A Coaching Model Created by Gretel Lampe
(Executive Coach, UNITED STATES)
Introduction
Each one of us is unique …
Uniqueness(meaning)
“the quality of being unlike anything else of its kind”
“the quality of being unequaled, incomparable, or unusual”
“the quality of being particularly remarkable, special or unusual”
“where something or someone is unlike anything else in comparison”
We are all made so very differently, and it is in this uniqueness wherein lies our strength and our value. Coaching powerfully supports this journey of discovering our magic.
This coaching model holds the uniqueness of the client at its center.
The 5C’s of this model: Curiosity, Communication, Care, Courage, and Commitment, provide opportunities to discover, explore and celebrate this uniqueness of a client. Through partnering with a client, a coach can support their client to increase their awareness, all the time being guided by this framework.
I have found this Coaching Model to be useful as an approach from the coach’s perspective, from the client’s perspective, as well as a framework either for a single coaching session or for a series of coaching sessions.
Let’s first consider the approach of the coach through the lens of these 5 C’s:
Curiosity
Listen with an open mind.
The mindset of curiosity in a coach offers the opportunity for exploration to go deeper into a topic and even beyond a topic to move a client forward or enable them to become unstuck.
Some of what the client could be supported to discover and explore:
Communication
Listen and observe.
Here the attention of the coach can be brought to what is said and how, what is not said, as well as what is communicated through body language.
Some things to notice here:
Noticing any of these can identify opportunities for creating awareness for further exploration.
Care
Listen with an open heart.
For a coach to show up with care offers the opportunity to be intentional about the space they create. Together with empathy and compassion, this space of care will create a trusted space where a client can feel safe. It is also impactful to the coaching process for the coach to hear what the client really wants and to meet the client where they are in the moment.
What this creates for coach and client:
Courage
Listen to your gut.
To create opportunities for development and sustainable change in a client, the coach can gently share observations, intuitions, and acknowledgments around the who of the client, with no attachment to the outcome.
Here are some areas of focus in which to observe where the client shows up and what could be holding them back:
This approach encourages and supports the client to create awareness by:
Commitment
Listen and align.
For both coach and client, commitment to the growth of the client in and beyond the coaching sessions is essential for sustainable change. It is therefore necessary for every coaching conversation to connect on what feels useful for the client to do between sessions.
This creates the opportunity for coach and client:
The ideal is when an action plan supports the client to become more of who they are as they work towards their goal and ultimately to their overall growth.
Taking these 5 C’s a step further:
Consider their role in the personal development journey of a client as they discover more and more of who they are:
Each of these C’s can be considered, both inwards as the client make sense of these aspects for themselves, as well as outwards towards others, their context, and the environment as the client makes sense of themselves in the relationship.
With the focus on the uniqueness of a client, this model creates the opportunity for clients to consider and explore certain questions reflecting on themselves, as well as reflecting in the relationship, as they journey and grow in awareness and as they look at how they want to show up for themselves and others. Possible questions for clients to ponder …
Framework for A Single Coaching Session or A Series of Sessions
These 5 C’s – Curiosity, Communication, Care, Courage, Commitment – can form the framework for a single coaching session, or they can form a structure for a series of coaching sessions where time is spent focusing on each “C”. The number of sessions on each can vary according to the needs of the client.
Whether you are holding a coaching conversation as a single session or as part of a series of sessions, always enter with curiosity and close having established clarity around learnings, insights, and actions to support continued commitment towards positive sustainable change for the client.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniqueness
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/uniqueness
https://coachfederation.org/app/uploads/2019/11/ICFCompetencyModel_Oct2019.pdf
https://covisioning.com/discomfort-zone-training-support/