A Coaching Model Created by David Braun
(Executive Coach, CANADA)
The F.I.R.E. Impact Coaching Model
The fire has been fundamental to human survival over the last few millennia. For ancient humankind, the use and control of fire brought relief to basic needs of protection, provision, belonging, and significance of individuals and communities as described below:
Protection: fire acted as a means to ward off predators of the night, as well as providing a means for building weapons and tools for hunting;
Provision: the fire was used as a means to cook and dry foods;
Belonging: fire facilitated a gathering point for communities to eat, fellowship, and share oral histories and culture;
Significance: fire enabled people to create pottery and religious artifacts for community worship.
Having refined the art of using heat and fire, modern humans now power cities with millions of inhabitants, daily transport millions of pounds of cargo across oceans and power rocket ships into space and beyond. How amazing it is what can be accomplished when we understand how to control and harness the power of fire.
Our mindset is like a fire. Our feelings, thoughts, and actions collectively make up our mindset. The mindset we live from can be constructive or destructive in helping us make a powerful impact in life. Although each of us has the potential for living impactful, we often settle for less. When our actions, emotions, and thoughts rage out of control, we or others around us get burnt. Similarly, when our mindset lacks passion, our impact smolders, growing into cold mediocrity.
My goal is to help you make the impact you were designed to make in your leadership. When you embark on your coaching journey with me, it will be our first task to learn what your mindset has been. Through the coaching process, I will support you by using a fire metaphor called the Impact F.I.R.E. model.
F = Focusing Your Intention
The starting point for the productive use of any fire is knowing what you want the fire for—it’s purpose. What is your intention? Understanding the purpose and intention enable us to reflect on the type of impact we’ve had in the past. It also helps us clarify how to define our intention so we can assure our values are aligned.
Questions at this Stage:
I = Igniting Your Mindset
For a fire to burn successfully, it requires three ingredients simultaneously present—oxygen, heat, and fuel. Similarly, every impactful intention requires three key ingredients to be successful. These mindset ingredients are—thoughts, feelings, and actions. The type of impact we have directly related to the type of thoughts, feelings, and actions we choose about our intention. Similar to igniting a fire, all three ingredients—actions, feelings, and thoughts must be present for our intentions to be fully realized. The content and quality of our thoughts, emotions, and actions directly influence our intended purpose and goals.
Questions at this Stage:
R = Refreshing& Refueling
Enjoying a well-built fire is relaxing and enjoyable, facilitating hours of laughter and enjoyment. However, the dancing flames, the crackle of the wood, the glow of embers, and the warmth of the flames can be mesmerizing. If our fire is not attended to, refueled with dry wood, refreshed by stirring embers, it will eventually die. Similarly, over time, life situations or distractions can smother, dampen, and choke our intentions for impact. We must refresh our thoughts, feelings, and actions to align with our chosen intentions.
Questions at this Stage:
E = Evaluating& Evolving Your Impact
There are many beneficial results of fire we enjoy in our lives: from warming us by a campfire, nurturing with an enjoyable cup of hot chocolate to helping us drive our vehicles to work.
At this stage, we must evaluate the impact of our intentions. As we examine our results, we may find there is more work to be done or through accomplishing our intentions, new intentions are growing. On the other hand, we may find the results we’ve accomplished satisfies our intentions. When our fire is burning bright, it brings greater light and warmth, enabling us to move forward, experiences our intentions, and possibly grows new intentions.
Questions at this Stage:
Everyone has an impact on potential. Whether strengthening a relationship, building an idea, solving a business problem, or improving a life circumstance, all intentions require a process to fire up and maintain resources toward accomplishing a goal. When you engage my coaching process, you will find greater clarity of your values and beliefs. You will experience support as you learn how to maintain the right mindset to help bring your fullest impact.
References:
1) Image 1, 2 – taken from Pixabay
2) Control of Fire by Early Humans.
6) Image 3 – the Cognitive Triangle