Coaching Case Study By Richard Low
(Career Coach, SINGAPORE)
I had a coachee whom wanted to be coached on her work life balance.
She is working long hours and staying far away from her home.
She has problem keeping up with her boss high demand of work perfectionism.
On the other hand, she is worried about her young kid, being usually alone at home, after school.
Her kid needs her supervision in the schoolwork and meals.
Her kid does nothing during her absent, usually ending up sleeping.
Thus lacking behind in studies.
She hopes, her kid will be like her able to go into a top USA university, in a few years’ time.
Coaching: Core problem – The start to unravel coachee’s inner self –
1stI checked with her permission if we could breakdown this need of her “work life balance” into two parts: – Being work & life. Which she would like to be coach 1st.
2nd, the reason being to untangle the swing seesaw and having a ground to touch with reality.
3rdly, breaking up into smaller part, usually the client makes their realization better, rather than have swinging 2faces with no clearer idea.
The client agreed to be coach on her life balance 1st.
Coaching: coachable?–working on to understand if solution can be obtained –
From above client’s agreement, the client looks to her family happiness 1st.
This is not a judgemental process, because the client is still coachable as she is normal. Her thinking is still human as any mother and we will not end up having to be consulted, mentor or therapy.
My next question was; Describe what was her ideal child should be?
The whole idea of the above question was to make the reflection on the following:
- Was her expectation too high?
- Was she feeling sore about herself, thus putting her dreams into her child?
- Was her child unable to cope like she is at work?
With this question, client did reflect &realised the impact she had put her kid in, after she told me of her dream on her kid and was she too hush over her.
Coaching: what is up next–steps to help client unlock her strength –
How can you use your passed experience to share with your kid, to make her realized her potential?
This is to get the client to think, with her experience, how she herself gains her skills and knowledge to be working and mother now.
Getting the client to use her experience to draw up steps to guide her child.
As a coach, we open the door for the client to realized that she had been there, done that and gain from her passed may it be wrong or right she now knows what is weakness and strength. Therefore, the client may tap on the strength she had to guide her child now.
Coaching: how is breaking up? –Steps to break up for great clarification –
Usually, when client is in trouble, they not only have a very dark cloud covering them up. Things are simply very gloomy and darken within.
Opening things and ideas step by step, would be the ideal step to follow. Because client, can see where they are going, without the worrying of falling over. Break then into bit size steps to walk the client, down or up. Make them realized that you are with them all the way to prioritise their route to clear their worries.
Coaching: concluding the day–what is the takeaway and homework to do –
Upon the last 10 minutes, address the takeaway of the session, to recap the problem, questioning, the solution and finally all the answers.
However, that is not all. The client may add on their solution, by looking at alternative, from their own reflection or their surroundings.
Note:
This above case may sound simple in writing a coaching case. However, because, we are to listen 80% of the time and only asking question 20%. On top of all these, clients’ cases are all strictly confidential, as in the ICF Code of Ethics. Thus, only key points are elaborated here.
In this case, the whole idea is to get the client to open up, reflect and realized their own strength to solve the problems, in a systematically secured coaching.
Many a time, client know the answer, however, they need someone to help them affirmed their solution and listen to her worries. As coaches, we work on the client’s needs and ability.
The step in taking to help this client is to let her understand that, she has to be realistic and know what she wants to solve.
The first question, every coach, need to find out is whether this coachee is coachable. We have advised client that we do not mentor, give neither consultation nor therapy. Build point, which is the better solution for her and a trust, from there, after we create the understanding.
Then, we move on to ask the client to reflect her vision of her wants, for this case, her kid result. Such so that she can see the obstacle ahead.
With the obstacle, how can she overcome each of them, one at a time, to reach the goal.
All these using her own method, but with our coaching questioning to break down obstacle and mind set.
Finally yet importantly, the coach may set recovery for the client from the takeaway.
That is to say, after the coachee tells the coach her take away from the coaching, encourage the coachee to enhance or repeat the coached process to solve the problem.
This case was actually held with much resilience from the coachee during the coaching session. However, after 1 1/2weeks. The coachee, called and told me, she found another job, nearer to her house.
I congratulated her, for being able to breakthrough to find the solution to get her wants to her future.
