Characteristics of a person-centred coaching approach

Within this paper we propose a need to better understand what is meant by a person-centred approach to coaching and in particular to consider the intention that drives coach behaviours. Much of the extant coaching literature focuses on pedagogical models and theories of learning; without detracting from this important body of work, we suggest that a holistic approach requires a greater focus on coaches’ inter- and intra- personal knowledge. In this paper, video stimulated recall was used to guide interviews with Alpine ski coaches, to explore their thought processes and intentions behind person-centred delivery. The findings suggest these coaches adopted other-centred intentions that are facilitated by an accurate self-assessment, a big picture perspective and a willingness to learn. Consequently, the concept of humility is proposed as a guiding principle for person-centred coaching, and a conceptual model (POWA) is presented as a solution to the challenges we identify throughout the paper.