Research Hit: Brain Scans Show How to Coach and Inspire More Effectively

Conflicts between ideal and real self in the brain

It’s not often that there is a study that directly connects coaching and brain scanning - unfortunately. Enter Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, USA and their coaching research lab who got 47 undergraduates into a brain scanner after a coaching session and while watching clips of messages to themselves - the results were interesting.

The results are not just important in coaching scenarios but also in an behavioural change situations such as many found in businesses and in education. So what did they find?

The protocol explored the relationship between the real self, the person you are at the moment with all your weaknesses, and the ideal self, the person you would like to be. These are common themes in coaching and a key question is should you focus on what your real self is not doing well or motivate with an idealistic image of yourself in the future, or, as is common, a mix of both?

So which wins out. Well the 47 graduates first had a 30-minute coaching session that focused on the real self and then where put in a brain scanner and while in the scanner were fed (by video) 96 messages that were focused on hope, compassion, mindfulness and playfulness in the ideal self. They then stated whether they agreed or disagreed with the statements.