A Coaching Model Created by Anne Lise Saint Gerand
(Business Coach, GERMANY)
Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement. Golda Meir
I come from a long, very long experience in the corporate world where I was proudly trained to identify issues, find root causes, and fix them… Fix one and find another one! The team would put in place corrective actions and preventive action as part of a continuous improvement program monitored with Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that are, as you all know, red yellow, or green. The traffic lights of the well-controlled work life. We identify gaps; we spend time in filling the gaps and improving our weaknesses.
I am still proud of my problem-solving abilities!. Yet, I did not realize that I was focusing on issues all the time. Gaps became my universe and filling gaps in my value.
Yet, did I even consider the other way around: Examine what are our strengths in hand to see one opportunity, to breathe opportunities, and to become light, full of energy able to fly toward a dream destination?
I experimented with this feeling in my work environment first inspired by the Appreciative Inquiry module. I decided that it would be an integral part of my coaching model.
As a leader and a coach, I am interested in self-management and team-management studying the energy cycle of self-motivation/ team motivation. I applied the process described below to myself with the help of peer coaches. I felt the energy and want to support you explore the power of the SPARKS!
Sparks: the trigger, the small flash of energy that makes you start the journey!
You are considering coaching with a topic in mind. You made the first very important step toward finding solutions tailored to who you are. I will listen attentively, ask a few questions make observations, and with your permission gently challenge your thinking process. That will help you become conscious of your drivers, learn, and move forward.
At first, you will define the goal you wish to attain: where are you looking at? How does the final destination look like and step by step the goal of each of the coaching sessions?
Build on Strengths
To save energy along the way, you will be using your strong points to best travel to the destination. You may experience that it brings you natural energy for a powerful and fully eco-friendly journey fueled by your strengths!
Some of the first questions that you may reflect on:
Pair
Coaching works based on a strong partnership between you and me. It is a journey as we said previously, sometimes a bumpy road, as with your permission I may challenge your thinking process, your perspectives so that you may discover the situation from a different angle suddenly lighting the road with possibilities.
You are in charge of the path to the destination. Rest assured, this path is safe, built in a trusting environment. I am operating strictly in line with the rules defined by the International Coaching Federation ( ICF) in our coaching of code of ethics.
What is said during the coaching time remains strictly confidential?
Some of the questions that you may consider for this stage
Awareness
As the journey progresses I will listen attentively, ask questions, and make observations that will support you to becoming conscious of what you most probably knew all the way. Gaining this new awareness is the cornerstone of the journey and the true beginning of the forward movement. You will transform awareness into learnings … and learnings into actions!
A few questions that may pop up during this stage of the journey
Results
As soon as the Action plan is well-established and put in place, you will see tangible results.
Putting actions in place means being committed and accountable for success.
Some of the questions that may come at this stage:
You realized most probably by now, that you will do most of the actual work.
You are an actor on your journey.
Kindle
The small victories resulting from the actions will kindle energy within to move toward the bigger goal and eventually reach it even bigger or brighter, certainly stronger as the action plan designed is fit to who you are.
As the actions are based on the knowledge you have of your strength you have been able to move in an environment-friendly way… saving efforts and daring to be authentic, in line with yourself.
Some questions again:
And guess what the newfound kindle may spark a new beginning… ready to
Build on strengths
This is a fulfilling cycle. Start a new journey and celebrate the new Strengths found on the way
I spent a long part of my professional life in Asia. In this part of the world, time is not linear. Time is a cycle. You come back richer, stronger, and ready for a new adventure.
You will have experienced this journey ready to build further on your strengths, mobilize them, kindle a new spark and start the engine again toward another goal and will know how to get there….
References:
Appreciative Inquiry ICA module
