The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
CTI (www.coactive.com), where I was initially trained in coaching skills in 2002, describes coaching as DEEPENING LEARNING while FORWARDING ACTION, while both BEING and DOING. It is about greater awareness, with an intention to lean into our personal power and create for the sake of positive impact in the world each day. To do this requires the ongoing process and journey to know and understand ourselves, and our impact, as well as a commitment to upskilling our emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and activity.
So how does coaching work to help deepen this awareness, transform, and advance how we show up in the world? Early in my coaching career, a consultant challenged me to define my model for coaching. It was challenging because coaching is organic and unique to the individual client. The client determines what they want to dig into, and where they want to grow, and we dynamically dance with them in that moment. As a result, my style of coaching intentionally does not have a worksheet, recipe, or process to have a client walk through. While I use many tools in coaching, they are also dynamic as they apply to each situation. The inquiry to define how I work, however, was useful and valuable to define. I developed a model to help capture the numerous components happening and available in my coaching process. This is what I call the Synergy Strategies Coaching Model. It does not mean these happen in each coaching call, rather these are all on the table to be accessed and part of a coaching relationship.
Each coaching call starts with you, the client, in the center. Coaching is about the client, where they are, and where they want to go (their desired goal/future). Also in the center is your coach, Synergy Strategies, to dance together with you by focusing on what is important to you and creating space to gain insight, and find clarity, focus, and a plan for action.