Author: Bella Sanchez

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Practical Tools for Immediate Impact: Quick Wins to Implement into Your Coaching Practice

Practical tools for immediate impact

You’re a dedicated coach, passionate about helping your clients achieve their goals and making their dreams a reality. However, you’ve noticed a recurring challenge – it often takes several sessions to truly connect with your clients and start making a meaningful impact. This delay not only tests your patience but also hinders the transformative progress that both you and your clients want, potentially costing valuable time, resources, and opportunities. Your clients may start out full of hope and motivation, however, as sessions unfold with slow progress, their motivation dwindles, replaced by frustration and dissatisfaction. Without wins, clients may start questioning the value of your coaching, potentially leading to disengagement, lost trust, and ultimately, the loss of valuable client relationships. Moreover, the inability to make an immediate impact can have significant repercussions for your business, as negative word-of-mouth from dissatisfied clients can hurt your brand and potential referrals.

Additionally, the time and energy spent navigating these initial hurdles detract from your ability to focus on guiding clients towards meaningful breakthroughs. Ultimately, the cost of not being able to make an impact quickly and effectively extends beyond individual coaching sessions, affecting the heart of your coaching practice and the lives of your clients. However, within this challenge lies an opportunity for growth and innovation. By embracing practical tools tailored to build connections and facilitate immediate impact, you can reduce risks and find new pathways to success. This allows for you to win, your clients to win, and your business to win.

We’ll get to the bottom of it by exploring practical tools that can help you make an immediate impact in your coaching sessions.

 

The Challenge: Building Rapport and Making an Impact

Building rapport and making a meaningful impact with clients can be challenging, particularly in the early stages of the coaching relationship. Clients may be hesitant to open up, and it can take time to establish trust and mutual understanding. As a coach, you want to make a positive impression and demonstrate value from the very first session. However, without the right tools and techniques, it can feel like an uphill battle to truly connect with your clients and help them achieve their goals.

Sometimes it can feel like…

 

So What Tools Can Actually Help?

First: Assessments

When it comes to assessment tools, there are plenty of options to choose from, and everyone says ‘Start with WHY’, so maybe we should start there too. The WHY Institute’s WHY.os Discovery is a great option, offering a quick assessment that can uncover a client’s WHY, HOW, and WHAT (what they call the WHY.os) in less than 10 minutes. It’s like having a secret client decoder that reveals the core motivations driving your clients’ actions and decisions. Of course, there are other tried-and-true assessments out there, like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), DISC assessment, and StrengthsFinder. Each of these tools provides valuable insights into different aspects of personality, behavior, and strengths, helping coaches tailor their approach to meet the unique needs of their clients. So whether you’re delving into the depths of WHY or exploring the intricacies of personality types, there’s no shortage of assessment tools to choose from. You just have to decide what’s best for you and your clients. 

 

Second: Visualization Exercises

Visualization exercises are powerful tools for coaches looking to inspire and motivate their clients from the very beginning. By guiding clients through visualization techniques, coaches can help them clarify their goals, envision success, and overcome limiting beliefs or obstacles. Whether it’s creating a vision board, practicing guided imagery, or visualizing future achievements, these exercises tap into the power of the mind to ignite passion, focus, and determination in clients, setting the stage for meaningful progress in their coaching journey. These may seem silly at first, but they are known to be very effective for long term goal setting and belief building. 

 

 

Third: Active Listening Techniques

Active listening is a fundamental skill for coaches seeking to connect with their clients on a deeper level and truly understand their needs and perspectives. By practicing active listening techniques such as reflective listening, paraphrasing, and summarizing, coaches can demonstrate empathy, validation, and genuine interest in their clients’ experiences. This fosters trust and rapport, creating a safe and supportive environment where clients feel heard, understood, and valued. Active listening lays the foundation for effective communication and collaboration, enabling coaches to tailor their approach and interventions to meet their clients’ unique needs and goals.  

 

Fourth: Action-Oriented Strategies

Action-oriented coaching strategies focus on setting clear goals, developing actionable plans, and tracking progress towards desired outcomes. By helping clients identify specific actions, milestones, and deadlines, coaches can empower them to take ownership of their goals and commit to concrete steps towards success. Action-oriented coaching emphasizes accountability, momentum, and results, driving clients to take immediate action and make meaningful progress in their personal or professional lives. Whether it’s setting SMART goals, creating action plans, or implementing accountability measures, these strategies provide a structured framework for coaching sessions and ensure that clients leave each session with a clear sense of direction and purpose.

