Quick coaching

Below is a model that can be used for a quick coaching experience during a trial session - individually or in a group.

Box 1	Box 2	Box 3	Box 4	Box 5
Write down a goal you have. It can be a goal from any area of your life, a goal that feels important to you.	For how long have you had this goal? A month, a year, several years or all of your life?	This far, what has been your greatest obstacle in achieving this goal?	What specific activities have you undertaken during the last 24 hours in order to achieve your goal?	You might need to give this a bit more thought. What is it with this goal that makes you want to achieve it? How does it make you feel when you achieve this goal?
Look at your goal again. You don’t have to tell me what it is.	Have you been thinking about your goal for a long time? Has it often been on your mind?	Have you come with excuses or blamed yourself or others for not reaching the goal? Let’s go to #4 instead. This box is not so fun to stay in.	Has the goal been so important to you that you recently have made changes to your lifestyle in order for you to get on step closer to your goal?	Again, how does it feel when you achieve this goal? Isn’t it so that this is what you truly want, your real goal? Could this be an important value in your life?

Afterwards ask:

• 
  

• What is a step you can take during the coming month in order to move closer to achieving your goal?

• How does this all feel so far?

Welcome Pack

A well organised coach has put certain structures in place to inform her clients about the coaching process. This means that my clients can expect to receive the following information:

Directly after scheduling a trial session (Intro Pack):

• Information about 'what is coaching'
• Information about me and my coaching model
• Information about the coaching process and 'logistics'
• Policies & Procedures

After signing up (Coaching Pack):

• ICF Code of Ethics
• Invoice
  
• Intake Form
• Session Preparation Form
• Feedback and Evaluation Form
• Release of Confidential Information Form (for International Coach Federation accreditation purposes)
  

I have found my own coach

I have also had a trial session with another coach - afterwards I was ready for a shower, because I've experienced myself that being coached is really hard work! As a client you do at least 80% of the talking plus all the thinking that comes with coaching.

At the end of the trial session my coach Emma and I decided that we could go forward with each other in a coaching relationship. She will be my coach for 12 sessions and we'll focus on establishing my coaching business.

I am getting lots of inspiration having a coach like Emma myself, not in the least related to the coaching method and tools Emma is using: she has sent me a welcome pack with:

• information about her coaching process and style, so I know what I can expect of her and what is expected from me
• policies and procedures
• the coaching agreement
• a client intake form (questionnaire)
• a session preparation form - to be submitted before every coaching session

Well, I am looking forward to our next session!

My own very first trial session

Today I have had my first trial session, in the role of a client. One of the graduation requirements is that every student needs to be coached by at least one student coach for the duration of 12 sessions.

In a trial session the client and the coach try to find out whether there could be a fruitful coaching relationship, while at the same time the client gets a taste of what coaching can do for him.

I wanted to be coached on building my coaching business, so that was the focus of this trial session. My coach asked me various (difficult!) questions, like:

• what do you want to accomplish with your business?
• what are your goals?
  
• what are the tools you will need?
• what is your niche?
• how do you want to enter the market?

Of course do most questions need some fieldwork as I do not have all the answers yet. But that is exactly what coaching is for in my case: to help me step by step through my business building process.

It was great to experience coaching in action and being on the other side - as a client. I became very aware of the fact that as a client it is necessary to commit yourself to the coaching process and the fieldwork that comes out of it as a result. No way that you are going to achieve your goals otherwise! You have to work for it. So as a client you need to reserve time to actually work on your goals!

It is up to me now whether I want to continue with this coach. I will be having another trial session with a different coach later this week, but this has been a great experience already.

Trial session (2)

As you probably know a trial session is almost a 'must' to learn more about what coaching can mean for you personally. It is a taste really of what you can expect from your coach. But more important, it's also about a match between you and your coach: does it feel right with this person?

In case your coach to be is a friend of yours, you both have to define what the coaching relationship will look like. But again it has to feel right! The coach must suit the client and vice versa. If not, you are better off with someone else with a different style.

A Taste: The Trial Session

A trial session is a perfect instrument to get a taste for what coaching can mean for you as a client. Without any obligations you'll get the opportunity to learn to know the person behind the coach and the coach's approach to find out whether there is a 'fit'. In a trial session you usually start with sharing some background information to build the relationship. And to get the coaching session started there are some great questions which help you focus, like the following:

• What is the one goal you would like to achieve in the next thirty days?
• What have you always wanted to do that you've never done?
• If you don't win the lottery, what will you do with your life?

In trying to answer one of the above questions goals, dreams and passions will become visible. Your coach will help you clarifying these and defining the one thing you would like to work on right now. Together you'll set up a structure to achieve the goal and define the steps that you need to take to achieve this goal.

As this is your first taste of a real coaching session you'll be asked for feedback whether you found the coaching valuable and whether you are willing to commit to taking the defined steps and achieving your goal. If yes then there really was a match between the client and the coach: the client agrees that coaching could make a strong positive impact in their life and the coach would love to support the client on achieving their goals.

Be aware of the fact that coaching can take place in a face to face situation, but more and more happens through the telephone! That opens possibilities, doesn't it? If you happen to be in The Netherlands and your coach in New Zealand the only challenge you have to face is finding a suitable time slot :-)