A Coaching Model Created by Sofia Leone
(Life Coach, ITALY)

Greengrocer. That one word that changed my life in the English language classroom, southern Italy in 2015.

Sofia, do you know what my teacher says to us? She says we’re so bad that all we’ll ever amount to is working in a greengrocer. What do you think about that? Vincenzo, 15

The mixture of anger and empathy I felt in that moment helped me to pinpoint an instinctive passion for helping teenagers. It was a light bulb moment for me. Why don’t I trial life coaching activities in the classroom and see if it makes the teens feel more empowered? After all, anything was more empowering than what they were being fed at high school.

That anecdote made me reflect on my time at high school. My teachers believed in me, they encouraged me, they pushed me. Yet the more I reflected, the more I remembered times when I too had been limited. My German teacher who advised me against studying a second language because ‘it was difficult.’ Or the guidance teacher asking me if I was sure I wanted to start an evening class in Italian since I ‘was already really busy’.

It got me thinking. Just like I had been put off going after my dreams by the people who I thought were supposed to encourage me, so too were these teenagers. Different generation, but same story. It was time to stop. It was time to reinvent the English language classroom. It was time to equip teenagers with the necessary tools to stay resilient through hardship and follow their dreams.

You don’t wait for inspiration to arrive. You have to go after it with a club. Jack London

I launched my idea, subtly at first, but the teenagers picked up on it straight away (they’re smart, remember?)

I gave the teens the gift they’d never had –a chance to be heard. We made vision boards, I asked powerful questions, we set goals and I held them accountable.

The ‘problem’ teenager doesn’t exist in my class. All you’ll find is a motivational space where young people aren’t afraid to shine.

FIERCE life coaching is born.

FIERCE Coaching Model

Finding Internal Emotional Resilience to Create Empowerment

Step 1

Finding

Client’s self-discovery stage:

Who you are at this stage of your life
What you need at present
What your intent is
What your purpose is
Discovering your strengths and building on them

Why? Increased self-awareness leads to increased self-esteem

Step 2

Resilience

The coach assists the client in discovering what needs to be done in order to become unstuck
Coach equips the client with tools in order to to make positive change and visualise results
Client calls on inner strength to work towards goals and chooses their intent in order to achieve them