CIP The Coaching Structure

>> Welcome back. Now that you're clear on the primary goals and competencies of the first session and how to prepare for this first interaction, let's move on to take a look at the general structure of the coaching process and relationship from start to finish. It's important for coaches to understand that while there's no set formula on how to conduct your sessions, there is a framework or coaching structure that you'll need to use to guide your program. So in this lecture, we'll talk about how to establish the coaching structure. So what does this structure look like? Well, like every good story, there's the beginning, the middle, and the end. Let's take a look at what's involved in each of these components. As we do, keep in mind that the same structure exists whether the coaching relationship lasts for three sessions, six weeks, six months, or even a year. The beginning phase represents your initial sessions with a client. The length of the beginning phase of a coaching program will vary depending on the length of the relationship. For example, for a shorter program, it could be sessions one, two, and maybe three, or if it's a six-month contract, it could even be for the first full month. Let's start with some benchmarks for the earlier sessions in general. This includes the first session which we've already discussed. According to the NBHWC, the first few sessions should primarily be spent exploring the client's values, vision, purpose, and priorities. It's important for a full picture of the client's goals, challenges, readiness, and willingness to emerge during this time. Coaches should obtain a wide-angled view of the client and take ample time to explore so that goals are not set prematurely. Asking lots of high-mileage questions and spending time learning about all the things the client cares about is also instrumental in building rapport. Both coaches and clients alike can be eager to jump into goal-setting at the start of a coaching program, especially if momentum is high. However, it's critical that the coach doesn't rush through this phase. The primary goal and desired outcome of the beginning phase is to establish a client's wellness vision and area of focus. I like to describe the wellness vision as a journey where the client takes the lead and dives into their imagination, stating their big dream as it relates to health and wellness. A wellness vision is not just about being at a certain weight or having good lab numbers. It's about defining what truly matters most to that client and having the physical capacity and mental alertness to enjoy it. One way to elicit a client's wellness vision is through a guided imagery exercise. Or you can simply have the client assess their current state of wellness, using the Circle of Life or a wellness inventory. Some coaches like to ask the client to identify the gap between their current state and the desired outcome of their wellness vision in order to help them identify the gap that stands between the two states of being. Once a client starts opening up about their vision for wellness in their life, they'll pour out many different things that are important to them. Maybe the most important thing in the world to this client is to be alive and healthy for the upcoming birth of their first grandchild or to travel the world and hike mountains or maybe it's to plant a beautiful garden. It may take time to get them going. But eventually, your client will offer an exciting but overwhelming array of goals and desires. As a novice coach, you might think, "Wow, where do I even begin with this client?" Just know that you don't have to start. That's what you ask them. Remember, your client leads the way. You can say something like, "Wow, what a fantastic vision. I sense your enthusiasm and strong desire for all of that. Now out of all of these wonderful things, what would you like to focus on first? And how can I as your coach help you concentrate on the first one?" Make a list as they talk helping them prioritize and put them in order. This will be the start of planning and goal-setting. Wellness coach Michael Orlowski likes to call these areas of focus. In order to create the greatest lasting change and success toward their goals, encourage your clients to hone in on just one or two areas of focus. Various coaching studies have shown that people are more likely to succeed at behavior change when they narrow their focus to one item at a time. When motivation is high, it can be tempting to want to take on the world, but this is not the most productive outcome. Also, something that's critical to know for your practice and for the certifying exam is that the client is always the expert when it comes to choosing a focus, setting goals, and defining outcomes for themselves, and creating their wellness vision. Though it can be tempting to share information about what you think or think you know that your client should do, he or she must always be the expert when it comes to deciding what's most appropriate. This empowers the client to select what feels most important or motivating to them at that place and time in their life. A powerful tool that's very helpful for assessing a client's readiness to make a change to create progress in their area of focus is The Transtheoretical Model, also known as the Stages of Change Model. We'll explore this model in great detail later on during this course. For now, just keep in mind that while this tool can be used at any point in coaching, it's particularly helpful in the early stage. The NBHWC defines a series of benchmarks that are important to achieve in these early sessions. Specifically, they instruct coaches to ask the client to take an honest assessment of his or her current state of health and wellbeing. Explore his or her vision of optimal health and or wellbeing. Inquire about the client's learning style. Identify the gaps that stand between the client's current state and desired lifestyle or outcomes. Explore and clarify the client's priority areas of focus. Define the specific long-term goals that will lead them toward the desired outcomes. Establish short-term SMART goals or action steps for what they'll accomplish in between sessions. Support the client in achieving the SMART goals or action steps, including backup plans. And establish a plan for maintaining accountability. Collectively, these are the steps that will set your client up for successful action and create a clearly laid-out plan for them to follow during the middle phase. Once your client has this game plan laid out and he or she is ready to take action, the relationship enters the middle phase. The NBHWC refers to these as routine or ongoing sessions. You may also hear them referred to as follow-up sessions. During this time, you're supporting the client while they enact their plan to achieve the goals that will move them toward their wellness vision. They're doing the work in