In discussing the wheel of life exercise, it was the client who wanted the coaching sessions to focus on the career problem area and believed that if this could be improved then the money area would also be improved as the two were interrelated. The purpose or topic that they decided upon was “To obtain and maintain a permanent job”

Question 2. Through considering the personality of the client and the type of problem area they wish to address (i.e. persona/financial) decide upon a style of coaching and write about what this is and why you have chosen it.

The client that I am working with is someone who needs support and encouragement to achieve their goals. Whilst they are very intelligent they are not pushy or assertive and are happy for others to lead. Taking into account that the topic they have chosen is related to career and also their personality type, I have decided to adopt a predominantly “Pull” approach but with a small element of “Push.”

I have chosen this approach because I don’t want the client to create a dependency and have the client rely upon me for direction continuously. I intend to make extensive use of open questions to enable the client to reflect upon their behaviour and thinking process and encourage them to identify positive changes that they can make to improve their circumstances, rather than having to point them out myself.

I am however also aware that they sometimes struggle to act on options available to them and I intend to ensure at the end of each session, that I work in partnership with them to agree aims and objectives in preparation for the following coaching session. Whilst these agreed aims do not have to be adhered too rigidly, it will help to enable the client to keep focused upon working towards small outcomes each week, that will enable them to achieve their ultimate purpose “To obtain and maintain a permanent job”.

Question 3 Organise a second session with the client in which you help them write an action plan with SMART objectives that will help them achieve their purpose. Write up the action plan and how you both decided upon it.

Topic/Purpose:

“To obtain and maintain a permanent job”

Objective 1

Objective 3

In relation to how this action plan was decided upon, it was very much a partnership approach. The client was quite clear about the broad purpose needed but found it difficult at first to formulate specific objectives to work towards. Posing a number of open questions and discussing the SMART approach to objective setting, we worked together to achieve the specific objectives stated in the final plan. At first the client was a little sceptical about the need for such specific objectives but at the end of the session they could see the value it added to the process because there were clear goals and timescales to work towards, which the client stated was very helpful in measuring progress.

Question 4. After each of the following sessions, write a brief summary of the progress that your client has made, from your point of view and from theirs.

This response relates to coaching session 3

Objective was: To update CV with latest temporary assignment.

The client was a little subdued this week having demonstrated good motivation at our previous coaching session. It transpired that this was mainly due to the lack of response they had received from agencies and company’s during the week. I encouraged the client to revisit the action plan and explained that the objectives that they had formulated the previous week would help them move the process forward more quickly and that it was perfectly normal for concerns to slip in at this stage. I praised the client for completing the first objective despite having a difficult week emotionally and I read the extra three paragraphs that they had added to their CV, reflecting their recent temporary work assignment. As a result of this discussion, the client began to view their circumstances more positively towards the end of the coaching session after observing the progress that they were making against their action plan.

This response relates to coaching session 4

The client made some good progress this week towards their main purpose. They completed the second objective on their action plan that was agreed at the previous session this objective was “To decide upon the types of permanent employment the client would like to do”

They had bought in some printed information that they had downloaded from the internet about two specific jobs “Technical Buyer” and also “aircraft co-ordinator” they also had some information on re training opportunities as a family support worker with social services. We spent the coaching session discussing these opportunities and the client had clearly given consideration to the skills required and what they would need to do to apply. They had actually created a helpful list of pro’s and con’s for each job and talked through these in detail. They clearly demonstrated good motivation and self discipline in researching this area in their own time the previous week. They also demonstrated some good evidence of helpful thinking skills to examine each opportunity on an individual basis.

Summary of the client’s perspective of both sessions.

"I have to say that I was still a little unconvinced about how useful it would be to formulate such an action plan that seemed to me so simple. I could see the importance of the action plan that we made in the previous sessions because after coaching sessions 3 and 4, I could physically see the evidence of the progress I was making against my first objective. However I have to admit that it was really satisfying ticking off the first objective. I felt that writing it all down was a great motivational tool as normally my initial burst of enthusiasm would have waned.

Question 5. Once the preliminary number of sessions has been completed, write an evaluation of how you feel your client has done in finding the answers to their problem area. Invite the client also to offer their evaluation of the process and record both.

Having completed four coaching sessions the client has demonstrated some positive steps towards finding answers to their problem area which was related to career/work. Whilst it is still early in the coaching process they have demonstrated a propensity to work independently, once objectives have been agreed. Indeed the fact that they have shown self discipline in meeting the first two objectives shows that they are committed to the process and are motivated to change. To date I have found that they have laid some important foundation stones towards reaching their ultimate purpose and that they have worked hard to achieve this. The initial scepticism that they displayed in writing down such seemingly straight forward objectives for their action plan has been replaced by enthusiasm as they now see the value of objective setting and have even indicated that they get a sense of achievement from completing an objective that they have defined. This will obviously prove positive in helping them reach their ultimate goal to acquire and maintain permanent employment and I am convinced that the client will achieve this purpose.

Summary of Client Perspective

The client once again voiced their initial doubts about the value of writing down such simple objectives to create an action plan. They stated that they felt that their initial reaction was that “It was merely a paperwork exercise.” However at the next session they could appreciate the importance of doing this as it focussed their energy and provided accountability for their actions. They also stated that the coaching process was very supportive and allowed them time to simply air their views and opinions and in doing so answer some of their own questions. They thought that this differed from their initial assumption that the coach would direct them to the answers. They commented that this facilitative approach was much more beneficial as they were able to find solutions that filled their own individual needs rather than having someone else’s imposed upon them. The process also gave them time out of their hectic life to think through their needs, but have another person to act as a sound board and provide some guidance where appropriate.

Bibliography

Lewis, G (2000) Mentoring Manager: Strategies for fostering talent and spreading knowledge. Prentice Hall. London .

Life Coaching Diploma: Course Book. (2006) Home Learning College Ltd. London.

Thompson, N (2001) Anti Discriminatory Practice. 3^rd Edition. Palgrave. Basingstoke.

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