Business Coaching How to Plan

This may seem a very simple title for an article on business coaching; of course we all know how to plan. But do we?

Coaches are trained to plan sessions, maybe using the TGROW model or similar and this does help to focus the mind whilst a coach is learning their skills. But a lot can be lost when each session has to follow a pre planned structure to keep within the allotted time.

Have you ever thought about just letting it flow? We have the listening skills but are we using them?

Recently a client of mine was very insistent that he talked about a business problem that had resulted in his wife being very disappointed and disillusioned with him. He talked on and on, hardly pausing for breath…then started all over again. He was getting near to tears as his worry had now grown into a full scale problem. Would his wife leave him? Would he ever get back into business again and would he ever make the money he had promised his wife?

I allowed him to continue, as long as I could see that unburdening was helpful, and then I felt that I should bring him back to the session.

This happens in many cases; the client becomes obsessed with his current problem and has no space to think his way through. That is when they really need a coach.

So at this point, it is critical ‘to have the right question’. That’s for sure, as I nearly messed up this particular session and left him without a ‘plan’.

The question being, “How do you plan to move on from this?” The usual reply would be that there is no plan and they have no idea how to ‘move on’. So the coach has, during the listening time, been able to formulate a couple of ideas that they can plant, without actually making choices for them.

It is a good idea when coaching to have already prepared some alternatives that may be acceptable for the client, to think about anyway. Obviously the best method by far is to give them the impression that they actually thought of it; it was their idea!

You can plant ‘the plan’ by using phrases like “How would you feel if…?” giving an option, or “Would doing……..make you feel OK about this problem?” Latch onto anything that you feel is constructive and ignore any destructive comments. Don’t let the client dwell on negative options, keep the conversation moving on to anything that takes the client away, even just a little bit, from their major problem.

Making any decision is about feeling. You can replicate this by thinking of your own impending Dental appointment, where do you feel the anxiety (if at all)? When you are looking forward to meeting your loved one, how do you feel? Just try anything on these lines so you can understand where the body ‘feels’ things that you consider are emotional. “If there was a miracle tonight that put everything right…how would you know?” “How would it feel?

Success in a coaching session is for the client to be able to ‘see the wood from the trees’ but it is a process, mostly of elimination. To do this efficiently and with compassion is the ultimate goal. Planning a session is vital but so is letting it flow.



Business Coaching How to Plan - To learn more about this author, visit Di Holliday's Website.

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