COACH: Anthony Hadeed, PCC
CLIENT: Karen Leeyuen
In this video Merci Miglino, MCC, "stops the clock" to share her observations on the coaching as it maps against the ICF competencies.These highlights are extremely valuable to anyone wanting to improve their coaching or apply for an ICF credential. If you are interested in becoming a coach, take the next step by filling out our Coach Development Plan.
Watch the full video below and read the transcript.
Observe the ICF Core Competencies in Action
Get a full list of the ICF Coaching Competencies Download Here
Video Timestamp - 5:16
B. Co-creating the Relationship
4. Coaching Presence
Video Timestamp - 8:58
C. Communicating Effectively
7. Direct Communication
Video Timestamp - 13:00
D. Facilitating Learning and Results
8. Creating Awareness
Video Timestamp - 19:31
D. Facilitating Learning and Results
9. Designing Actions
Annotated Transcript
In this transcript Merci identifies elements of the coaching session that map across the ICF competencies. These highlights are extremely valuable to anyone wanting to improve their coaching or apply for an ICF credential.
Click here to get a copy of the annotated transcript
Anthony Hadid: So Karen welcome. To start off the whole process maybe let me know a little bit about your current situation and what you would like to be coached on today?
Karen: Okay, well Anthony I am a client manager at a particular company. I have been working there for about four and a half years. During this time I have had two young boys. It is an excellent company and I am in a very good position, a very senior position. I have a lot of responsibility and a lot of autonomy but I think it is just not fulfilling for me at this point in my life. Now that I have my two boys my focus is very different and I want to spend more time with them. It is an eight to four thirty job and I have to wake up in the morning and prepare everything for the kids and then drive in traffic and get to work. It is a lot of stress and I think at this point I would like a bit more flexibility. So, I am a bit frustrated so to speak and I have been thinking of what my options are. So I decided to contact you to see if you can walk me through the process and I suppose help me feel a little bit more confident with whatever decision I choose to make.
Anthony Hadid: Well Karen I want to commend you for your courage in at least trying to address the situation. A lot of people just stay in the situation and just deal with the stress and the stress eventually will have its affect on their health. So from what I am hearing you say, you enjoy your job, you enjoy the challenge and everything but it is the lack of flexibility with your young family that is really causing you a lot of stress. Am I right?
Karen: That’s it, that’s exactly it. It is not that I necessarily want to stop working, I don’t want to be a housewife. I enjoy being out there in the corporate world and meeting clients and getting to know businesses and so on. It is really just that flexibility that I want and the position that I am in right now in the company that I am in just doesn’t allow room for that. So, as much as they try to be accommodating for me the demands of the job and the demands of that organisation are such that you do need to be present for a particular point in time.
Anthony Hadid: I see Karen. So, tell me then what could your options be from this point forward? For example, what you have been considering as a solution to this problem?
Karen: I have been toying with the idea of going off on my own and being my own consultant. I have about ten plus years experience in human resources and I have been thinking about doing that. The other option I suppose, well one option is to stay where I am and another option is to look for a job in another company but I don’t feel that is something that I want to do. Again, because I feel that the demands of any company would be such that they would require you to be there for a particular time and I just want to have a sense of freedom and flexibility and time to be with my children. My first option I think, to answer your question, would probably be to go off on my own and do my own consultancy.
Anthony Hadid: Okay so you have three options Karen from what I am hearing. One is stay at the current firm that you are at and deal with the stress in some way, maybe even beg for some more flexibility if that is possible, or it may not be. Secondly, to look at getting a job in another company maybe where you will have the same stability in terms of income and benefit but maybe some more flexibility which may or may not exist and thirdly, to go out on your own as aconsultant. Let me ask you a question regarding the third option Karen, what is your current financial situation with you and your husband and where you live. Are you tied to a particular financial commitment every month whereby you have to have the same income just as you leave your current company? Or can you afford two or three months of maybe lower remuneration that you currently have in order to build up your consultancy?
Merci: Stop the clock! Karen, hold your thoughts. So what I have witnessed and observed so far is coaching presence, which is how the coach responds to the entire person, not just her situation but how she is feeling about it, stressful maybe, concern, and wanting some clarity, that is coaching presence. Our coach Anthony is really paying attention. He is expressing support for the client and speaking about establishing trust and intimacy with the client, which is also a core competency of coaching. You can feel that he is respecting the client’s work in the process and he is allowing the client to fully express him or herself, which is also a competency. So, I wanted to recognise that and let you guys go back to coaching.
Karen: Okay Anthony, so to answer your question, in terms of my financial situation we are able to take a little hit financially if that happens to be the situation so it is not something that I fear in terms of my financial security. Of course when you are in a company you do have your set salary which is going to come in every month and there is that level of security but I also feel that if I am on my own I have the possibility of making even more money because when you work with a company there tends to be a bracket. So there is a lower bracket and there is an upper bracket for a particular position. I feel that when you are on your own you can make as much as you want, you can work as hard as you work and you can make as much as you make. So, it is not something I am too concerned about and if the case is where we do have a lower remuneration coming in as a family in terms of our dual income, we do have a couple of months where we can have that as a buffer.
