A Coaching Model Created by Shauna Vassell
(Leadership and Career Coach, CANADA)

The Pulse coaching model follows a five-step process to help clients achieve their goals. The pulse model connects the client’s current reality, goals, and values to transform their thinking and shifting paradigms to bring out the client’s best SELF!!

The P… identifying the opportunity…

It’s OK to not be OK all the time – Unknown

We understand that coming to a coach is a big step. And it’s not always easy to be in a vulnerable space. In the first stage of this model, we identify the opportunity and set the big “G” goal. Through exploration, the pulse model narrows down the coaching focus for each session, setting the little “g” goals and looks for the opportunity to bring the client awareness.

Sample Questions asked:

What brings you to coaching?
What do you want to focus on?
What has you stuck?

Because….“It’s Ok to not be ok”, to start the awareness.

The U… understanding the client

The most difficult phase in life is not when no one understands you;

It’s when you don’t understand yourself – Unknown

Understanding the client helps develop a starting point for the future they see for themselves. But to get there, our model sets the foundation to explore who the clients are! We focus on where you are in the present state, the now, and explore where you want to go.

Sample Questions asked:

What makes this important?
What would change if you had “this” in your life or made this change?
What does progress look like?
What is causing this to come forward today?

The L…. the learning

Know thyself – Socrates

Who are you amongst the crowds and with all the white noise? Learning starts with, and, ends with, understanding the YOU. What better way to know thyself, than with questions to build on the awareness and challenge the beliefs, truths and blockage. What makes you tick? ….What fills up the wonderful package known as you. This is a key part in building the lines to the path on your life map. It’s knowing the “Why” you love, like, and feel strongly about specific areas and not others.

Sample Questions asked:

What may be causing this?
What patterns may exist for you? What is in your control?
What is your takeaway?
What have you done in the past? How did you react or not react?
How did you overcome similar challenges?

The S…. setting goals and taking action

It’s not about the goal. It’s about growing to become the person that can accomplish that goal-Tony Robbins

Emotion is created by motion – Tony Robbins

Setting goals are the easy part, making it happen and how we get there is where the sweat comes in!! In this phase, we take you from “trying” to “commitment”. We focus in on:

Defining your action plan
Determining your priority
Creating the structures
Identifying the obstacles/barriers
Understanding who will be there to support you along the way.

AND most importantly- taking action!

The E…. Embrace and Encourage

A little progress each day adds up to BIG results – Unknown

The final phase we check the PULSE, we celebrate the WINS and keep the goal in front. We move ahead to the NEW you and leave the OLD you behind. What is a journey without a few cheerleaders in the back screaming your name? With pulse, we support and most importantly encourage you to grow.

Pulse in Action:

Sara has been very irritated with her team for the last 6 months. She has snapped at everyone around her and hasn’t been able to feel at peace. Sara’s team has been underperforming and the company is facing a significant restructuring. Sara’s director requested that she speak with a coach to understand what the issues are and identify how it is affecting her performance.

Opportunity – What brought Sara to coaching? Sara believes that the entire team is incompetent and that she is being punished by having to deal with them. Sara is looking for steps on how to be a better manager to work with her team and meet her targets.

The opportunity:

What’s changed in the last six months? The department direction. Now Sara must work longer hours and not spend time with her family and adjust to added responsibilities.

Understanding – Sara loves her job and has always been a supportive manager. But Sara has resented her team because she hasn’t been able to see her family. This resentment has led to her to be irritated with everyone and has caused the team morale to decrease, impacting performance.

An ideal state for Sara was being able to see her family and spend time with them in the evenings like she used to. She had a strong sense of family values and the changes were misaligned with what she wanted and who she was.

Learning – What is in her control? Sara had a problem sharing how she felt to her director. In the past, she’s always avoided conflict, and this wasn’t any different. She preferred to let things go and then they would “resolve themselves”. Sara needed to set boundaries that would allow her to not resent her team and acknowledge the impact of the changes she was feeling.

Set goals and action – Through visualization, Sara has been able to step through the interaction with her boss and explore the “what ifs” that could occur. Sara challenged herself to set a plan of action for the next day to discuss a resolution with her director that would not only improve her performance but allowed her to have a better work-life balance. Her coach and husband provided that support for her to achieve her goals. She made herself accountable by immediately booking the meeting with her director and committing to it.
Encourage and Embrace – Sara gained the confidence to have that difficult conversation. The simulated conversations with her coach, the importance of being with her family and being a better manager, allowed her to embrace the change.