What are powerful coaching questions that make you a different coach?
A question can be a coach’s most valuable tool in assisting clients to think clearly and solve problems. Questions help in the problem-solving process. They “dig in” deeper and open up our thoughts to explore ideas even further.
Thinking critically involves a process of reason and discernment through a set of questions. By responding to questions, we discern a set of answers. When the trail leads to the answer, we can uncover more truths by searching each answer to see if it presents a new set of questions.

Eventually, there will come an answer which does not appear to present a new question, or which seems to answer all the previous questions. This becomes the basis for discovering the truth about an issue.
This question-and-answer methodology for discerning truth is nothing new. It is commonly referred to as the “Socratic method” and derives its name from the ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates. He would continuously pose questions to his listeners to trigger thinking in the right direction. Questioning continued until the listeners provided the most logical answer to a particular problem and discovery followed.
Often, Socrates already had the answer in mind before his students did. His insightful questions helped them arrive to answers that were both interesting and insightful discoveries about man, nature and life. This was simply Socrates’ method of getting them to ask questions, reach answers, analyse them to see if they posed even further questions, to ultimately, find the truth.
ICF Coaching Questions: A Framework for Effective Coaching
The International Coach Federation (ICF) has developed a set of core competencies for professional coaches, including effective questioning. ICF-certified coaches are trained to use a variety of question types to facilitate self-discovery, goal setting, and action planning.
Common ICF coaching questions include:
- Open-ended questions: These questions encourage clients to share their thoughts and feelings in detail. They allow for greater learning and new perspective.
Examples include “What’s your biggest challenge right now?” and “How do you envision your success?”
- Probing questions: These questions help clients delve deeper into their thoughts and feelings.
Examples include “Can you tell me more about that?” and “How does that make you feel?”
- Hypothetical questions: These questions help clients explore different possibilities and outcomes.
Examples include “If you could change one thing about your situation, what would it be?” and “Imagine you’ve already achieved your goal. What does that look like?”
- Reflective questions: These questions help clients reflect on their experiences and insights.
Examples include “What have you learned from this experience?” and “How does this align with your values?”
- Action-oriented questions: These questions help clients focus on taking action towards their goals.
Examples include “What’s the next step you’ll take?” and “How will you measure your progress?”

What Kind of Questions Are Not Powerful Coaching Questions?
While powerful coaching questions can be a valuable tool, it’s important to avoid asking questions that are:
- Leading questions: These questions suggest a particular answer or point of view. Typically you would be asking leading question because you think you know the answer already!
Examples include “Don’t you think it would be better if you…?” and “Isn’t it obvious that you should…?”
- Closed-ended questions: These questions are useful generally when you are closing a coaching session. You may ask: “Have you reached your desired outcome for this session?” When used as a general approach during the session it can limit the client’s responses and prevent them from exploring their thoughts and feelings fully.
Examples include “Do you like your job?” and “Are you happy with your relationship?”
- Judgmental questions: These questions can make the client feel defensive or ashamed. Typically, whenever there is judgment, it is likely that the space of safety and trust is lower.
Examples include “Why can’t you just do it?” and “How could you be so careless?”

Taymour Miri is an ICF master coach and a Gallup certified strengths coach and more recently one of the first 136 coaches world wide to be awarded an Advanced Certificate in Team Coaching. He has 30 years’ experience in leadership roles and 20 years of experince in coaching. Taymour has trained over 1,500 coaches across five continents and is the founder of International Coaching Education (ICE).