Reality
This stage is about the client looking at their situation and becoming aware of the inner reality of how they got there. It is also about questioning and challenging where they are, what has worked so far and what hasn’t.
Like the light going through the prism, this stage of the process, probes deep into the emotions, feelings, intuition and unknown layers of the client’s psyche. The coach with his / her expertise can use this stage to get into the heart of the matter and raise the client’s awareness about their values, priorities and beliefs.
The reality check can be done by the coach by asking:
Insight & Initiatives
Once the reality has been established, understood and accepted, the Coach needs to support the client to go deeper and search inward for answers to the present situation being faced by them.
During this stage, the coach can also use various tools like visualisation, role playing and the pertinent power tool to make the client aware of his / her inner self.
Once the client is able to get some insight about the situation under discussion, he / she needs to be probed on what initiative they may want to take to handle the same.
Since coaching is all about the client, at this stage the coach needs to be extremely careful about not being judgemental or biased about what is being shared. In case the client is not interested in looking at initiatives at this stage but would like to reflect on the insights gained, the coach needs to be open enough to allow that.
Shifting state (reframing perspectives)
The insights that are gained at the earlier stage can be further reinforced by probing the client on what he/she would like to do next ? Powerful questioning and listening is the key here to support and guide the client to be able to shift their current state of reality to that of a more acceptable and positive one. The coach needs to be extremely positive and maintain energy at this stage especially if the client is in a negative mode.
Questions that can be used here are:
- What could you do differently?
- Who do you know who has encountered a similar situation?
- Give me 5 options.
- If anything was possible what would you do?
- What else?
Manage / Monitor
Once the client is clear about what changes they would like to bring about in their current situation, the coach needs to support them to manage their action plan and help them monitor the progress of the same.
The questions that can be asked here are:
In conclusion, coaching is all about helping the client fulfill their personal and professional goals through a process of inward self discovery. The P-R-I-S-M model of coaching, through its focus on strengthening the client’s inner light, aims to do just that !!