ABSTRACT

Coaching is paradoxically a recently emerged ‘profession’ and yet it is as old as civilisation itself, for even leaders in ancient cultures consulted their oracles. The Oracle in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi was adept at asking questions so that their ‘client’ was in essence analysing themselves, drawing out the various perspectives from the jumble inside their minds. This is one of the basic methods of coaching: extracting the strands of the different threads of parallel thought processes and holding them up in a mirror so that the subject can see themselves more clearly and determine for themselves what path they should take. One may imagine an Ancient Greek commander visiting the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and being asked:

What do you want? (What is your Goal?)

What is happening now? (What is your Reality?)

What could you do? (What are your Options?)

What will you do? (What Will you commit to doing?)