Although the phenomenon of flow has been studied for over forty years there has been little focus on the application of flow theory to one-to-one enablement situations such as coaching. While ‘in flow’ an individual is fully focused on the task being undertaken and experiences pleasure as mastery is gained. One might expect that maximising the occurrence of flow during sessions would have benefits for both client and coach. In this study fifteen clients and twenty-seven coaches provided details of their ‘subjective experience of flow during coaching conversation’. A grounded theory approach was employed. The results shed light on how individuals experience flow during coaching interactions and a model is developed which suggests how various factors might interact to produce conditions most conducive to flow.
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