Coaching at its core is about helping people improve, grow and achieve their goals. This journey, moving a coachee from where they are stuck today to where they want to be in the future, typically involves in-depth work to uncover blocks, expose blind spots and challenge detrimental self-beliefs. It also involves exploration of personal and professional obstacles as the two are often intertwined. In fact, it is not uncommon to discover that the thing holding a coachee back from achieving his/her personal goals is the same obstacle that is preventing attainment of professional goals.
Identifying the obstacles holding one back might seem straightforward but experienced coaches know that this can be a complex process. The coach must help the coachee look at many different areas, peel back multiple layers and uncover hidden factors, many of which are emotionally charged issues that must be dealt with. Let’s face it. Identifying the obstacles holding a coachee back is complex because people are complex.
Obstacles often put their roots down early in one’s life. It may start with an experience early in life that produces a negative outcome. That experience/negative outcome is repeated and, over time, becomes a belief. The individual may have forgotten how it all started and is no longer able to recognize the obstacle or its source. The patterns have become so ingrained in a person’s psyche that they are seen as truth. Guiding someone through the discovery process to understand that these ‘truths’ are what is actually holding them back can take time and expertise. You’ve got to start at the surface and then peel back the layers to get to the root of the obstacle. It is precisely through this process of discovery that the real breakthroughs occur. The aha moments. We call this diving deeper. So how do you dive deeper with a coachee into meaningful discovery about themselves and their situation?
We will explore this topic during our next free webinar. During this webinar, you will learn what is required to explore and uncover areas that are often at the source of where a coachee becomes stuck, self-defeating or demotivated without inserting your bias.
