BUILDING THE COACHING AGENDA AND PRINCIPLES
The Visionary Coaching have comprised a 6-steps works in:
- engage their inborn talents and acknowledge their individuality,
- tap into their unique style, aspirations and characteristics,
- set the right direction to maximize their strengths,
- develop vision, explore possibilities and shift perspectives,
- identify the support and structure they need, and
- help them develop and activate their visionary plan.
There are 5 essential principles, which help client to feel empowered on fulfilling their vision by creating the changes:
Core Principle #1: Inherited Talent
Core Principle #2: Focus on Strength
Core Principle #3: Possibility and Positivity
Core Principle #4: Active Listening (Identify the crossroad)
Core Principle #5: Powerful Questioning (Envision the passion)
THE VISIONARY COACHING STRATEGY
The processes of envisioning goal and visualizing pathway intend to create a “A-ha” moment when the clients transform their perspectives and see the possibilities after discovering the area of improving learnt from self-discovery survey. It also serves to illustrate the applicability of a “Wheel of Life” before Coaching Sessions. The coach asked about clients’ personal desires, the things clients liked to do and wished they had more time for defining who they want to be as well as their life plan.
LEARNING FROM THE WHEEL OF LIFE
Clients in this study are required to rate the elements representing the balance of their lives in the perimeter of the circle – “The Wheel of Life”, which help clients illustrate their true insights and learn about the perspective on their life. It’s a good foundation of exploring the possibilities of creating the dreams. In most cases, it shows a bumpy ride of their life due to the lowest satisfaction of “WEALTH and MONEY” (average 6.21 score out of 10). Interestingly, none of the clients in this study has the plan to develop the changes on improving their wealth.
THE ALIGNMENT OF HEAD, HEARAT AND GUTS
The coaching processes help clients to explore their strengths, personalities, actions plan, inspiration, and accountability they need to excel in order to reach greater levels of success. After that, the coach encourages the conversation happened between their Head, Heart and Gut, and build a strategic alignment after dialogues.
Head way:
Thinking rationally, evaluating and choosing what you logically think is correct
Heart way:
Using more feeling, liking, emotion in choice, taking a call on what you feel is good for you
Gut way:
What would someone, who is fearless, do about this?
It is a valuable process for transforming their perspective and leading the changes. The Visionary Coaching applied Visualization and Envisioning skills to align the relationship between Head, Heart and Guts. We found that Gut has the lowest awareness among these three ways. Very often, we heard our clients say: “my gut is missing”, “my gut is not functioning for a long time”, or “I cannot find my gut” … which are the major obstacles of commitment to change. The root caused of low awareness of gut normally related to aging mindset, lack of resources, concern for money, less flexibility of time, low intention and motivation, trying not commitment, least priority, low self-confidence and urgency of changes.
THE LEARNING OF VISIONARY COACHING PROGRAM
Learning generated from the fusion of art of science – Visionary Coaching:
Clients have provided the feedbacks that Dermatoglyphic Multiple Intelligence generated 70-80% reliability on their potentials and personalities compared to the other tests they have learnt before.
The 5 different bird types have a high credibility associated with clients’ leadership style and spiritual characteristics. It also gained a low resistance of visualizing the possibilities from the birds’ view.
Averaged score of different attributes learnt from “The Wheel of Life” is 7. The participants most satisfied about their family & relationship and least satisfied about their wealth and money.
It’s good to discover the potential, exploring the strengths and call upon their best self as the start of coaching, which help clients to feel safe in the discussion and easier to open op their imagination.
The value of visionary coaching encourages clients to develop “what do I believe”, “what to be worth” and create the goal and milestones for changes.
Visualization is a technique to creating a motivating view of the future, helping to shift the perceptions to create the aspiration idea, developing future mapping, and prioritizing and the actions.
A metaphor, a type of analogy, is a technique based on the tangible and familiar subjects (eg: birds’ view, Lego plays, 5 senses) can help describe something that is intangible and unfamiliar to expand and generate new concepts, finding solutions with free flow of ideas under an open mind sharing environment.
Meditation is a creative thinking to bring about a feeling of euphoria, which is the powerful tool to create the image of desired future and focus on the end point of journey.
Creating a safe space and trust the process of coaching is the successful factor for visionary coaching. Clients feel more comfortable to illustrate the visuals from the artwork of Lego bricks, explain different bird types and vision board, comparing to talk about themselves, their desires or intentions.
Once we become aware of who we are then we can take action to create the changes that we want. With each new moment of awareness of who we are and how we think comes an action to follow. Action = Change
REFERENCE
Smith, Mark K. (2002, 2008) 'Howard Gardner and multiple intelligences', the encyclopedia of informal education, http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm.
Lowe, Tamara. Get Motivated: Overcome any obstacle, achieve any goal, and accelerate your success with motivational DNA, Doubleday, USA (2009), P34-43
Cholle, Francis P. The Intuitive Compass: why the best decisions balance reach and instinct. San Francisco, CA: A Wiley Imprint, 2012, P19
Byham, William C, Smith Audrey B, Paese, Matthew J: Grow Your Own Leaders. Prentice-Hall, NJ, 2002, P179
Harkavy Daniel, Becoming a Coaching Leader: The Proven Strategy for Building Your Own Team of Champions, Tomas Nelson Inc California, 2007, P48.
“The Wheel of Life” survey, International Coaching Academy, 2012
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The journey of writing “Power up Strengths Compass toward Visionary” has been encouraged and supported by so many ICA teachers, coaches and friends. My special thanks go to Brain Space Consultant Corporation, Ltd., who provided 30 BGDE samples for my clients to explore their potentials as the starting of this study. With constant stimulation, diligence and supports from their teams located in Beijing, Taipei, Kaosung and KL, we explored the possibilities by linking brain assessment with visionary coaching for leadership. Thank you for your supports and friendship from Yu-Hsing Lien, Ya-Ping Chueh, Ya-Hui Chueh, Chris Chang, Hwaking Chong, Monica Guo, Johjon Chen, Sanford Yan, Kobe Hu, Hwa King Chong, Cheng Yeap Hock and all the clients participated in this case study across Asia Pacific countries.