Applied Coaching Research Journal Volume 1 | Page 47

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2018, Vol. 1
The “great” coaching and the “good”
If someone has low self-esteem or isn’t very sure
who they are, then exploring what is good within
them can help them find the inner resources that
enable them to make the most of all external
resources. A client described her values as “the
keys to my emotions”. Knowing your values and
strengths gives you energy, puts you in control and
gives you options. It also helps you work out which
direction to go in and what you really want. In
prison, as elsewhere, it’s also much better if you can
explain that someone has trodden on your values
instead of punching them in the face.
Great coaching goes far beyond goal coaching
to break negative patterns, stop self-sabotaging
and overturn the often invisible assumptions we
build our lives on that stop us changing what we
want. Getting to the root of problems like this can
radically alter people’s behaviour and perspective
on life. Admitting what is deep inside can also help
a stuck client move forward; many often say: “I’ve
never told anyone this.” Great coaches have a range
of transformational techniques for helping clients do
this, the simplest of which is asking “What if…?”
I actually had to stop coaching that 29-year-old
man, because he got a job and achieved his new
goal of going to work and coming home tired. As he
put it: “People do things because of the hand they
were dealt, who they’re around, who they mix with
and how they were brought up. Now I’m putting
my cards back in the pack and giving them a good
shuffle.”
meaningful use of time in education, training or
employment. He was 29. He’d given up hope and
couldn’t see how he could change anything, so we
dropped the goal coaching and went straight in at
the deep end.
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