BRIEF Coaching: Simply an Invitation to Sustainable Change

Article written by: Peter Szabó

BRIEF Coaching: Simply an Invitation to Sustainable Change begins with a compelling question: some coaches report sessions in which clients achieve lasting change within a very short period of time – sometimes even in a single session. Is this simply a coincidence, or are there particular factors that make such change more likely?

For the 2007 EMCC European Mentoring and Coaching Council conference in Stockholm, I am planning to offer a live coaching demonstration for a client whose goal is to restore balance between work and personal life. Is it possible for a coaching session to be both brief and effective when addressing such a complex topic as life balance? Of course, there is no guarantee that sustainable solutions can be achieved in a single session. Nevertheless, I hope to discover more about the factors that make it possible to be both brief and effective.

What are the factors that can lead to lasting change?

The reflections before the session and the experiences described below may offer useful clues as to where we might find the answers.

Pre-Session Reflections on Life Balance and Shortcuts

Of course, I cannot know in advance what will be useful or what will work for a particular client. Nevertheless, these pre-session reflections may prove helpful:

• We aim for the session to be a beginning. By definition, a single coaching session can focus on creating beginnings with the client. There will be no follow-up sessions to monitor progress and support the continuation of the process. This could become an advantage when working with life balance. Perhaps it is easier to approach the topic through a series of fresh and varied beginnings than through one initial session followed by progress reviews. My greatest hope for this session is that the process of beginning will be so simple and attractive to the client that they will feel tempted to repeat it again and again on their own. In some ways, it is like surfers at the ocean: after enjoying a ride on one wave, they return to the water to catch the next one.
• How to catch a good wave. The desire for greater balance in life is sometimes connected to something much more important for the client. Since we have only 30 minutes together, it may be useful to listen carefully for what feels especially attractive to them. Perhaps there will be a moment when the client speaks with a particular sparkle in their eyes or with unusual clarity in their voice. Noticing this energy and asking about its possible future effects may prove useful for the conversation and may also reconnect the client with a compelling image that can lead to lasting results. Surfers sometimes let many waves pass while waiting for the one with the greatest potential to carry them all the way to shore.
• Minimising effort. My greatest hope is that, within one session, the client will discover ways to restore balance in life as simply as possible, while taking into account the demanding nature of their everyday work. The simpler the change, the greater the chances that it can be sustained. It is usually far more effective for clients to do more of what they already know how to do than to acquire entirely new skills. This approach leads to coaching questions such as: “Of all the things you have done so far, what has worked best?” or “Of all the possible steps you have talked about, which would be the easiest first step for you to take?” If you do not want to exhaust yourself as a surfer while paddling to catch a wave, especially at my age of 50, you quickly learn to make the least possible effort for the greatest effect.

For the past 15 years, I believed that simply using the questions developed through the work of Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg would make coaching brief and to the point.

Since the publication of Appreciative Coaching by Orem, Binkert, and Clancy, I have begun to realise that I, as a coach, can use the same solution-focused questions in long-term coaching relationships as well. This led me to search for additional factors that might make coaching both brief and effective.

The analogy of surfers, waves, and riding the wave comes from the fact that I learned to surf this summer.

Experiences and Principles of BRIEF Coaching

The following two examples illustrate several principles applied in BRIEF Coaching.

The first example is a conversation with my daughter that lasted only a few minutes – an exceptionally brief session, even by my standards (!).

The second example was a single session with a senior executive on the rise; we agreed on a two-hour meeting.

Both examples illustrate the BRIEF Coaching principle of being effective in coaching sessions by helping clients get where they want to be this week or this month, rather than sometime this year.

Example A: “Dad, Can You Coach Me?”

One evening, our eldest daughter, Anna-Julia – 13 years old at the time this article was written – asked me to coach her on a school project about Romania that she had to complete. Tears were running down her face as she explained that she had too many things to do at the same time. She felt overwhelmed. She handed me a pile of papers. I looked through them and asked:

“Please help me understand a little better what this project about Romania involves. Let us use a scale from 1 to 10. Ten means that you have completed the project, and 1 means that you have done nothing. Where are you at the moment?”

“Maybe at 3,” she said hesitantly.

“You are already at 3? Good. Please tell me: what have you already managed to do that means you are at 3 rather than 1?”

