Using reflection: what are we trying to achieve?For reflective practice to deliver the best return, it’s clearly important that coaches know what they can get out of it and, therefore, why they should do it. For most, if not all of those who take part in coach education, the goal is to become better – or more of an expert – at what they do. However, what does being an expert actually involve?



On one hand, some consider that expertise comes from having the ‘right’ behaviours (e.g.,

communication skills), the ‘right’ competencies (e.g., arrives before the start of each session to plan content), and the ‘right’ sessions.



In contrast, Nash, Martindale, Collins, and Martindale (2012) identified a set of cognitive (or thinking) based criteria to define coaching expertise more accurately.



While behaviours, competencies and sessions show us what expert coaches can do, being an expert involves doing the best thing at the best time for the best purpose; something that’s very difficult to do without thinking.



Specifically, Nash et al. argued that expertise is made up of a number of essential cognitive components:

Use of a large ‘declarative’ knowledge base to solve problems and make decisions (i.e., knowing why and why not to use particular solutions to solve particular problems).

Use of perceptual skills, mental models, and routines (e.g. running through scenarios that might occur in a training session in advance).

Ability to work independently and develop innovative solutions.

Experimenting with different options (i.e., not looking to copy what had worked before and trying out new, evidence-based approaches).

Lifelong learning mindset (i.e., continually learning and broadening horizons on how things might be improved).

Awareness of personal strengths and shortcomings.

Management of complex planning processes.

Use of effective reflection.

These criteria relate to expertise in all coaching contexts, covering the full participation-to-performance spectrum. They also reflect the view that coaching is not a simple activity with ‘black and white’ challenges and answers but rather, a complicated role with ‘shades of grey’ and an ‘it depends’ rule. We would bet that no coach at any level has ever delivered the same session, in the same way, with the same group and got the same outcomes.

While having a base of competencies and sessions is necessary to coach well, it’s the thinking behind their use and how they’re reflected on that’s crucial for developing expertise.