Anthony Hadid: Great. Well Karen that sounds good. So it sounds like you have thought this process through and it sounds like you are willing to give that third option a serious consideration which is great and I want to commend you for that. So, to that regard would you say that you have an action plan in place in terms of maybe marketing yourself, whether you have some call cards that you have thought about doing or even a business name? Tell me a little bit about if you want to leave or give your current company notice - I would assume two weeks to a month would be standard but you can tell me that - would you say that you can have something in place or something you can consider to get your consultancy going once that period is over at your current company?
Karen: So I would give my company one month’s notice absolutely and train the person who will be taking over from me. In terms of a business name and marketing material absolutely not, I have nothing as yet. I suppose I have not quite reached that stage in my mind so it is something that I am considering and maybe after this phone call I will take the steps to do that, although it is not something that I have done just yet.
Merci: So what we are seeing now, or observing is direct communication, a really key competency of coaching. Our coach here is sharing observations, reflecting back, he has a sense of things, he is using his intuition. His comments and thoughts and feelings that he is expressing to the client are only with the purpose of helping this client learn and move forward. He is not attached to them being right. So I just wanted to point that out. Okay, resume.
Karen: So in terms of my action plan, I am glad that you put those thoughts forward to me because as I said I don’t think I have reached that stage as yet so now I will really have to sit down and think it through so what would my next steps be. How do I get from where I am to where I want to be?
Anthony Hadid: Great Karen, wonderful. I have another question for you. Given the current economic situation for you in Trinidad & Tobago would you say that going into this consultancy is somewhat of a risk, a small risk or a large risk? Because you and I both know that currently we are in the midst of a recession, so maybe you can reflect to me how you feel about that in terms of your timing. Some people think it may not be a bad thing if they are offering services that clients need to become more efficient. So tell me if you have any concerns about that at the moment?
Karen: So I understand that we are in a recession and I understand the impact that that can have and so on and certainly human resources tends to be one of the first things that gets cut in a budget but I still think that it is an integral component. I actually believe that I will be adequately placed because I will be able to offer a certainly quality of experience that companies may have engaged an agency for but I will be able to do it at a reduced price. Because I don’t have the overhead costs of an agency, I can go into these companies and I can say, listen if you want to have x, y and z and the quality still be a, b and c then you can still have that service but at a reduced rate. So I am not too concerned about the economy and the recession, I think it can actually work in my favour.
Anthony Hadid: That’s really good thinking Karen, I want to commend you for that because some people talk a lot about doom and gloom in recession but it sounds like you have thought this through and you have a creative solution because if a company does decide to cut their human resources staff, as you rightly point out you can’t do it without the human resources function so they will attempt to outsource on an as need basis and if you don’t have the overhead of an agency your fees can be very competitive so I want to commend you for that. You have thought that through very carefully and well done on your part.
Anthony Hadid: So let me ask you a question. If you were to flip a switch tomorrow what would it look like for you now working as a consultant? So pretend you are a consultant. How does that feel for you?
Karen: I feel free (laughs). I feel free, I feel happy and I feel that I have autonomy and I feel that am still able to do work and I am still able to contribute which is extremely important to me but I don’t have any rigidity, I don’t have anything imposed on me. So, I can still offer the solutions, I can still offer everything that I can offer now but on my own time and on my clients’ time as well. I think I will have more time to spend with my kids and you know what I wouldn’t feel as frustrated so my family life should be significantly better. I would feel more relaxed and comfortable and my family will get that from me as well. I know the greatest fear so to speak, the greatest risk is the financial security but I feel that right now I am more driven as though there is something inside of me that really wants a change and that is driving me beyond that financial fear so to speak.
Merci: So what I am observing now is awareness, creating awareness. The coach is again listening very intently and encouraging and using what I call ‘what if’ questions which I think expands the horizons and perspectives of people so the coach invites the client to think about what it might feel like if say tomorrow you started this. You are inviting the client to explore, maybe even think about something they haven’t thought about yet. You are inviting the client to consider what she would do with this new learning or this new plan that she has, creating awareness. So, thank you.
Anthony Hadid: So Karen that’s great, I am very happy to hear that, you sound very excited, you sound very energised by this option which is option C. So if you were to rate this option out of ten in terms of how you feel about it, what rating would you give that out of ten?
Karen: I would say about eight and a half or nine.
Anthony Hadid: That’s a nice high rating. Let’s go back to option A, which was to stay at your current company where you have the stability of the income and all the different benefits. How would you rate that now? If you were to think about staying with the company for the next year, getting up every morning, getting to work at eight, how does that feel out of ten?