between sessions and then checking in with you to report on progress, stay accountable, and fine tune their action plan as needed. The primary roles of the coach during the middle phase of coaching are to hold the client accountable, discover and reflect on the key takeaways that the client learns, and help them modify the area of focus and action plan as needed. Both the International Coach Federation and the NBHWC expects certified professional coaches to address the following objectives during these middle phase or routine coaching sessions. Ask the client to make an assessment of his or her current state at the beginning of the session, check in on commitments and action steps made in prior sessions, invite the client to select the focus for the current session, review and discuss the client's short-term SMART goals or action steps to be accomplished between sessions, adjust the plan if needed, articulating any new action steps and processes for self-monitoring, discover and reflect on the client's learning including takeaways from the session, communicate appreciation of the client's work, and invite the client to provide feedback to improve their coaching experience. In the middle phase, it's still just as important to connect warmly with the client. Make them feel comfortable by breaking the ice, asking them how they've been, what their week's been like, and providing emotional connection and support. Continue to empower your clients and encourage self-efficacy during these routine sessions to keep clients from slipping back on old habits or limiting beliefs. You'll also want to continue to demonstrate appropriate time management, guiding the conversation to move through the aspects of the session that will best support the client. Helping a client identify his or her mental or emotional state can be as simple as asking a question like, "How are you doing? What's new and good?" Or "On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 feeling awful and 10 feeling the best, how are you feeling today?" When you check in on prior session commitments, be sure to look for and celebrate any successes the client has made, even the tiny ones count. One of the most powerful questions to determine what a client would like to talk about in a session is what's on your mind? This opens the floor for your client to lead with what they consider to be most important. Sometimes, challenges or other issues will come up for your client that are outside of your well-designed plan. And yes, life gets in the way for all of us. And for the types of busy people who work with coaches, they have a lot of life to get in the way. When this happens, it's important to address the elephant in the room if it's truly in the way of them achieving their goals. Perhaps they didn't get to do the nutritional changes they wanted last week because they had a sudden house full of unexpected guests, dinners out, or too much celebrating. Managing and exploring setbacks is a natural part of the process. Generally speaking, there are three ways you can help a client get back on track. One, remind your client of his or her earlier stated desired goals and commitments. You can then ask your client warmly and politely what they'd like to focus on in the session. Then use the appropriate skills or processes depending on the client's focus. Two, identify obstacles and help the client work around them. Or three, articulate new action steps and adjust the plan if needed. Once you've reached the last session or two and it's time to reflect and wrap up with the client, you've reached the end phase. The NBHWC refers to the end phase as Coaching Program Termination. Typically, this is the final session in your program agreement. However, the tasks of the end phase can start a session or two or even three before that, depending on how long your program is. This stage is defined by the NBHWC as a time to recognize progress, reflect on learning, and create closure. The coach helps the client reflect back on their progress throughout the program. The client articulates his or her successes and looks back at what he or she has learned. The coach helps the client to establish a plan for how he or she will maintain or continue progressing toward goals with an emphasis on support and resources. During the closing session, you get to celebrate with your client. Be sure to reflect on every single success throughout the program, even ones that may seem insignificant. Invite your client to talk about the progress that he or she has made, the challenges experienced and the lessons learned. This will help your client process the work that they've done. Next, you'll want to assist him or her in developing a sustainable maintenance plan. A great way to initiate this is simply to ask, "So what's the plan going forward?" You want to make sure that there's a realistic plan in place for your client to maintain their success. Just like with goals, this should be created by the client. However, you can offer your support to further refine their maintenance plan. This includes making sure they're securing their resources and supportive networks as they move forward. Sometimes, you'll get a client who simply wants to keep working with you. Many Health Coaches delight in seeing the spillover effect in their favorite clients. This often happens when your client gains new confidence and heightened self-advocacy from achieving a goal in one area of their life. Their enthusiasm and confidence then spills over into tackling another area of their life. If that happens with your client, begin the process again by creating a new coaching agreement or simply adding a clause or addendum with a new signature to the previous one. After that, you'll want to repeat the steps described in this lecture and learn to stretch your client helping them expand their view. Their life is becoming amazing, and thanks to your help. All right, and there we have the basic overview of the coaching structure. We've gone over the beginning, middle, and end phases, and the defining details of each. The first few sessions, the beginning or early phase is defined by building trust and rapport and establishing the client's wellness vision and area of focus. The middle sessions also referred to as routine or ongoing sessions are when the client is actively doing work in between sessions to achieve the goals defined in the early phase. This is a time for the coach to help the client stay accountable, discover, and reflect on their key takeaways, and modify the area of focus and action plan as needed. The ending phase is the time leading up to and during the closing session. This is the time for reflecting on progress, celebrating victories, and creating a maintenance plan. On your next live call, we'll review these stages and answer any questions you have. In the meantime, if you have any questions, we're here to support you in the course Facebook group. Thanks for watching.