July Professional Development: The 3As of Coaching: Adjectives, Adverbs & Absolutes

Transformational conversations in coaching happen when coaches pay attention to the details, the subtle nuances in a client’s word choices. Little words, seemingly throw-away add-ons, can be a profound avenue of inquiry and exploration into the inner thoughts and being of your clients. Why? Because we each choose these descriptors for personal reasons. These qualifiers are known as the 3As: Adjectives, Adverbs, and Absolutes. When we explore our clients’ use of the 3As, we open up their awareness to the words they might be unconsciously choosing (or consciously choosing for dramatic purposes) and bring conscious focus to their intention choices for speaking their lives into reality.