Karen: That would feel I would say about a four.
Anthony Hadid: Really, well that is quite down there Karen.
Karen: Yeah it is.
Anthony Hadid: It sounds like it is also draining your energy. I don’t hear the same level of energy in your voice.
Karen: Correct. It is quite draining and it is something that I think I have been thinking about for around four to six months now. So it has been on my mind and I don’t feel the same level of drive and motivation as I did before and as I said I think that is just because I am at a different place in my life right now and I just want something else, something more.
Anthony Hadid: Let me ask one more question Karen. With regard to option B which was working for another company where you have the stability and maybe the benefits but maybe some more flexibility if they were to afford you that. If you were again tomorrow to wake up in a new company, full-time job, not a consultant, how would that feel? It is kind of nebulous because it depends on the company but if you had a bit more flexibility than your current company what would you rate that as?
Karen: I think that could probably go to a seven but I still feel that there is something within me that will be missing.
Anthony Hadid: Right. Am I right in saying that you are looking for some self-actualisation. You feel that you have garnered enough of a reputation and years of experience within the field of human resources that you really feel that you want to try this next phase which is seeing whether Karen can be a consultant on her own.
Karen: Definitely, definitely. I want to see what I can do for myself and if I fail I can always go back into a job, I am sure that will be simple enough for me to do but I have one life to life and I want to see how much further I can push myself and what I can do on my own accord.
Anthony Hadid: That is really good Karen, so you do have a what we can call Plan D, if Plan C doesn’t work out which is to go back to a full-time position and as you mention you have lots of experience and a good reputation and I want to commend you for already starting to build your own action plan because it is not about my action plan, it is about yours. So maybe Karen a good way for us to wrap up would be, between now and our next session that I reflect back to you the action that you might be willing to take and please correct me if I am wrong here. One would be for you to start putting together some items for you to become a consultant, whether that is a company name or some business cards or maybe a social media presence. Is that something you think you can do between now and our next call or at least start that process?
Karen: I can start thinking about it yet. I think coming up with a name will probably be the hardest thing for me to do. I even find it hard to name my dogs so naming a company is going to be a big deal! But yes certainly it is something that now I am able to say I have a strategy or something to think about because I never thought about these things. So yes, certainly between now and our next session I can start thinking of a name, maybe write some options on paper.
Anthony Hadid: Wonderful and what about for example a social media presence. Do you maybe have a Facebook page that maybe you can start advertising your services on?
Karen: Right, yes I do have a Facebook page so I will have to learn how to do that, advertise on Facebook (laughs) but yes that is something else that I can do.
Anthony Hadid: Wonderful. And in terms of then possibly preparing your letter of resignation if that is something you are ready to do because if you want to give your company a month’s notice you will have to officially resign and so on. So are you prepared to do that yet?
Karen: I am prepared to write the letter of resignation but perhaps not date it as yet.
Anthony Hadid: Okay, that’s good, so I commend you for that. Trying to crystalize the process of moving from the one option to the other option.
Merci: Thank you. We are at the end of our session and so what I would like to do is note one important competency. Let me ask our coach what he noticed by the way of observing his coaching and the competencies. Towards the end there Anthony was helping the client to design actions – some people believe coaching is all about action – and so here we see the beginning of taking that awareness and moving it into a plan. So the coach invites the client to explore progress. What would that look like? Where are you now? Where would you like to be? He assists the client in designing what actions or thinking about what would keep this momentum going after the call, like writing that resignation letter. So we have designing action and we move into planning and goal setting. So, nicely done Anthony.
What else did you observe by way of the competencies?
Anthony Hadid: Well I think Merci for myself, also trying to see where the client is at in terms of their own self-actualisation. That is something that I feel a lot of clients don’t seem to be put their finger on and I think with Karen I was sensing that there was something a lot deeper than just financial flexibility and so I think that I was sort of listening to the deeper desire within her for that self-actualisation.
Merci: Very good. We commonly say this in coaching, that we are coaching the who, not the what. Meaning who is this person in this situation. So we don’t talk about the just the resume. You know there were a couple of times Anthony where you used the word feeling and I think that is significant, even in something like a career path. How we feel about it, how we see and perceive it is often what a coach is looking for and that creates awareness. Well thank you Karen for being an excellent example of how coaching works today.
About Anthony Hadeed
Anthony Hadeed is a Career and Life Coach who is results-oriented, enthusiastic, and hands-on, with a successful record in motivating others to achieve their true potential and to discover their purpose in life.
Specialties: Career Coaching, Life Coaching, Executive Coaching, Workshops, Mediation, Strategic Consulting
Lives: Trinidad and Tobago
Graduated: February 2015
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To find out more about Anthony, visit https://yourlifepurpose.com/author/ylpltd/