 

Implementing These Tools Into Your Practice

Practical Tips for Integration

Integrating immediate impact tools into your coaching practice requires intentionality, creativity, and adaptability. Start by familiarizing yourself with the different tools and techniques available, and consider how they align with your coaching style and clients’ needs. Experiment with incorporating one or two tools into your sessions and observe the impact on client engagement, progress, and satisfaction. Be open to feedback from your clients and be willing to adjust your approach as needed to optimize results. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and mastery of these tools takes time and practice. Stay committed to continuous learning and improvement, and you’ll soon reap the rewards of your efforts in the form of enhanced coaching effectiveness and client outcomes.

Test it Out With a Few Clients

You can put these tools into practice right away by trying it out with a small group of clients or friends who are open to it. Let them know that you’re eager to experiment with some fresh coaching techniques and ask if they’d be down to give them a try. It’s a fun way to learn together and get some valuable feedback. By being upfront about your intentions and getting their consent, you’re showing respect for their input while also diving into an exciting learning adventure. As you get more comfortable with these tools and gather insights, you can start incorporating them into your coaching sessions with a broader range of clients, making adjustments based on the feedback you receive.

 

What Does This All Mean?

Making an immediate impact in coaching sessions requires the use of practical tools and techniques that facilitate connection, understanding, and progress from the start. By incorporating assessment tools, visualization exercises, active listening techniques, and action-oriented strategies into your coaching practice, you can elevate your sessions, build stronger relationships with your clients, and accelerate their journey towards success.

As you continue on your journey to enhance your coaching effectiveness, I encourage you to explore and implement these immediate impact tools in your coaching practice. Experiment with different tools and techniques, and observe the impact on client engagement, progress, and satisfaction. Remember that every coach-client relationship is unique, so be flexible and adaptable in your approach. By prioritizing the use of immediate impact tools, you can make a lasting difference in the lives of your clients and establish yourself as a trusted and effective coach in your field.

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Business WHY.os WHY

Why Your WHY is Your Secret Weapon for Standout Marketing and Messaging

Download "Business WHY Checklist"

It’s Time to Incorporate Your “WHY” Into Your Marketing and Messaging.

Your WHY is the reason behind why you do what you do – and we mean everything – including your chosen profession. When you fully understand this, you can use it to your advantage. You can communicate it effectively to your ideal clients and customers, and attract those who share your values and vision. 

Now, we know what you’re thinking: “Why do I need a ‘WHY’? I just want to sell my products and services!” But if you’re a businessman or woman you already know that customer retention is a lot longer when the customer shares your values? It’s like the old saying goes, “Sell to the right people, not just any people.”

Using Your WHY In Your Marketing & Messaging

1. Highlight your values in your branding and messaging
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Make sure that your branding and communication reflects your values and purpose, and that your WHY is clearly communicated in your marketing materials. You must stand in your WHY, even if it turns away some clients or customers. If they don’t appreciate your values they wouldn’t be long-lasting or ideal customers anyways, let them go and focus on the ones that will be a better fit!
2. Share your story
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People are drawn to stories – it’s in our DNA. The best marketers are the ones that have mastered the art of storytelling. Share your personal story and the journey that led you to your WHY. This will help humanize your brand and build a deeper connection with your target audience. Think of it as your own “rags to riches” story.
3. Are you supporting a cause?
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Are you spearheading change in this world or making a difference somewhere significant? Highlighting your cause throughout your messaging will help your target audience to connect with your brand. When you focus on the positive impact your business is having, you’ll be able to attract clients who feel the same. And hey you just might get a few extra Contributes into your client roster – no one loves supporting a cause quite like the Contributes in the world. 😉
4. Continuously revisit your WHY
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As your business grows and evolves, you may drift from your WHY. Don’t do that! Keep it top of mind and woven in so deeply into the company that you could never forget who you are and WHY you are doing what you do! 
Never lose sight of your true motivations in the world (your WHY!) and you’ll always have passion for what you’re doing.

