Alternatively, conversation with a client using the chart provided in Appendix A may be useful method of determining the client’s type without having to use a formal assessment. Noticing the way that a person expresses themselves will often provide clues to their preferences, as well. Someone whose conscious state is triggered by auditory input is likely to say “I hear what you mean” when grasping a new concept. Someone whose beta state is triggered visually is more likely to say “I see what you mean” in a similar situation, while someone whose beta state is triggered kinesthetically might say “I get it” or “That resonates with me.”
As with any type of assessment, it is important to remember that there is a variation even within each type, and every one of us is unique. This model is a general guide to both the coach and the client to help with designing the best methods, language, and tools to use in any situation depending on the state of consciousness that might be most helpful to access for a given purpose. As coaches, it is easy to default to language and tools that best meet our own style of thinking, so keeping this awareness that other people may experience the world in different ways that we do allows us to expand our available options to ensure that we are giving each client what they need to access the information they need without a prejudice toward our own style of knowing.
Conclusion
Learning is a critical part of the coaching process for the client, but much of the learning that takes place during coaching requires actively accessing the subconscious and unconscious mind where reflection, intuition, connection, processing, and imagination take place. By using a tool like Markova’s Open Mind model to understand the ways that the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious states are triggered for a given client gives the coach the ability to choose or design tools, methods, language, or action steps that best assist the client in reaching a place where transformational learning can take place.
Although Markova’s book is out of print and her work is not widely known, her model is one that is easy for coaches and clients to understand and use in order to deepen the coaching experience in a way that is tailored to each individual client. This paper has provided rationale for why this model would be useful in the coaching process and has provided tools to help coaches get started in the use of this tool.
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Appendix A: Triggers to States of Consciousness
This chart is adapted from Markova’s book (1987, p. 59).