Justin also explore the particularities of each role, the Agile and the Professional Coach, while exploring real-life scenarios and sharing powerful examples to illustrate both roles.

Key Takeaways

• Professional Coaching:
• • It is about guiding someone towards the results they are looking for by asking powerful questions.
  • The coachee's agenda must be the single guiding light of the coaching relationship. The coach’s experience has to stay aside (this is one of the biggest differences between an Agile and a Professional Coach).
  • The coachees need to be inspired to take the next step and be accountable for that move.
  • The arc of a conversation has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is to identify who you are going to be coaching, and then identify the subject that will be addressed. After that, the situation must be examined and explored (this takes place in the middle of the conversation). Towards the end of the conversation, the coachee must commit to taking a step and become accountable for what is going to happen next.
• Agile Coaching:
• • The coach’s agenda must be laid to guide the coachee to use Agile well.
  • Facilitation comes along with a Scrum Master’s work.
  • As an Agile Coach there are numerous stances that you can take: the consultant, coach, counselor, change agent, facilitator, trainer, lean leader, and mentor.
  • An Agile Coach is an expert in Agility, not in the coachee’s domain.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition, by Lyssa Adkins

What is an Agile Coach?

Powerful Questions

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