The CLEAR Coaching Model

A Coaching Model By Marcela Bubnikova, Life Coach, SWITZERLAND

Step of the CLEAR Model in the Coaching Session

In this paper, I will describe a coaching model named CLEAR, which originally was developed by Peter Hawkins in the early 1980s. The reason why I have chosen and evolved this model is the clarity and simplicity. Each letter of the word CLEAR indicates one step of the coaching session, which could lead to helping a coachee to gain insights and awareness, understanding and exploring underlying beliefs and biases, which could allow a coachee to develop a plan tailored to their needs and values. I will discuss each step of the CLEAR model, what could be the benefit and advantages and I will add a list of questions, which could be used. 

Coaching model CLEAR

Clear Outcome

At the beginning of the session coach and coachee aim to establish the purpose of the session. They both work together to come to the CLEAR goal of the session. The coach can challenge the first coachee´s idea and ask more questions to touch on the deeper hidden desires of a coachee. The importance of this step is that According to scientise the mind is fundamentally goal-oriented, predicting what comes next. Therefore, to help a client to achieve their goals it’s imperative to establish a CLEAR goal.

• What is the aim of our session/conversation?
• What do you want to focus on?
• What would be the best outcome of our conversation?
• What do you want to achieve?

Look

In the second step of the Clear model, a coach and a client map out the situation and look at the coachee’s situation in a wider context. In this step is crucial that a coach Lisen actively. A coach should heed both the content and the form of clients of client’s speech.

• Content 

Coach actively listens to the coachee´s problem and looks up to cognitive patterns, and underlying beliefs, what matters most for a coachee, and what is significant about the CLEAR goal for a coachee. 

• Form

Coach actively observed non-verbal clues such as facial expressions, gestures, and paralinguistics. Non-verbal language brings additional information about a coachee´s situation. This could be a crucial time for a coach because it can boost the process of coaching and go deeper in thinking patter or connecting with deeper feelings or emotions when a coach shares their observation with a client.     

                       The questions for the coach to be bearded in the mind

• What do I hear?
• When the voice goes up and down?
• When the coachee hesitates, pauses, go faster/slower in speech?
• How coachee´s body language change?
• What does the coachee´s body posture look like?
• What coachee does with their hands?
• What is the coachee’s facial expression?
• What word or phare has been reaped?

Explore

The third step of the model prompts a coach to fully engage with the coachee in their thinking and feelings. This is a great time to unite with a coachee and discuss the goal of the session from various perspectives, which could result in increased awareness of the client’s underlying beliefs and biases. 

• What is XY?
• What does XY mean?
• What is the impact of XY?
• What do you think about that?
• What else is it about?
• How do you feel about that?
• What stays in the way?
• What makes it a challenge for you?

Allow Making a Change

At this point, a coachee is ready to ALLOW making change happen and develop a plan step by step to reach their goal. After exploring the object of the session from a different perspective and gaining new insights about it, it’s the best time for a coachee to move from “thinking mode” to “doing mode”. The coachee allows their creativity to come alive to set up a plan to reach their goal.

• What can you do now?
• What are the opportunities?
• What can get in the way?
• How could you know that this is the best opinion?
• What can increase your chance of success?
• What steps can you take?
• What are the easiest steps you can take? (following question – what is making this step easy for you?)
• What is the most difficult step you can take? (following questions- what is making this step difficult for you?)
• What can help you to follow your plan?
• What can help you to stay committed to your actions/ plan?
• When will you do XY?
• How much time do you need for this?
• By when do you want to have this done?
• On a scale from one to ten how sure you are that you will follow your plan?

Reflection

In the last step a coach focus on the progress that has been made in the session. A coach comes back to the goal, which has been set up in the clear-cut outcome, and asks the coachee how they feel or what they think about their goal at this time. This is a great opportunity for both the coachee and coach to examine what progress has been made throughout the session and what the coachee can do to implement the steps of the plan.

• What is your takeout from this session?
• What have you learned in this session about yourself, your issue/matter/ topic/ goal?
• What did you get out in terms of our conversation? 
• What new insights did you obtain?
• What do you know now about your issue that you did not know before?
• What has changed in this session for you?

References

The Clear Model
What Is the Clear Model?
The Heart of Laser-Focused Coaching: A Revolutionary Approach to Masterful Coaching, Marion Franklin, 2019
Coach the Person, Not the Problem: A Guide to Using Reflective Inquiry, Marcia Reynolds, 2020