Empowering #1

The first class in this course was held on Thursday, August 30, 2007. The class was facilitated by a substitute. We began the class by introducing ourselves and sharing something that we do to empower ourselves in our coaching. Everyone shared great ideas from visualization to meditation. I shared how I try to remind myself that the session isn’t about me and how that opens me up to being more present for the client.

The coaching session may not be empowered if the client is not ‘coachable’. We might be able to tell if the client isn’t coachable if we sense resistance; the client is stuck in the past/they are just not ready yet; they are mandated to be their by a boss/spouse/parent or the client doesn’t take action. If we run into this situation, an uncoachable client, we can confront it head on…have the client write down what their expectations are or what they want to accomplish. We can also make a request of the client which could help them move through the ‘stagnant’ stage. We can asked them to define what they think coachability looks like and then to live those out in their daily life. We can also enthuse our client into coachability. Putting a vision out there to them and helping them to get excited about what it is they are working towards. We can enthuse by acknowledging our client and getting excited about them and what they are doing.

I was distracted at the end of class by my children and their homework assignments and getting them settled in after school. I missed the part where she talked about what we would be discussing next week or if we had any fieldwork.