“Well, as you can see, I have printed out all these pages from the internet.” She pointed to the pile of papers in my hands and, while I looked through them, she explained: “I have already spoken to my classmate about how we are going to divide the work, but, you know, I have not found anything about sport.”

“And what else have you done to reach 3?”

“I have highlighted all the interesting passages and collected the headings for the table of contents, but I still do not know what I could write about Romanian music.”

“Of course, something is still missing,” I said. “And what else have you done?”

“Well, I recorded the documentary that was shown on television, but we still need to choose which scenes to present.”

“And all of that represents 3 on your progress scale?”

“Well, actually, it is more like a 4 because I have already drafted a presentation on the computer about culture and geography.”

A few moments later, she smiled broadly, nudged me, and said: “Hey, Dad, I am already at 4. That is great!”

After that, she walked away with a broad smile on her face and a lightness in her step.

I had almost forgotten about our conversation when, one week later, Anna-Julia came downstairs for lunch with a big smile on her face and proudly announced that she was at 7 on the progress scale for her project.

“I told my friends that Dad coached me!”

This section of the article was published in Coaching at Work magazine in September 2017. Sir John Whitmore, in the foreword to Brief Coaching for Lasting Solutions. For more details about coaching conversations, visit www.solutionsurfers.com and go to Resources → More → Library

1. How to Ride the Wave of Change

From a technical perspective, in the brief conversation presented above, I used only scaling questions and two simple interventions, each serving a different purpose and contributing to the successful outcome:

• Establishing the current position – “Where are you on a scale from 1 to 10?” Simply introducing this scale into the conversation helps the client look at the situation from a broader perspective. It is as though, instead of drowning in a turbulent ocean of problems, you are standing on a light board that helps you ride the waves.
• Reinforcing what is already there – “What have you already managed to do between 1 and 3?” Inviting clients to look at the progress they have already made increases their confidence that what they want to achieve is possible. The same question can be asked several times to bring forward even more examples of how much they have already done: “What else?” It is similar to giving a compliment: it reinforces what is already working for the client and highlights the possibilities for change. For surfers, this means reaching the right speed to match the movement of the wave that will carry them forward.

2. How Choice Emerges in the Client’s Perception

By asking coaching questions, we influence how clients observe their actions and perceive “reality”. The fastest route to change is to give clients the opportunity to choose which parts of reality they want to focus on. When Anna-Julia asked me to coach her, she believed she had no options; the only part of reality she could perceive was defined by what was still missing from the project she had to complete.

• Creating choice: As a coach, I sit with my clients, pay attention to what they perceive as reality, and acknowledge it (“Ah, yes, it is not easy” — for example, what is missing between 3 and 10 on the scale). Through this acknowledgement, I can then direct their attention towards another part of reality (“…and there, tell me, what is there?” – meaning, what exists between 1 and 3). This does not mean denying the client’s perception of being stuck. It is about giving them the possibility of looking at other parts of reality and then practising the freedom to decide whether they want to continue focusing on what is missing, turn their attention to what is already there, or hold both in view at the same time.
• Nudging: In my experience, clients tend to quickly forget this newly created choice and return to their original, limited perception (“But, you know, I have not found anything about sport”). Sometimes, clients need to be reminded of the choice available to them while also becoming more aware of what they are saying (“Yes, you have not found anything about sport, AND what else have you done to reach 3?”).
  

Example B: Enhancing the Personality Profile

Dave, a senior executive on the rise in the pharmaceutical industry, called me for coaching, and we met for what was possibly our first and only two-hour session. I usually agree with clients that we will work together until “things improve significantly”, which means that BRIEF Coaching helps them make the strongest possible start so that they can sustain the process of change themselves, drawing on their own resources, as soon as possible.

INSOO KIM BERG (Berg/de Shazer, 1994, BFTC audio recording: A Tap on the Shoulder: Six Useful Questions in Building Solutions)

“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” – Albert Einstein

Session Objective:

I began immediately with the question: “What would need to happen in this session for it to be as useful as possible for you?”

Dave began by telling me that, at a recent workshop attended by the entire leadership team, his “I – Influence” score in the DISC Personality Model (8) had been very low. The results showed that his Influence in relationships was 12, while it could be 50. His colleagues’ “I” scores were generally around 70. “I want to reach 70, but in my own way,” he said.

