Coaching Model: SWELL

A Coaching Model Created by Riccardo Mereu
(Business Coach & Career Change Coach, ITALY)

A SWELL is a series of mechanical waves that propagate along the water surface and gradually expand beyond an original limit. It also means to grow, it involves movement, and it requires external energy to be initiated.

My coaching model is called SWELL it focuses on the recognition of your unique potential, in the identification of your obstacles and it challenges you to face reality, acknowledge excuses, challenges the status quo, seeking for new perspectives and pushes you to consider what could possibly happen if nothing changes.

The aim of this model is to help you stimulating that extra dose of energy that will allow the SWELL to happen, moving you forward and toward your goal, living your life the way you want and to expand beyond your limits.

Set your Goals

What Do You Want to Achieve? 

The aim of the first session is to establish the foundations of the coaching relationship including trust and goal settings. During this initial phase, clients will be invited to define their goals as Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound, as well as dig on their motivation and intent.

Some classic question to start the process could be:

• What do you exactly want to achieve?
• What makes it so important for you now?
• What makes you feel ready to do it?
• What will tell you that you have achieved your goal?
• How will your life change by achieving your goal?
• What needs to happen to achieve your goal?
• How can this coaching relationship serve you?

Witness your Potential

What’s Already in Your Hands?

The aim of this second phase is to create awareness. As such, clients will be invited to reflect on their current situation including their past achievements, explore their values, recourses, acknowledge success and identify possible patterns. In order to facilitate this type of exploration clients would be invited to complete some assessments such as Personality Test, Value Test and Wheel of Life.

Some classic question to support this phase could be:

• What resonates the most in you?
• What’s the area where you feel more fulfilled?
• What does this tell about you?
• What recourses do you have?
• How can you use your experience and your resources to move toward your goal?
• Who could support you?

Eliminate your Obstacles

What is Blocking You?

The aim of this third phase is to explore all the possible obstacles that are disturbing the process of growth, identify them, resize them or watch them from a different perspective and remove them.

Some supporting question would be:

• What is holding you back?
• What is preventing you to make a move?
• What would you need to change?
• What could you do differently?
• What happens if you watch it from a different perspective?
• What would happen if the obstacle would no longer exist?

Leverage your Excuses

What Are Your Alternatives?

During this phase usually, clients have already understood a lot about themselves and the situation but there are still blocked from making any movement ahead. Often there are some excuses or underlying beliefs to be addressed before moving to a proper action plan. The aim of this phase is to face reality, clean up residual resistances before moving to action.

Some classic question would be:

• How long can you stay in this situation?
• What happens if nothing changes?
• What needs to happen?
• What makes you feel this way?
• What is this telling about you?
• What did you understand about you?
• How is this serving you?
• How are you going to use it?

Launch your Plan

What Can You Do Now?

During this crucial phase, the coach will partner with clients adjusting the goal if needed, identifying the first steps to move forward, build a strong supporting system, and identify accountability methods to help clients achieving their own goal.

Some classic question to support this final process could be:

• How does the initial goal look like to you?
• What would you need now to make it happen?
• What can give you external support?
• What is the first thing you should do?
• When are you going to start?
• What can go wrong?
• How will you feel after you achieve it?
• How are you going to celebrate?

Expand Beyond Your Limits!