Process

My Beliefs About Coaching

Coaching is not about fixing clients; it is about helping them to become more of who they are. The client is the expert in their own life, and they have the answers within themselves. The client has the agency to act or not act.

A key part of the Coaching process involves helping clients gain self-awareness and insight. Coaching can help the client discover their own solutions. The Coach's role is to guide the client to uncover their true self. Challenging clients appropriately can help reframe a client's thinking and identify possible areas for growth. Coaching can lead to positive change and personal growth.

The Core Problem That I Like to Coach

Corporate labels (under-performing, disruptive, mis-aligned) are just that. The behaviours are the underlying problem. And these behaviours stem from one or more beliefs. These beliefs are core to the individual's sense of being, have kept them safe in the past and the individual believes that they will keep them safe now and in the future.

To change these beliefs might mean the annihilation of their identity. The behaviours that these beliefs drive once worked for the individual. But in the context of their current work and professional environment, they are a liability, both to the individual and the organisation. But only the organisation can see it. Find the beliefs, find the solution.

Chemistry Call

I start with a 30 minute chemistry call with the prospective client. This is usually presented as an opportunity to see if we can work with each other. The reality is that I want the client to understand what I do, and to gauge their interest in participating in the process.

Kahler's Drivers

Kahler (1975) identified five drivers that motivate us and can also cause dysfunctional behaviours:

Some clients revel in the discovery and take great interest in this, others not at all. The enthusiasm for the theory on the client's side is not correlated to any outcome. The acceptance of the associations is what matters. And any acceptance should be thoroughly tested. To that end, I will invite the client to disprove anything that they have already said.

Moving Forward

The growth of self-awareness is noticeable to the client at this stage, and the stage is now set to tackle the actual issue that brought them to coaching in the first place. It is at this point that the client must make a choice in relation to their future. Sometimes we choose to change our behaviour. Other times we choose to change our environment. That choice is entirely down to the individual.