Incorporating your WHY into your marketing and messaging is a powerful way to stand out, connect with your target audience and achieve success. By highlighting your values and your purpose, sharing your story, focusing on the impact, and continuously revisiting your WHY, you’ll be able to build a strong, authentic brand that resonates with your target audience. And, who knows, you may even find yourself a little more in the process!

If you want to learn more about using the WHY within your business, click here 👉 Business WHY.os. 

Download your Business WHY Checklist below to see what you can do to implement this into your company. 

Download "Business WHY Checklist"
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WHY

So You Work With a Right Way…

Introduction

 

If you work with someone with the WHY of Right Way there are benefits as well as challenges. The benefits consist of the fact that a team needs a Right Way in order to flourish, a team needs someone who can systematize, prioritize, and implement processes that works. The challenges can come into play when you are wanting to be creative, spit ball ideas, or go off the rails a bit (I’m talking to the Better Ways and Challenges here), and their mind doesn’t let them get to that point. They can already see issues with these grand ideas and want to bring everyone back down to earth. 

 

They’re Black and White


saying the wrong things

The difficulty with working with a Right Way comes when you have an exciting idea you can’t wait to get moving on and they shut it down. They are black and white with their processes, and lucky for the team but not so lucky for your idea, they see the big picture and know that now is not the time. There also may be little wiggle room to get them to change their mind. Once a Right Way has decided something is the wrong way… you’ve lost the war. 

 

 

You Need a Right Way

 

looking at spreadsheet

Behind every well-oiled machine team and every successful process, there is a Right Way. It is really, really challenging to have a team where every one is an idea machine. You need someone who can materialize ideas into a structure is the secret key to success for a team. Right Ways have a tendency to do lots of research first to make sure they truly know the correct way to attack a project. You are a great resource of information, processes, and getting things done. 

 

You’re Lucky to Have Them

 

supportive david

When it comes down to it, you are lucky to work with someone with the WHY of Right Way. Even if at times they may seem rigid in their responses or decisions, there is usually a lot of research, thought, and experience behind the decision they’ve made. You can count on them to be there for the team, to put things into play, and to keep you on the right path.

 

 

To discover if your WHY is Right Way click HERE

and

Share with your Right Way Coworker 

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WHY

So You Work With a Better Way…

how you can work better with a better way_ why.os words

If you work with or have a coworker with the WHY of Better Way, look out! Innovation coming through! Ideas galore! Those with the WHY of Better Way can’t seem to let their mind slow down; this can cause problems sleeping (I digress) but also a consistent influx of ideation. With a never ending ability to drum up new things in the work place, this is both great and hard on fellow coworkers.

 

Call a Quick Brainstorming/Ideation Meeting

 

 

brainstorming with a better way

Something I have found to be useful when working with Better Ways is that they often aren’t sure what they want, but they’ve come up with an idea and now it is up to you to run with it. This can cause a lot of misunderstanding when you bring it back to them and it wasn’t what they expected. So in order to help this confusion – have a quick 5-10 minute meeting to get on the same page and avoid confusions. Better Ways like to talk through things out-loud in order to ideate and innovate anyway so you’d really be doing them a favor.

 

Never Fully Finish a Project

 

Now it may sound contradictory to productivity but another pro tip when working with a Better Way is to never show them a finished product. If you spent all this time on a fully finished project and show it to them just for them to want to change everything so it’s “better” it can feel like what you put hours of work into isn’t appreciated. If you show them a first draft, they can “better way” the heck out of it initially, and let you finish everything up afterwards. This can often really speed up the process for both parties.

 

Blank Slates Aren’t Their Favorite – Help Them Out

spongebob thinking

One last thing I have learned is that Better Ways have a hard time creating from nothing. While they are great at innovation and coming up with ideas, they often don’t know what they want or don’t want until they see it. It is very hard to give them a blank piece of paper to create. If you do however, give them a paragraph or a design or whatever it may be that they can change and make better – they soar!

