MODELING TRACKING A CLIENT’S EXPERIENCE

In the first article on “Coach as Modeler,” I noted that you model your client’s experience, both what he wants and want he does not want, in order to understand him on his terms. The attitude that works best for this is one of respectful curiosity. Whatever is working or not-working for your client is a function of her model of the world about something she is currently experiencing. She has some map about things and it may simply need to be updated so that it is more accurate, or precise, or complete. Your job is to make that map explicit. And the communication principle is that the more explicit you can make it, and the quicker, the sooner you and your client will get to the heart of the matter for change or enhancement.

Sometimes your client will have a workable map and it would work if only he would act on it. But that’s the problem. He is not acting on it. Something is stopping him. Maybe he lacks a map about how to get himself to do what he knows to do. Maybe he doesn’t have a map about how to motivate himself.