Coaching Methodology

The person being coached needs to provide a certain amount of relevant data, in response to questions, to allow the process to go forward. Everything divulged is private to the coaching conversation and none of it is to be shared without the express consent / permission of the coachee.

The list of topics provided below does not translate directly into a session map - session content, for the second and each subsequent session, is worked out with the coachee. The informal agreement, at the bottom of the page, describes the basis of the coaching relationship and deliberately limits the scope of the exercise to make room for regular review.

Overview

A Coach should not try to point you in a particular direction or attempt to make a decision for you. They should let you tell your story and thereby seek to understand you. They should work with what you say, frame questions that help to clarify and to illustrate various aspects of your life, and assist you to make sense of it all. When the story is complete and it makes sense, you will be better equipped to make decisions about the future for yourself.

The skill of the coach is to determine what questions to ask and then to be present when you articulate your answers. By ‘present’ we mean with you / alongside you in the moment; actively listening; interested. It is not difficult to be interested because, when someone is explaining what is really important to them, they come alive and become naturally engaging.

It is not possible to understand someone if the data is sparse because each individual is just that… a unique individual. This kind of coaching is trying to tease out that uniqueness and to celebrate it. Hence, the questions we ask will try to elicit from you some meaningful information about all of the following:

Topic List

Your identity and state of mind right now

Who you believe yourself to be, the factors that you consider to have been major contributors to your identity, along with your current view of yourself and your circumstances will colour how you talk about your life and may dictate both what you weave into the story and what you leave out. Providing some idea of your current outlook makes it so much easier to interpret your story.

What is in your heart

The heart is the repository of our deepest convictions. In there reside the things that are most important to us - if those things are challenged, we are offended and tend to back off; if they’re affirmed, we are encouraged to come forward and to be part of something. Questions will therefore address your:

  • Values and deeply held beliefs

  • Aspirations and dreams

  • Qualities and attributes

The creative initiatives that have shaped you

We are spiritual beings - we regularly get insights which don’t logically have their origin in the heart but go beyond / transcend the physical. You’ll therefore be asked to try to recall some of those insights. Don’t worry, all terminology will be explained clearly:

  • Epiphanies and revelations

  • You in your element

Your life timeline

  • Education, employment and life events

  • Key turning points and decisions

  • People who have influenced you

  • Your biggest challenges

Informal Agreement

My intention is to try to hold a mirror to your thinking process and, in some way, to facilitate your mobility. In order to move on or embark on new and meaningful adventures, you need to think through how you got to this place and to ‘make sense’ of the data.

The questions that I will ask you to think about, and to respond to in writing, will make you consider the ‘context of your life’ and also the various ‘stakeholders’.  If you were a business, I might ask you (among other things) to complete a SWOT analysis.

There are many voices – both internal and external – telling you what you should be. Some voices make sense (i.e. they chime with what you know of your identity) and some voices are just noise (i.e. they seem to interfere with what you want to be).

To reiterate: you are trying to make sense of where you are right now and how you got here because you want to move on and find a renewed sense of purpose, a renewed sense of what has made you the person you are.  Added to that, you are a unique individual – you are not quite the same as any other person and your path will not be the same as that trodden by anyone else.

If you compile answers to the Qs, I will not divulge anything of what you write to anybody, unless you give specific permission. 

The initial commitment, on my part, is to review and analyse your written responses and then to engage in at least two, 'face-to-face' / video conference coaching sessions (plus any associated emails and/or tel. calls) and to provide you with a written report on the content of those two sessions.

For your part, you understand that coaching is not a substitute for professional advice by legal, mental, medical or other qualified professionals.  You agree to communicate honestly, to be open to feedback and assistance in making sense of the data and to devote the necessary time and energy to participate in the process.

Whether you wish to engage in further sessions will depend on how valuable you feel the first two have been.