What are distinctions in coaching processes?

A summary of what this key concept means in the coaching world.

In the field of coaching, the way in which people interpret reality is inseparable from the type of actions we take to transform it. Keeping this in mind is essential to be able to adapt well to the challenges of everyday life, both professionally and personally, and both individually and in our relationships with others.

This is where the concept of coaching distinctions becomes important.In this article we will see briefly what they consist of.

What are distinctions in the coaching world?

The task of defining the term "distinctions" in the context of coaching is not an easy one, but it can be summarized as follows: a distinction is the formulation of alternative conceptual frameworks from which we perceive things and draw different interpretations.. For example, some fundamental distinctions may be: "wants and needs", "self-esteem and self-love", "alert and alarm", and so on.

Thus, taking into account that there are these different ways of seeing things helps us to consider whether the perspective from which we interpret our reality and the challenges and problems in it is the most appropriate and constructive.

That is why in coaching it is common to work on reflections about the different distinctions we use in our lives, or those we could be using to find more easily the way to intervene in problems, needs and opportunities for growth. This implies expressing different mental frameworks through words that we believe to be key in a given context, and proceeding to specify their meaning beyond conventional or "official" definitions.

For as much as dictionaries pretend to "fix" the definitions of words, like static items preserved in a museum, the nature of language means that in practice, the way in which words are defined is not always the same as the way in which they are defined, the nature of language means that in practice the way we rely on words relies on the dynamism and flexibility of these meanings.. Ultimately, the implications of the same term vary depending on the context we are in, our objectives, and the philosophy or relationship of concepts from which we analyze things.

Although we may not realize it, at every moment we are actively working (although, at the same time, in a semi-conscious way) in the interpretation of the reality that surrounds us and of ourselves. This process of extracting meaning from the world and the events that happen in it is done through abstract thinking linked to language; it is the use of specific terms embedded in grammatically consistent formulations that we are able to elaborate very abstract thoughts, unlike the rest of animals.

However, thinking through language is a double-edged sword: it helps us to articulate complex concepts.It helps us to articulate complex concepts and to draw conclusions by combining ideas with great ease, but sometimes, we rush to assume the meaning of each word... and we fall into mistakes that we could have avoided by modifying our way of conceiving things.

How do they influence us?

Here are some of the main ways in which coaching distinctions have an effect on our lives.

1. They allow us to be more flexible in our search for solutions.

Staying anchored to a very rigid definition can lead us to dead ends.. Conclusions that are correct from the point of view of logic can be errors if we do not question the premises from which we start.

2. They help to prevent polysemy problems

Sometimes we fall into errors because we do not realize that, when approaching a problem and trying to find a solution to it, we rely on words whose meaning is not the same, we rely on words whose meaning swings depending on the situation, without realizing it.without us realizing it.

3. They allow us to argue better

Because if we take into account the distinctions we can detect dialectical traps and fallacies (for example, the "castral mote"), we can enhance our expressive, argumentative and persuasive skills..

4. They help us to rethink our objectives

From the distinctions we can rephrase and rethink almost anything: not only the "hows", but also the "whys".. This makes it easier to remedy basic errors.

Interested in learning more about this topic?

If you want to know more about what coaching distinctions look like and how they can be used, you may be interested in the book "Coaching Distinctions". the book "Coaching distinctions: building ourselves through language", published by LID.published by LID. More than a dozen members of EEC Alumni, the learning community of the Escuela Europea de Coaching, participated in the preparation of this choral work, which is coordinated by Silvia Guarnieri, founding partner and Academic Director of EEC. This book is aimed at both coaches and people with no previous training in the field of coaching. You can obtain it here.

Bibliographical references:

• Hamblin, Charles Leonard (1970). Fallacies. London: Methuen Publishing.
• Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980), Metaphors We Live By, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.