Turn the Page, Turn Your Life: Discover Coaching's Best-Kept Secret

As you may have guessed, I love reading. After years of hustling, working to build SolutionsAcademy and work being my primary drug of choice, I have rediscovered the joys of fiction and have even joined 2 book clubs. I just adore how worlds are conjured up in my mind as I am following Mrs Touchet in her adventures in Dicken’s England or imagining Eve Dallas solving crimes in 2050ies New York. When my imagination is triggered, I can get completely lost.

Solution Focused Coaching works with our imagination, too. We ask our clients to describe what it would be like if they achieved what they want to achieve. We invite concrete descriptions, just like in a good novel. We would like them to describe what happens rather than explain why. Compare: “It was a dark and stormy night” to “He was feeling very anxious” – the dark and stormy night is so much more powerful.

So, what could be closer than exploring how Solution Focused coaches could make use of books to help their clients. Here are some ideas:

Caveat: only invite clients to read if they like reading

“Duh”, I hear you say: “that’s obvious”. But I thought I’d mention it anyway. If clients do not like reading, maybe you can explore with them what other ways they have to engage with their imagination or to access other people’s thoughts and experiences. Maybe they like listening to books or watch movies instead?

Explore what the client needs

Another “Duh”. Before talking about any external material invite the client to describe what they want from the coaching. Books (movies, podcasts, music, art… “material” in the following) can do many things: give information, change a person’s moods, normalize human experiences, open someone’s minds to other people’s experiences, help build greater empathy, insight and self-compassion.

Ask about which material the client would like to use (if any)

Of course, (duh, duh, duh), if the client has an idea of what they would like to engage with, that’s the best. Let’s say a client does not have a role model for an assertive, yet kind woman. You could ask the client if they have ever seen one or read about one. My personal “go-to” in my years as a junior trainer and coach was “Shirley Schmidt” from the TV series “Boston Legal”. I often asked myself “what would Shirley do in this situation” and it really helped. If the client cannot come up with something, you could ask what kind of material they like and recommend something (if you know) or explore with them who might be able to recommend something that they would like engaging with.

Invite the client to talk about the material

When the client has engaged with it, ask the client what they are taking from it. If you personally do not know it and you are interested, why not engage with it yourself? If you are busy and not interested, you can do what you do best as a coach: be curious about what the client has learned. What have they discovered? How will this insight show in their lives?

Invite the client to become creative

Maybe the client wants to engage creatively with the material – would they like to paint a scene, create a summary, write a continuation of the story, write the story from the perspective of another person etc. Whatever the client is doing, ask them about their learnings in the next session.

Consider a coaching book club

If you have clients who are all struggling with similar problems, which is actually quite common when you have a coaching niche, you could invite them to join a coaching book club. Let’s say you have first time female leaders: maybe they would enjoy watching the same movies or reading the same books and then talk about their learnings and how they are putting them into practice in their daily life.

If you want to discuss books, music, creativity in your coaching, why not come to one of our free coaching meetups and exchanges?

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