Use Their Ability to “Better” Things to Your Advantage

took their idea and made it better

Knowing that someone has the WHY of Better Way can really help you and the team as well. If you are stuck on a project, want some advice, or unsure how to improve it – show it to them. They can immediately help you alter words, designs, or anything to help “better” your project. Having someone with the WHY of Better Way on your team can sometimes feel like they have a hard time moving initially (finding the right words to type or creating from scratch) but with direction, an outline or draft, they can succeed to new heights. They will never stop improving and innovating and a good company needs that kind of a big thinker.

 

 

 

 

 

To discover if your WHY is Better Way click HERE

To share with your Better Way coworker simply copy the URL and laugh about it together.

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WHY

So You Work With a Make Sense…

 

 

If you work with someone with the WHY of Make Sense you know that they are quick as all heck to getting issues solved. They are so quick at problem solving that sometimes they can leave the rest of us in the dust with little explanation as to their quickly systematized plan. Someone with the WHY of Make Sense is great to have on a team because even if they don’t know how to use your new platform, design a website, use photoshop, or anything, they WILL figure it out and they will have it mastered in the blink of an eye.

They’re Quick

If you find yourself working in close quarters with someone with the WHY of Make Sense, as either a coworker or a boss, make sure you let them know that you may need a little bit more information (especially if your WHY.os does not include Make Sense) than they may originally tend to give. I have often found they are so quick to understand situations or a task that they end up giving minimal instructions. Sometimes they may send you a task that make complete sense to them but upon not having the WHY of Make Sense, you may find yourself thinking “I have no idea what this means”. If you find yourself in one of those situations, let them know that you require a bit more of an explanation for a task and that although they’ve made sense of it in their mind, you may not work that way.

Use Their Strengths To Your Advantage

Those with the WHY of Make Sense make both a great coworker and leader. If you are having trouble coming up with a plan of action, you can take your ideas or thoughts to them and they can immediately tell you what you need to do. Often I find if I am struggling with the order of operations for a project they can easily and quickly see it from a bird’s eye view and come up with a step by step process. If they are a leader within your organization they are great at seeing the overarching picture, how to execute the fastest, and can easily spot gaps. They are excellent problem solvers and you can always count on them.

Summary

When working with someone with the WHY of Make Sense you have to understand that they are extremely quick witted and may be 20 steps ahead. Use this strength of theirs to your advantage. Go to them for help, go to them for direction, and go to them for their ability to make sense. They are great achievers, doers, and problem solvers. You are sure to succeed with those with the WHY of Make Sense on your team.

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WHY

So You Work With a Trust…

 

 

If you’ve been following the WHY blog for a while you know that my WHY is Trust. This could be why my Trust related blogs seem to gain the most traction, but I digress. If you work with someone with the WHY of Trust, there are a few things that I want to make you aware of…

 

Firstly, let’s talk about the elephant in the room, we have the WHY of Trust because we have thick skin but deep down can be hurt easily. If you are critiquing their work, make sure you let them know that this is just to help them and not because you can’t count on them to do it. If someone with the WHY of Trust feels that you don’t believe they can do the task at hand or the project – they will either be extremely offended or hurt which in turn can damage that working relationship in the future.

 

Secondly, due dates, now I do most of my best work under the pressure clock, others may not work this way, but if a coworker were to ask a Trust over and over again if something will get done by a certain date it can make them feel as if they don’t trust them to get it done. If you have a coworker with the WHY of Trust, just know, they WILL get it done and you do not have to worry. We can’t bare the thought of letting someone down.

 

On that note, if you are their coworker and do not have the WHY of Trust, they are counting on you to be there and do what you say you are going to do also, to pull your own weight. They believe it is about the relationship, the give and the take, and the combined effort. Do not be wishy washy with them or that Trust will continuously diminish until it is gone.

 

On a different note, something that can be important to note, is those with the WHY of Trust do believe that relationships are some of the most important things in the world to them, including in the work place. They will take the time to be your friend, to ask you questions about your life, and to grab coffee outside of work. For others they prefer to keep work relationships strictly about work, but this can be hard for those with the WHY of Trust to separate. They truly care about people and who they see/talk to on a day to day basis. And when a team member leaves the workplace suddenly, without talking to them about it first, it can feel blindsiding to them.

 

All in all, if you work with a Trust, you have someone you can rely on, someone who is loyal to the company, and someone you can call a friend.

