What Happens in a Coaching Session
You might feel a little nervous before your first coaching session. Movies and TV provide plenty of dramatizations of therapy, counseling, and even rehab (that may or may not be reflective of reality!) However, most of us have never seen a coaching session between a professional coach and a client.
Your coach will want to follow your agenda for the session. However, you can expect that the following will happen:
You and your coach will:
Form trust connections and make agreements. If you are relaxed and open in your session, you can do your best thinking. Hopefully, you will have already met and even shared some information about each other. Your coach should be fully present with you, calm and focused. They will want you to know that your conversations are confidential and that they have no personal agenda. There may be a few minutes of connection before the coaching begins. You will make agreements for the time you will end and the topics you will discuss.
Pinpoint an issue. The coaching conversation is guided by what you want to discuss. Your coach will try to get you to articulate what you want to accomplish in the session. This may take a while, especially if you are unsure. Sometimes just identifying the issue is profoundly helpful to you.
Assess the current state of the issue. Your coach will want to know how things are now, so they know your starting point. However, be careful not to go into too much detail that is not important to the issue. Remember, your coach is not going to solve your issue, you are. They do not need to know a lot of background information and may gently press you on what is most important or pertinent.
Define the desired state. A good coach will dig deep into what you want out of the situation and get you to define what your ideal resolution is. Allow yourself to open up and imagine without judgment.
Develop a plan to get there. Your coach will help you tap into your own thinking, experience, and resources to figure out what to do next. They won’t give you advice. They may let you sit in silence and think for a few moments. At times, they may offer suggestions for your thinking, but only after you have scanned your own inner resources.
Make a commitment. In most cases, at the end of one session you will make a small commitment to do something-- maybe have a conversation, do some research, or some other small thing. In some cases, your commitment may be large-- you may have made a big decision that requires a big action as a next step. Your coach will ask you about this commitment, and if you are ready to take it. You may be asked to create an accountability plan, or to communicate again with your coach. For many clients, this commitment and accountability is the most important benefit of coaching.
Reflect on learning. Your coach may ask you what you have learned, or what was helpful about the session. This is not fishing for compliments for the coach. Stating what was learned or helpful is a way for you to acknowledge the good work you did in the session, and celebrate your progress.
