ABSTRACT
Coaching is a human encounter. The coach therefore affects and is affected by the speaker. This chapter explores how this dialogue of the unsaid can contribute to the coach’s listening, to how they respond and, consequently, to what the speaker discovers. The chapter offers an analysis of the role of empathy in the coach’s resonant response. It highlights the importance of distinguishing between the coach’s empathetic response and being ‘triggered’ by their own ‘unfinished business’, and argues that the coach needs to balance connection with the speaker with detachment from them. The chapter further explores the challenge of how a coach can use their resonance while remaining non-directive. It explains how coaches can respond to the speaker through expressing what they have experienced both verbally and through their ‘signature presence’. The second half of the chapter builds on the consideration of resonance to focus on the role and potential of intuition within coaching. It offers an analysis of the nature of intuition, particularly ‘expert’ intuition. It suggests that the coach’s intuition is potentially a rich source of awareness for the speaker that needs to be explored and checked through dialogue.
