A Coaching Model Created by Lara Javalyn
(Transformational Coach, CANADA)

My coaching model, ALIGN, is based on the GROW model, but is focused on expanding out the foundational stages (the Goal and Reality parts of the GROW model) to tailor it to clients that are unclear about what they want and are limited in their view of their own life potential. This model is well suited to transformational and life purpose coaching clients, but can be used for any client that feels lost about next steps in their personal life, business, or purpose.

A – Awareness

Awareness is essential and has three vectors: the past, the present and the future. Coaching is not focused on the past, but the client’s present reality, and where they would like to be in the future are all important areas to explore and become conscious of. This part of the coaching relationship is to establish the starting point and start to look at possibly trajectories. It is a time to dream big connected to the client’s unique gifts and desires.

L – Letting Go

It has been said that change is the price of learning. For a client to take a new path and accomplish something they have never accomplished before, they will need to change and for many, this is not easy. This step in the model helps both introduce the idea and need to make new choices, and also encourage them to be courageous toward self-leadership. Letting go of what isn’t working, or what cannot work with a client’s intended direction, will enable them to get our of their own way as they work toward their desired goal(s).

I – Identify the Why

This step is the fuel for the client’s new direction. Our motivations, the “why” of what we do, is what pushes the client in a certain direction. Understanding and reformulating our underlying beliefs and the motivations behind them will make the realization of the client’s goals possible. Without knowing why, the client easily develops an “anything goes” attitude or can revert back to old ways that are not inline with the client’s established goals.

G – Get Focused

Once the client has a sense of where they are, the fact that they must change, and their motivations, the foundation is built for them to get focused on strategy and action. Staying focused on what they want, the coach and client then develop a systematic action plan with focused actions. The ideal plan addresses not just actions, but also potential roadblocks, celebrates milestones, is realistic, and incorporated flexibility for life’s unexpected twists and turns.

N – Nurture and Grow

With an action plan created and started, the key to success is to navigate this new way of being in a way that ensures the client not just achieves their goal, but also learns more about themselves and their connection to the world in the process. The opportunity to consciously build qualities through taking action toward their goals will serve to help them on their next goals and growing as individuals. Growing qualities such as Resourcefulness, Integrity, Service and Care can be unexpected but welcome outcomes of the client realizing their goal. Once the client achieves their proposed goal or is well on their way, they can return to the Awareness step for continued coaching with more experience and confidence.