What Is the Counter to That Thinking?
Coaching Question of the Week
The Coaching Question
“What is the counter to that thinking?”
When to Use This Question
When a teacher or leader expresses a limiting belief or negative self-talk.
When someone is stuck in a disempowered mindset that’s preventing progress.
When coaching around deeply ingrained narratives that lead to inaction or avoidance.
When helping someone unlearn a harmful internal script and replace it with something more productive.
The Problem This Question Aims to Solve
Educators and leaders often hold onto entrenched thought patterns that reinforce helplessness, fear, or shame—such as "I’m not cut out for this," or "Nothing I do will make a difference." These thoughts become identity-level beliefs, and unless they are disrupted, they block growth. This question invites reflection, disrupts automatic thinking, and offers a pathway to cognitive replacement using the framework: Identify → Disrupt → Replace (BOOK INCOMING!).
The Research Behind It
Cognitive Behavioral Theory (Beck, 1979) – CBT emphasizes recognizing distorted thinking, challenging it, and replacing it with more accurate beliefs. This question does exactly that.
Disruptive Mindset Coaching (Laloux, 2014; Lein, 2025) – Transformation begins when we identify a disempowering belief, disrupt it with curiosity, and replace it with an empowering mindset aligned to growth.
Neuroscience of Thought Rewiring (Doidge, 2007) – Our brains are capable of rewiring when we consistently replace old thought patterns with new, more adaptive ones.
Example Application in Coaching
Scenario: A teacher says, “I’m just not cut out for this group of students. They don’t respond to anything I try.”
Coach’s Response: “What is the counter to that thinking?”
Teacher’s Reflection: “Maybe I haven’t found what works yet, but that doesn’t mean I can’t. I’ve figured things out before.”
Next Steps: The coach could guide the teacher to write down both the limiting belief and its counter, reinforcing the mindset shift through repetition and reflection.
Additional Questions to Deepen the Conversation
“Where did that belief come from?”
“What would you say to a colleague who was thinking the same thing?”
“What belief would better serve you in this moment?”
“What if that narrative wasn’t true?”
Final Reflection for Coaches and Leaders
Changing behavior starts with changing the story we tell ourselves. This question operationalizes mindset work by helping educators and leaders move from disempowered thinking to empowered action. Use it to support your team in identifying limiting thoughts, disrupting them with curiosity, and replacing them with beliefs that align with their values, skills, and goals.