When we talk about curious listening, we're talking about conveying a genuine interest in what others are saying. Non-managerial coaching has to do with the coachee, and the ability of non-directivity in coaching consists in facilitating the coachee's own journey to find within himself the solutions to his own problems and dilemmas. It's more of a habit than a coaching skill, but it ensures that you always offer powerful, high-quality coaching to each of your clients. Listening is such an important skill that, at least, one thinker has structured their entire approach to coaching around providing complete, empathetic, supportive and warm attention to the student, simply by listening and not interrupting.
Some skills, such as empathy, curiosity and intuition, are natural skills or will increase with experience and practice as a coach, others can be learned. The first important training skill you must possess is the ability to obtain clear, attainable, well-defined and motivating goals from your clients. Then, you'll be content to practice the basic key skills that, if you master them thoroughly and well, alone offer the best training (and the best results for the coachee) that anyone could want. A valuable skill is to minimize interruptions while keeping the conversation focused and focused on the goal.
I'll cover each of these 5 basic training skills in more detail in future posts, but for the time being, here's the list again with a little explanation. A great coaching skill is to actively listen to the client, collect information, and then filter and clarify it for the client.
