Good coaches support their clients through really listening, without judgement or predefined idea’s of what is right for the client, our coaches have a genuine curiosity and enjoy supporting the client to explore their own needs rather than the needs of the clients loved one’s or colleagues.  That’s not to say what the people around us don’t have a bearing on what we might choose to do with our lives, but in order to really help a client a coach needs to support the client in finding his/her dreams, not those of other people!

Often clients develop idea’s and solutions extremely quickly when being actively listened to, their thoughts and ideas are being supported, they are not being interrupted or criticised so it gives the client freedom to explore all possible options.

Good coaches ask key questions to enable the client to deepen self awareness and self empowerment.   The coach will help the client bring to the fore his/her own wisdom and inspiration as well as helping identify strengths and weaknesses as a precursor to developing a successful strategy.  Self awareness is a core component of Emotional Intelligence, widely regarded as a key indicator to likely success in work, life and play!

Good coaches provide accountability; the client decides what action they will take, and the time the client will complete these action steps.  On the completion date the coach simply asks them what the results are of the action plan.  Knowing that your coach is going to ask you what progress you’ve made can be a great motivator in itself! 

Success first time is not necessarily the key to growth and achievement.  Not having a goal completed by the completion date is a great opportunity for the client to learn and the coach facilitates the learning, by again asking key questions to find out: Was it a realistic goal?  Was it really what the client wanted to do, or just what they felt they “should” do?  Is this goal still something the client wants to achieve?  Does the client need to develop their time management/delegation/assertiveness skills?  There are many different causes of not achieving goals, when working with a coach you will be able to identify those causes which hold you back, and to develop successful strategies and skills to achieve their goals!        

The coach also uses a variety of tools to facilitate the clients personal growth, including assessments of how satisfied the client is with his/her life.  When starting out on a journey it is vital to know where you are now before you can begin to plan your route. For example travelling to Dublin when you’re in Dubai is a completely different prospect than travelling from Cork to Dublin, despite the destination being the same.  Usually a first session will include the Wheel of Life in which the client assessing his/her own satisfaction in various areas of their lives, this is a snapshot of where the client is at now, ie where they are travelling from.

An experience Life Coach will be able to draw from a wide range of material from the personal development field, and be able to suggest material that best suits you.