PETER'S COACHING MODEL

Alright, here we are at Module 19 – Create Your Coaching Model. Oh wow, how scary! How exciting! Not only do I not need to use any one of the already existing Coaching Models (though I could and they are all fantastic), I get to create my own Coaching Model, a model I align with and it aligns back to who I am and what I represent! Like I said, scary yet exciting!

Thanks Coach Mel for giving us during the web-torial a Four Step Guide on How to Create Your Model but a thousand apologies for not using it. Instead, here is how I have gone about trying to form my own Coaching Model.

I began by imagining what I would do if I was coaching someone (who this niche someone, my Avatar, she is still rather vague though some options are forming in my mind). What are the steps I would take her through? What would my coaching process cover? I tried my best to use the existing, renowned and often referred to Coaching Models such as GROW, FUEL, and OSCAR to guide me when it came to key bases to cover, common keywords and basic, powerful questions to use. I also tried to incorporate all that we have learnt so far especially ICF’s Core Competencies, making sure they could be slotted into my soon-to-be created model.

As my ideas formed and steps became clear, I was glad to see a five-step process forming, similar to existing models yet representing what I remembered, understood and would want to use if I was coaching someone. I threw down key ideas and any questions I would probably ask my client in each step of the process. Soon my five columns were filled with scribbled words and questions, lending a picture of how my Coaching Model would look like.

If I were to coach someone, this is how I would go about doing it.

I often begin by asking, “What do you want to achieve in this session?” because I love knowing why my client is seeing me and what she wants to see happening at the end of the session. In other words, what’s the purpose of the coaching session. The client and I need to be clear on this matter at the very beginning. Similar questions I would ask include, “At the end of the session what do you want to see happen?”, “What is your desired outcome for this session?”, “What do you want to address (look into, solve, change)?” and “Why are you here?”. I finally settled on Goal Creating as the title for this first step, where my aim is to help the client and I be clear where she wants to Go and what she wants to Get from the coaching session.

Once this is clear I think it is vital my client and I understand her present situation, to know what she is experiencing today which has led her to seek my assistance. I need to understand the context she is presently in and the where the problem is housed in.  Some questions I may ask are, “What is encouraging you to create this goal?”, “How are you presently?”, “What has happened to cause the need for this goal?”, “Tell me more about your current situation” and “Is this a common or repeated experience?”. For this step in my coaching process, I entitled it Understanding the Present Situation, aiming at this stage to uncover and understand the backstory, context and possible contributors for my client’s condition.

So now I know where my client’s at. Next, I want to know where my client would like to be, what she wants to see happen or experience in her life. At this stage it is important my client and I are clear as to what the desired outcome looks and feels like. Key questions would include, “When your goal is achieved, how would your life look like?”, “What would be different?”, “What would happen when your goal is achieved?” and “Describe your future life after you discovered your solution and experienced success.” The finally settled for Imagined Desired Future as the name for the third step in my coaching process, aimed at identifying the client’s desired outcome after the coaching is over.

The fourth step has been heralded as the most important in many of the other models – deciding on a solution, creating a plan and taking necessary action to realize it. Here I imagine myself challenging my client to bring out options (possibilities) on how she could and want to address her challenge or situation, believing that the answer is already available in the coachee. After alternative courses of action have been identified, my client will be encouraged select one she is mot able to do and would like to do. Then it’s identifying the steps to be taken, the resources need and the people who will be able to assist her along the way. Possible questions for this segment would be, “What do you need to do?”, “What could you do to execute this idea?”, “What do you need to get to make this plan work?”, “Who do you know who could help you?” and “What will you do today?”. For this segment, I titled it Doing What’s Needed with the main purpose of identifying possible actions, selecting one and then doing it.

Lastly, when my client begins to do what has been planned and agreed upon, it is so necessary for an accountability mechanism to be set in place to ensure what is agreed upon gets worked upon until completion. Milestones need to be identified, a timeline to monitor progress and to see what’s next and ahead. Lastly, plans for celebrating key successes will be good to be set in place. Together with my client, ways to measure success needs to be identified and/or created, some form of assessment and reporting back would be good to have in place too. If this is successfully created and implemented, then sharing the journey towards the client’s success, making necessary tweaks along the way and ensuring sustained actions to make the imagined outcome a reality. Questions here would include “What are the key indicators of your progress?”, “How long would it take?”, “How would you like to celebrate each key milestone reached?”, “Who will you have as your accountability partner?”, and “How would I know of your progress?’. What shall I call this section? Maybe Evaluate and Encourage Progress and the aim is to ensure accountability and progress worthy of celebration.

So, what do we have? What cute and comprehensive acronym can I create to represent these five steps, making easy for me to remember and explain and for my client and I to use to guide us along our coaching experience?

I initially hoped my acronym would be SHINE or LIGHT as that is how I see myself as a coach – shining a light into the darkness of my client’s mind and world, helping her see her situation and her solution that is in her. I wish to be a guiding light, enabling my client to see the path she selects/creates and to move boldly forward. I see myself as a companion in her journey from her preset situation to her desired destination, shining the torchlight along the way. Alas, I reached many dead ends trying to make my five-step process fit either one of these acronyms. 

But all is not lost. I believe the key words for each of the five segments I identified can create another acronym that carries a message or theme similar to SHINE or LIGHT. This would be GUIDE!

Goal Creating – Go where, Get what? “What do you want?”

Understand Situation –
aware of current condition. “What is your present situation?”

Imagined Future – clear picture of desired future. “What do you want to see happen?”

Do the Work – actions to be taken. “What will you do?”

Evaluate and Encourage Progress – installing accountability and celebration. “What have you done?”

I like the acronym GUIDE because some aspects of this word in its original meaning covers what I see myself as and see myself doing when coaching a client using this newly minted model. I understand and interpret ‘guide’ here much in the context of the function of a lighthouse which helps guide a ship safely to port at night or during a storm as well as signal potential dangers along the way. In the same way, my client is the master of her own ship and may have a desired destination. Even so, she may be facing difficulty reaching that destination because of storms in her life (emotional, social, financial etc.) or is in the dark of her situation or how to go from A to B. As a coach, I see myself guiding her to her desired port, helping her navigate her life while raising awareness of potential challenges and conditions (internal and external) so that she is able to arrive safely and successfully.

As such I believe GUIDE is a suitable acronym to represent my coaching process and style and reflect its function as well as how I see myself as a coach.

SEVERAL WEEKS LATER . . .

After submitting my idea to Coach Mel and the other coaches, as well as my teammates, I got back some vital and constructive feedback and back to the drawing board I went to correct and improve on my original albeit draft model. A big thank you to Coach Mel who challenged me to discover what were my real intentions behind each acronym and to Coach Wendy for insights on my questions. In the end this was what I came up with:

Using this table as my guide, I went to Canva, got a free template and created my very own coaching model infographic for GUIDE!