AC206 Truth Telling

Facilitator: Prabha Chandrasekhar
2009/2/24 & 3/3

When we talk about truth and tell the truth, there are many different perspective of it. What do you think of truth telling?
- Truth could be influenced by the environment, a firm's policy, or feedback from others

How could we define truth? What is truth?
- Truth is factual and could be proved.
- Something I see.
- Perceptions of our life.

Truth can be different for each one of us. It is important of how we handle truth telling. What is the best to look at truth telling?
- When we coach, we need to see that truth is different from person to person

How do we approach clients whose truth is different from us? How do we welcome client's truth?
- Ask for more background information and we could see from their perspectives.
- Understanding our clients' perspective and to believe something in their place
- Be non-judgment

It is important to build the trust of telling truth. Ask permission to share my understanding to tell the truth. We should respect our clients' truth. Help them to shift their perspective if their truth

Truth is more serious and direct than feedback. Truth is different from feedback. Clients' reaction to feedback and truth is different. It is harsher to hear the truth. It depends on the situation, timing and client's preparation of hearing the truth.

Book: what go you here won't get you there.
Use the word of "Feed-forward" instead of feedback. Feed-forward for coaching: give feedback to our clients and ask them to ask feed-forward from their team members and bring them back to the coaching session to put them on the action plan.

Truth creates some fears that what should they do next. Lead to change of attitude and behaviors, it's a changing process. Coach need to help clients to move forward (change the truth). Truth telling is in the process of growing.

We could ask us the question more "what do I have to lose if...?"
What do I have to lose if I tell the truth to this person? Then we try to get in a win-win situation.