Life Coaching: The Relationship is Primary but Coaches Use Assessment Tools Too!
Posted on April 02, 2016 by Jim Burr, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
This paper will look at the coaching relationship, process and tools which focus on dealing with personal issues and developing a balanced life.
Coaching involves a co-active partnership. The coach and the client work together to deal with the issues at hand. It is very important to view this relationship as a partnership. The power of coaching is in the relationship but it is dependent upon the client to give that power to the relationship. Ideally the client is motivated to change and willing to consider things they have not considered before. The coach needs to be transparent and willing to share their thoughts and feelings as the process moves on. Additionally they need to be willing to challenge and confront the client at times. Together the coach and the client will set off on a quest to explore and examine the issues which are initially identified by the client. As coaching procedes, some additional issues will be discovered. The client and the coach may stay focused on one of these issues for some time in order to resolve it before returning to the original theme. Coming back to that main theme they may then discover another issue which needs to be explored and examined. This process will go on until the client is satisfied that the issues they wanted to deal with in coaching have been handled.
While the most powerful tool at the coach’s disposal is their relationship with the client, several instruments are useful in terms of helping to develop a better understanding of the client. My favorites include the “wheel of life”, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the instrument in the book Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath and the one in Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves. Each of these instruments provides some information but also provides a place to start discussing with the client how they see themselves, their future and the world around them.
One of the instruments a coach will frequently use is the “wheel of life”. This is an exercise which looks at various aspects of an individual’s life in an attempt to determine which areas may be out of balance. For example, the wheel of life may look at family and friends, personal growth, fun and recreation, significant others, physical environment, health, money career. The exercise identifies which areas are most out of balance. The goal is not for all of these areas tobe in perfect balance but rather that they be in relative balance. Anything that seems to be quite out of balance becomes the focus of the coaching for a while. Individuals will be most satisfied with life when the important aspects of their life are in relative balance. Each area of their life examined by the wheel will be rated on a scale of 1 to 10. Rating of one indicates completely dissatisfied with that area of their life and a rating of 10 indicates completely satisfied with that area. The client and coach will then need to prioritize their work relative to these areas. It does not mean, for example, the individual considers health and money to be of equal importance. In an ideal situation, however, the individual would feel that they are equally satisfied with the amount of health and money they have.
A second tool a coach may use is the MBTI which is a personality assessment. The MBTI identifies which of 16 different personality types best fits the client. Additionally the instrument describes various characteristics which are common within that particular personality group. It will provide some insight into the clients communication style, decision-making process, as well as the style of managing change and managing conflict. It will also provide suggestions for enhancing those four styles.
A third instrument is the Strengths Finder 2.0 The Strengths Finder has 34 “themes”. These themes are considered to be strengths. The instrument contained in that book will give the client a list of their top five strengths. In reviewing this report with the coach the client will also have the opportunity to look at various “Ideas for Action”. These ideas are suggestions for ways to utilize the strengths. The report will also give some suggestions for working with other people who have similar strengths. While it is necessary to examine both strengths and weaknesses it is a better use of time to use focus on strengths. These strengths are areas that can be utilized and or built upon.
Finally the coach may use the Emotional Intelligence 2.0 which provides an overall score for emotional intelligence and sub-scores for 1) self-awareness, 2) self-management, 3) social awareness, and 4) relationship management. The client and the coach can then use this report and the book to focus on the area of greatest weakness. The other areas can also be worked on.
The above instruments and process focus on helping the client develop a better understanding of themselves. Using that understanding as a basis for further growth and development they can reach the goals they have for themselves and their life. It must always be emphasized that the instruments mentioned above are tools to be used by the client and the coach and not the absolute authority on the subject of the client. They provide a wealth of information the client and coach can use to further discuss where the client wants to go and how the client might get there.
Not infrequently clients bring with them to coaching some negatives about which they are concerned. While it is always preferable to spend more time on the positives these negatives must be dealt with too. People will come into coaching for example with concerns about self-esteem, self-confidence, anxiety or depression. Self-esteem and self-confidence are appropriate topics for coaching. Anxiety and depression need to be assessed by the coach to determine whether they are appropriate issues for coaching or, based on severity, whether the client should be referred to a therapist for more in-depth treatment.
Clients who have problems with low self-esteem or who lack self-confidence have developed a negative internal dialogue. They have a bias against themselves and they reinforce it with negative self-statements predicting inadequacy, failure, etc. While some of the instruments listed above may be useful, particularly the Strengths Finder, coaching needs to focus on uncovering that internal dialogue, challenging it and replacing it with more rational self-statements.
When the issues the client brings to coaching have been successfully identified and the client has been making progress working on them, the coaching schedule changes. At this point it is important that coaching not be completely discontinued but that sessions become less frequent. The coach and client are still “accountability partners”. They need to check in with each other periodically to ensure that the client is continuing to work on the issues and following the plan they developed. If new issues arise coaching can once again become more active. Eventually the client will determine they no longer are in need of the coaching and this episode will be terminated.
The possibility remains, of course, of starting up again in the future if additional issues or needs present themselves. Coaching should not be considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It should be considered a resource which can be utilized from time to time as needed.
