Coaching Model: SPACE

A Coaching Model Created by Iani Bacula
(Life/Transformational Coach, ROMANIA)

The rocket shaped model that empowers achievement

Before coaching begins, there is a strong requirement for rapport and a connection between the coach and the client. It is the propellant that the model runs on. Without it the rocket ship simply will not start. People communicate better when they feel comfortable with each other, especially when a connection is established. The connection is like a two sided coin. On one side it is essential for the client to feel safe, comfortable and to be able to open up effectively in a coaching session. On the other side this is also very important for the coach in order to best serve their clients.

The SPACE model is like taking a virtual journey, from the bottom to the top, of the interior of a rocket ship. The client is the astronaut climbing up the rocket ship, to the cockpit preparing for launch with assistance from the coach in the Launch Control Tower. For the client, a great coaching session can resemble what an astronaut feels at a shuttle launch. As Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield describes:

Launch is immensely powerful,…like riding an enormous wave,…The vehicle shakes and vibrates, and you are pinned hard down into your seat by the acceleration,.. until suddenly,  the engine shuts off and you are instantly weightless.

Here is the journey in more detail:

Success

We start our journey at the bottom of the rocket ship and go through the main engine which is cone shaped.  It has a large opening at the bottom and we have to move divergently and deeper towards the smaller opening at the top.

This is where the client begins with the End Success or Outcome, which is at surface level and fairly rough and unspecific at the start of the conversation.

This stage starts with variations of the questions:

• What would you love to achieve by the end of this session?
• How will I know you have achieved this at the end of our session?
• How will you know?

At this stage we can also use a Scaling question:

• On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is... and 10 is... where are you now?
• Where would you like to be at the end of this session?

We can also dig deeper with questions like:

• I sensed some low energy when you mentioned...where is that coming from? Or What’s that about?
• Is there something more to this?
• You used the word “...” a lot, what’s making you use this word?

As we travel divergently and deeper into the engine to approach the deeper issue, the client may realize that there is something more important to them and that they may want to change the original end success or outcome after realizing this.

Here are some more examples of questions that will help the client explore this:

• What makes this important to you?
• What is at the heart of this?
• If you could describe the essence using a few words, what would it be?

This is the most important stage and in some coaching situations we will spend the most time on this part of the session. It is the engine of the model.  A rocket ship would not be able to fly without the engine.

By the close of this stage, the client and coach will clearly know what to expect at the end so that the end success or outcome will be reached.

Possibilities

We are now at the beginning of the mid fuselage of the spaceship. We left the narrow end of the engine and are currently situated in a wide open area. This is where the coach uses open-ended questions to explore options and expand views in order to generate ideas.

Possible questions at this stage are:

• Let’s try for five potential solutions or ideas. What can you do?
• What else?

A great brainstorming technique to use especially if the client is stuck and can’t seem to come up with any possibilities is the brainstorming without telling technique. The coach comes up with some possible alternatives with the purpose of providing a starting point for the client to continue exploring for their own answers.  The coach, of course, is unattached to the outcome or the client’s use of the brainstorming.  When the client is constantly saying: “I don’t know” or “I have no idea where to begin.”  The coach can come in and say something in the lines of, referring to the client’s specific situation of course:

“Some people in your situation might make a call, go there in person, or they might send a letter [and so on].  What would be the best approach for you to get what you want from this situation?”

Awareness

The awareness is not an actual step in the model. Oxford Dictionary’s definition of self awareness is

the conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires.

This stage represents the astronaut’s journey up the rocket ship.  Every segment he surpasses he becomes more aware of himself and his surroundings. Throughout the coaching process the client’s level of self awareness grows from the beginning of the model (the Success stage) to the end of the model (the Empowerment stage).

Choice

We are now travelling through the mid fuselage which narrows and comes close to the tip, the client prepares to sit in the cockpit waiting for launch. The coaching becomes specific again and uses more closed ended questions. This requires the client to choose the best possibilities that will move them forward in achieving their desired end success.

Possible questions for this stage are:

• Which option would you like to pursue?
• Which of these possibilities will move you the most toward your goal?
• Which of these possibilities stands out for you?

This the perfect time for the coach and client to explore the obstacles of the chosen possibilities and the possible resolution of each.

Possible questions for this stage are:

• What obstacles might you face?
• What’s the biggest challenge for this?
• How might you resolve them?
• Is there someone that can help you do this?
• Is there something else you can do to assist you in achieving this?

Empowerment

This is the final stage of the model and it signifies the process of igniting the engine and preparing for lift off.  After the client has chosen the best options out of the possibilities, it is time for them to clearly state what they will do and when they will do it.

Possible questions for this stage are:

• Let’s turn that into an action step. What exactly will you do?
• What will you commit to doing?
• When will you commit to doing this?

The coach can ask the client if they would like to check back with them (via email) when a specific action step has been completed for the sole purpose of supporting the client in achieving their desired outcomes.  For some clients, knowing that they have set a date and promised to send an email can strongly motivate them to complete what they said they would.

At the beginning of the model the coach is like the Launch Director in the  Launch Control Tower.  Asking questions, holding the space and being there while the client takes the journey up the rocket ship. Like an astronaut, the client has been training extensively for this moment and knows what to do. All the coach does is help him find the best answers within himself.  Nearing the end of the coaching session when the client’s energy level has been ignited the coach becomes like a spectator at a rocket launch.

Rob Pegoraro describes the feeling of witnessing a shuttle launch as

.. fireworks erupting closer and closer and faster and faster until they’re pounding you in the chest.

Below is a video of an actual launch, and how the client should feel after every coaching session.

 

Welsh, Jennifer, “Here’s How One Astronaut Describes What A Shuttle Launch Feels Like”, http://www.businessinsider.com/canadian-chis-hadfield-describes-a-shuttle-launch-2012-12
Atkinson, Marilyn; Chois, Rae, “Step By Step Coaching (The Art & Science of Coaching Book 2), Kindle edition, Page 46 of 237
Atkinson, Marilyn; Chois, Rae, “Step By Step Coaching (The Art & Science of Coaching Book 2), Kindle edition, Page 46 of 237
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/self-awareness
Stoltzfus, Tony “Coaching Questions: A Coach’s Guide to Powerful Asking Skills”, Kindle Edition, Loc 825 of 2820
Stoltzfus, Tony “Coaching Questions: A Coach’s Guide to Powerful Asking Skills”, Kindle Edition, Loc 835 of 2820
Pegoraro, Rob “Describing the indescribable: the sound of liftoff”, http://robpegoraro.com/2011/07/18/describing-the-indescribable-the-sound-of-liftoff/