The RIVER Coaching Model
The RIVER model of Coaching comprises 5 stages, viz.,
Review
Introspect
eValuate
Enlighten
Re-dedicate
The 5 Stages of the RIVER Model are explained below:
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Review
This is the stage where a Coach helps his Client Review his situation, identify the issue he would like to work upon and also determine the yardstick by which his Client could assess whether or not the desired outcome has been achieved. The Coach should encourage his Client to define the outcome as clearly as possible so that the Client is readily able to grasp that the outcome has been achieved. The Coach should also help his Client identify, whether the outcome is only that of his Client (usually it is not) or there is an outcome that people around his Client would also like to see as a result of Coaching.
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Introspect
The Coach helps his Client Introspect and identify options available (which resonate with the Client’s value systems and beliefs) to achieve the outcome that his Client is targeting. During this stage the Coach would also encourage his Client to visualise how far away he (the Client) is from the desired outcome. Apart from setting the context to address the issue it also sets the expectations of the length / duration of the journey and hence time needed to achieve the outcome. The Coach should also encourage his Client to “think out of the box” and explore options that are spontaneous.
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eValuate
During this Stage, the primary focus is to partner with the Client to eValuate options identified. The Coach should also support his Client in identifying obstacles that are likely to be encountered and how they can be overcome. If there are small and very initial steps that the Client may already have taken (unknowingly?) the Coach should help the Client identify them and should acknowledge and celebrate these as a success, thus boosting the Client’s self confidence and belief in himself. The effect of such an action is like a boulder, rolling along a river, hitting another obstacle, breaking it away from its moorings and allowing the obstacle to be swept along with the current of flowing water.
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Enlighten
This is the stage where the Coach encourages the Client to move forward and select his most preferred option. The Coach should also help the Client understand why he (the Client) is choosing this option. Once after the option for future action has been determined, the Coach needs to ensure that his Client finalises and progresses with action steps. The Coach should constructively encourage right brain thinking so that the preferred course of action and action steps are not submerged under the burden of deliberate thought. The more creative and spontaneous the solution path, or the Enlightened path, the more likely it is to succeed. This is based on the premise that a Client, on his own, would have tried options that he is familiar with, but without success. Only after his initial efforts would a Client seek out an expert (the Coach) to help him resolve the issue.
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Re-dedicate
After the Client has identified his solution set and outlined the steps he would take, the Coach must energise his Client to gird up his loins to go ahead with the plan to implement the steps that have been outlined by the Client.
This is the effort of Re-dedicating oneself to the outcome that had been identified in the first stage and needs to be carried through.
During this stage the Coach should endeavour to periodically enquire what has improved now from what it was before the journey started. The Coach should take care to ensure that this interaction doesn’t only become a narrative to confirm that agreed action steps have been taken. The effort of the Coach should be directed more to help the Client identify if things are moving in the right direction.
If need be, the Coach could help the Client go back to the Review stage to reassess whether what was stated as the outcome to be achieved has actually been achieved or if it warrants going through another cycle.
Continuing with the simile of a River that I have been using – this is like most of the river water having reached the ocean stays there and only a small part evaporates to re-start its journey. Similarly, only a small part (occasionally) needs to go back to the Review stage and reassess whether the outcome that one set out to achieve has been achieved. If not then the journey starts again.