The Coaches Toolkit

A carpenter doesn't buy a chisel, toss it into a box, and hope they'll remember it's there six months later. They know every tool they own. They sharpen each one. Clean it. Replace it when it's worn. They practise using it until it becomes second nature. They know which tool is appropriate for which job—and perhaps more importantly, when not to use it.

Many coaches, on the other hand, collect models like souvenirs.

GROW. CLEAR. OSKAR. Box Breathing. Motivational Interviewing. Solution Focus. Transactional Analysis. Somatic approaches. Positive Inquiry. The list grows with every certification, conference and book.

But after a few years, the toolbox can become a junk drawer. Some tools are used every day. Others are buried underneath layers of newer ideas. Some we remember only when someone else mentions them. Others we've almost forgotten we ever learned.

It raises a few interesting questions.

• How do you catalogue what you've learned?

• How do you revisit tools before they become rusty?

• Which models have become instinctive, and which have quietly disappeared?

• Do you deliberately practise rarely used approaches, the way a musician practises scales?

• When did you last retire a tool because you've found something better?

Master craftspeople also don't carry every tool to every job. They choose a small kit based on the work ahead and perhaps coaches should do the same.

Instead of asking, "What new tool should I learn next?" perhaps a better question is, "How well do I really know the tools I already have?" (which is a great supervision topic)

Maybe coaching mastery is about keeping a small number of tools exceptionally sharp, and knowing exactly when to reach for each one.