The Coaching Triad

One of the greatest attributes coaches must possess, is the ability to see the BIG picture that the client doesn’t see! But this “clairvoyance” is often obscured by the objectives that our clients have when they seek our help as coaches!

When a patient suffers from an ailment and consults with a doctor about the “pain”, that patient will point to a “symptom”! It’s up to the doctor to identify the cause. The doctor must be able to see the BIG picture!

When I first started coaching, one of the biggest challenges I faced was looking beyond the clients “symptoms” and understanding the underlying challenges or motivations that the client needed to address! It was one thing to listen to the client’s “reasons” for wanting to work with me. But in order for me to deliver the RESULTS that my client was after, I had to dig deeper!  Much deeper!

I began to realize that any coaching program must follow a certain “trajectory”. I referenced the “Coaching Trajectory” in previous articles, but today I want to focus on the three main components of any coaching program. They are:

1. Objective
2. Odyssey
3. Outcome

Objective
Understanding your client’s objective is paramount to delivering the RESULT that your client wants to achieve! Don’t just ‘listen, empathize, ask questions, inspire and motivate’!

• Listening to your client is “passive coaching”! Understanding your client’s needs and being fully focused on the RESULT is “active coaching”. It is the key to delivering a Desired Outcome!
• Showing empathy is “reactive coaching”. You must go beyond “empathy” to seek solutions! Empathy alone will not sustain your coach/client relationship.
• Make sure that your questions aren’t always open-ended or create a continuous “loop”. At some point you and your client must exit the freeway in order to arrive at a destination!
• Inspire your clients to go beyond their initial objective. That’s where they’ll find true fulfillment!
• Motivate your clients to achieve their “impossible” by raising the bar on their “achievable”!

Once you have a clear understanding of your client’s challenges at their core, or discover the true motivation behind your client’s Desired Outcome, it’s time to take your client on an “epic journey”!

Odyssey
Most coaching trainers and gurus create the simplistic notion that coaching is about taking the client on a journey to the “Promised Land”. They make it sound as if coaching is some idyllic “voyage” that will ferry the client from a “place of despair” to a “place of desire”! But all the coaching “jargon” will not navigate your client to his/her destiny and all the coaching “fluff” will not lift the fog that envelopes their Desired Outcome!

Working with a coach to achieve a RESULT is not a leisurely journey!  It is an Odyssey!
There is a path to follow! There are ‘milestones’ to achieve! There are roadblocks to maneuver!  There are detours to navigate!  There will be turbulence to throw your client off course!

And every leg of the Odyssey will require some type of action on the part of the client! Every step along the way will demand accountability and determination from both coach and client!
This is not a coaching “kumbaya”!

Your client’s “Odyssey” is fraught with challenges . . . . and opportunities!

You are not a “tour guide” on some coaching bus! Your job as a coach is to be the navigator while the client is at the helm! Together you will steer the ship through the eye of a storm. Together you will hoist the sails in search of opportunities!

And when your client’s Odyssey is finished, you will have made good on your promise!
You have delivered the RESULT your client hired you for!

Outcome
Your client’s world is changing at an ever increasing pace! To think that your client can reach a Desired Outcome with only a handful of coaching sessions is naïve at best and absurd in the absolute! Your “Coaching Trajectory” will still be there, long after the illusive rainbow (your client’s simplistic “objective”) has disappeared! I don’t believe in illusions so I don’t create any!  I don’t cloak my coaching promises in jargon! I don’t attract clients by luring them into a coach web spun with “fluff”!

If you want to deliver the RESULTS that clients will pay you high-end coaching fees for, create a “Coaching Triad” that can lead them to their Desired Outcome!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

© Allan N. Mulholland

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About Allan
Allan N. Mulholland is the founder and president of PersonaCoach (Int'l) LLC, which provides training and certification for life & business coaches. He is the author of “Change Your Perception, Change Yourself!” and writes on all aspects of coaching training and development.

To get Allan’s free Book “Clients Don’t Pay for Coaching. They Pay for RESULTS!” go to www.resultscoachmastery.com (Available January 14th, 2016)

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