In this case, the “1-to-100 profile score scale” was introduced into the conversation by the client himself. Scaling helps both the client and the coach gain clarity and a better understanding of the topic being discussed. It then becomes easier to move between the relevant points on the scale, each of which represents different client behaviours.

The Positive Effects of Achieving the Objective:

“Dave, suppose you reached level 70. How would you behave differently at 70, in your own way?”

It became clear that the greatest difference would come from having his manager’s full trust and support. This was important to him and something he hoped for. “I do not know how I could influence that in a way that feels comfortable to me,” he said. “Many of the things my colleagues do to gain other people’s trust and build relationships are simply not my style.”

Asking clients about the positive effects of achieving their objective usually sheds light on what matters to them and why the idea of change is so appealing. Clients are the true experts in knowing which powerful wave to choose in order to move forward.

Existing Resources:

When I asked him whether he could think of any recent examples of having reached around 70, at first nothing relevant came to mind. However, as I continued asking questions about his ability to interact with others, his memory became increasingly clear:

How had he managed to progress in his career and reach a leadership position?

How had he contributed to earning the trust and support of his previous managers?

When had he experienced small moments of trust and support from his current manager?

We spent more than an hour exploring these questions alone, until he realised that there had been relevant examples in which he had been at 60, and even at 75, on that scale. I was impressed and fascinated by his competence and integrity in building relationships and achieving results.

One particularly helpful success story came from the beginning of Dave’s career, when he had been given full leadership responsibility for turning around an abandoned production plant. Another, more recent example concerned the initiative he had taken to resolve a conflict at his current workplace. In both cases, his managers had placed their trust in him in advance. We worked on developing a highly detailed picture of the behaviours that had made the difference and led his managers to choose him and place their full trust in him.

When clients are highly aware of the resources they already possess, this offers the strongest assurance that the results will last after the session has ended. Surfers who have experience of using both the power of the wave and their own ability to stand up and ride it all the way to shore are the ones who can use that experience to their advantage. Co-creating this awareness of the client’s resources may require considerable effort and persistence from the coach. However, doing this focused and sustained work in the first session may be one of the ways to keep coaching brief while also making it effective.

Noticing Signs of Continued Progress:

With 15 minutes remaining in the session, we began discussing how he would track his progress over the following days and weeks. He found it easy to come up with a long list of actions he could take that would suit his personality. He was genuinely inspired as he remembered what had already worked in his career.

The DISC profile generates awareness of personal behaviour in the workplace. One of its four criteria is “I”, which stands for Interaction. See: www.mydiscprofile.com. I was not familiar with this tool when we had the conversation. The advantage of staying on the surface of the scale – on the wave – is that you do not need to understand the details of a particular tool in order to help move the process forward.

We discussed these different actions, where they would place him on the scale – most often between 50 and 70 – and how he would notice new reactions from his manager. Inviting clients to observe future progress through detailed description creates more choice in their perception. Clients develop differently when they know which early signs of their new behaviour to look for, so that they can consciously notice any improvements that may emerge. At this stage of the coaching session, it was important for Dave to notice even the smallest signs of trust and support from his manager. We agreed that he would contact me if he felt he needed further coaching.

I did not speak with Dave again until four months later, when I called to ask for permission to use our work together in this article. During our brief conversation, he told me that things were quite difficult at work, while also pointing out that he had the trust and support of his manager.

Returning to the original question of how we create lasting change in the simplest possible way, perhaps you are as curious as I am to explore:

How could these ideas be applied in YOUR workplace?

How could YOU invite change in a way that is both simple and sustainable?

The feedback I receive most often from clients about the impact of Brief Coaching is that “the problem did not come back”. This may be connected either to an actual change in behaviour or to a different choice in how the situation is perceived. Whatever the explanation, it is clear that the change appears to have been lasting, even though the coaching approach is simple and brief.

About Peter Szabó

A Doctor of Law and Master Certified Coach, he provides individual coaching and coaching for corporate clients on both personal and professional issues. He prefers to work through short-term BRIEF Coaching contracts. He lives in Switzerland and teaches postgraduate coaching courses at several European universities. He delivers accredited BRIEF Coaching training programmes through Solutionsurfers International. Together with Insoo Kim Berg, he co-authored the book BRIEF Coaching for Lasting Solutions.

Contact details: peter.szabo@solutionsurfers.com