Laurie Beth Jones Blog

The Elements in Stage 4 of Change

Action – On the Path –

Clients in this stage are moving on their Path. With your coaching they have built their confidence, made their commitment, garnered support, and created their plan of action. They have identified the behavior they want to establish and are doing it consistently. Now the coaching steps up to provide the necessary support to keep moving along the path . . . this is the time when we get out our coaching pom-poms to manage progress and accountability. It’s also the time to be on the lookout for signs of lapses or relapses.

Because Earth clients thrive on getting tasks done according to plan, in this stage they feel like they’ve hit paydirt . . . but it can turn into quicksand because of their need for perfectionism. While practicing new behaviors and establishing new habits, help them establish realistic standards of measuring success for new actions taken. This is really important because the Earth client is so averse to making mistakes. Reframing is a valuable tool here to help them evaluate any misdirection or “less than perfect” performance as a learning opportunity rather than a failure.

This can be a delicate time for Water clients because of their desire to please others. Managing their progress and accountability requires helping them stay true to their path and not be swayed or distracted by the needs or agendas of others.  Help them anticipate and be prepared for lapses by developing strategies to cope with situations before they actually arise. Be generous with acknowledgment and affirmation for the steps they’ve taken, while continuing to challenge them to set short-term objectives.

In this stage encourage your Wind clients to develop new relationships with people who share their interests and behavior goals . . . more cheerleaders, so to speak. These individuals need a social context of fun and relationships in a network that will help them prioritize according to purpose rather than urgency. In addition, this network will help you  help your client  objectively assess their behavior and by-pass their tendency to self-promote with exaggeration or manipulation.

The biggest challenge for a Fire client during behavior change may be their fear of being seen as vulnerable or of losing a sense of prestige. In order to maintain their sense of being in control, they may try to exert pressure on others to respond in kind to their own behavior change. Help these clients think about the value of re–engineering their environment instead of the people in the environment.

This phase is a time for choosing, refining, and committing to specific behavior changes. It is a time for learning effective problem solving processes and taking corrective actions as outcomes are assessed. It is a time for brainstorming and experimenting. A key component of coaching during this phase of behavioral change is helping all clients, irrespective of their Element, appreciate that setbacks are normal and are to be appreciated for their learning value, not viewed as failure.

By Jacque Salamy:  Path Coach Training Instructor

The Elements in Stage 3 of Change (Part 4 of 6)

Preparation -  Ready for Change

Yay-y-y-y – Clients in this stage have overcome most of their ambivalence.  With your help they have identified a strong motivator. They understand what the likely barriers are, and they’ve formulated possible solutions. Probe carefully here and don’t take statements at face value because if these thinking tasks have not been thorough the client is still in the Contemplation stage.  This is the time for helping your client design plans of action, and the Eight Steps to Success taught in The Path is a great tool to use in this stage. This is the time to Discover, Design, and Do.

This may be the most challenging phase for Earth clients because of their desire for assured outcomes, but they are very capable of transforming thought into action. Use your coaching skills to help them move beyond the known to explore alternative ideas and solutions. The strength they will bring to this process is the ability to communicate candidly and objectively. Point out and celebrate the value of experimentation and acknowledge the successes immediately.

This is an interesting time working with Water clients because of their tendency to procrastinate unless they are being reactive to some event. They  have a hard time moving from thinking to action. Pull your coaching skills into helping them imagine possibilities that they’ve never experienced. Use your edge to move them off the mark and provide direction, but don’t overwhelm them with the broad scope of things. Be patient with their baby steps in the beginning and remember these clients are highly adaptable. Once parameters have been established and agreed on, you’ll find they often are most comfortable finding their own way but like to check in with you for clarification or affirmation.

Wind clients become highly in this phase because action is involved. Encourage them to design a variety of actions that are fun, but in alignment with the client’s agenda; don’t let them sidetrack themselves. Help them check their impulsivity and spontaneity long enough to establish clear short-term objectives with clearly defined measures of success. This will help them manage their tendency to get bored with long-term goals and accept responsibility and consequences. Provide the inquiry and reflection that facilitates their ability to assess their activities and outcomes objectively without their usual tendency to embellish.

During this phase Fire clients may feel like they’re getting an oxygen feed because they are so oriented toward goals, actions, and accomplishments. At this point they are likely to act prematurely and take precipitous action before thoroughly thinking through an action plan. Use your coaching skills to help them become more aware of and respectful of the thoughts and feelings of others as they form their strategies. The coaching challenge in this phase may is to help your client delay making decisions in favor of more complete data gathering, paying attention to the details they prefer to ignore or diminish.

Remember, although we may want to teach our clients the tricks we know about being successful, it’s our job to assist them to discover, design, and commit to their own strategies for forward movement . . . because that’s what sticks!

Jacque Salamy: The Path Coaching Training Program, Program Instructor

Listen to Laurie Beth and Jacque Salamy share how “coaching and the four elements of success” can help guide a coach in working with their clients.  This content rich process is paired with the core competencies of coaching and can be purchased from Laurie’s website by choosing this link:  Coaching and the Four Elements of Success.

Hear their show by going to this link: Laurie Beth and National Team Specialist Jacque Salamy.