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Business WHY.os Contribute WHY

So You Work With A Contribute…

 

Whether you work closely with a Contribute coworker or have a Contribute boss, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. Not all of the WHYs are quite so kind, giving, and caring in the workplace. When it comes to having a Contribute in your professional life there are a few things you need to know:

 

They love to help

 

Contributes are there for you and they are there for the company. They want to feel like they are bringing as much to the table as possible so that their contributions are seen. Those with the WHY of Contribute find it thoroughly rewarding to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They love team interaction, collaboration, and uplifting the team. If you ask for their input  or their help – you will get a yes. 

 

Know when to not ask them for help

 

If you know anything about those with the WHY of Contribute, it is that they are all about adding value where they can. They want to be a part of the cause and they never want to let someone (or the team) down. This can be a downfall for Contributes as they aren’t the best at saying no. You can end up burdening them or overwhelming them with work if you’re not careful. Be sure if you are going to ask them for help that you make sure they have the capacity to do so first. 

 

Praise their Hard work 

 

As much as a Contribute will never ask for it, and may deny it for fear of drawing too much attention to them – let them know when they’ve done great work. If they helped you with something, thank them. If they kicked butt on a project, let them know. If they brought a smile to your work day, smile back. A little goes a long way with Contributes and they do more behind the scenes than people realize – just to help the team. 

 

If you are lucky enough to work side by side or in collaboration with a Contribute, let their hard work be noticed, don’t take advantage of their desire to give selflessly, and let them lead from time to time – they actually make great leaders!

 

–Shoutout to my own Contribute coworkers – you know who you are – thank you for always being willing to take on tasks, step up, step in, and do some amazing work! We couldn’t do what we love without you.–
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WHY

So You’re in a Relationship with a Clarify…

“Because answers exist only to questions…”
-Mungara Tarou Krishnamurti

If you are in a relationship with someone with the WHY of Clarify that quote probably hits home.  Those with the WHY of Clarify need to be completely clear and need to have answers to their questions if they are going to move forward. Although making sure they are clear is important, hence the questions, they also need to make sure you fully understand as well. This is very important to them in order to keep everyone on the same page and avoid upsets.

Now, we all knew that person in class who asked endless questions and we wished they would just let the teacher, the class, and everyone move on. Looking back, they probably had the WHY of Clarify. Now, dating this person can be tricky at times because if you don’t need a lot of information to move forward – like Simplify or Make Sense – then this may be frustrating for you. This is when you must ask your Clarifying significant other what they actually need from you to be clear.  Knowing your significant other has the WHY of Clarify is important because they often go above and beyond in explanations with metaphors, analogies, and stories to make sure you understand. If you don’t see this quirk as a positive then it may be overbearing.

Being in a relationship with someone with the WHY of Clarify has a lot of positive as well. In making sure you both are clear, they are making sure you are both on the same page, they are making sure you are a team. This can lead to little misunderstandings and the ability to move forward within the relationship both positively and confidently. As well, you will always know where they stand, that they are clear on the relationship, their decisions, and they’ve thought everything through. If they haven’t you’ll know – because there will be questions!

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WHY

So You’re in a Relationship with a Simplify…

 

One would assume being in a relationship with someone with the WHY of Simplify would result in… a simple relationship. But just because their WHY is Simplify – doesn’t mean that will jive with your WHY. It does not mean it will be simple.

If you have seen the movie Inside Out, do you remember the part at the beginning when they say, “Do you ever look at someone and wonder what is going on inside their head?” I often find when interacting with someone with the WHY of Simplify – it is hard to tell what they are thinking when they give such short, direct, and simple answers. As someone with the WHY of Trust and building relationships, I find myself wanting a little more substance than a “yes” or “no” response. If you don’t have the WHY of Simplify, you may find yourself wanting a bit more information as well.

It is important to understand that your significant other isn’t being rude, short, or unwilling to open up. They just simply live life in a simple format, including how they speak. It doesn’t mean that they don’t care either, they just believe it is the most effective way to communicate and that “fluff” isn’t necessary.

There are many positives to being in a relationship with a Simplify as well. There is usually minimal drama, and a minimal need for attention as that can often feel too excessive and extra. They are happy with the simplicities in life and finding joy in the small things. They are generally easy going and find it easy to agree on decisions. Date nights will be simple, fun, and all about the two of you!