Chapter9: Design Thinking

OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
o	Describe design thinking and its connection to coaching
o	Describe the process of designing a coaching agreement with the client
o	Describe the process of designing a vision within a coaching session
o	Describe the process of designing three-month and weekly goals within a coaching session
Introduction to Planning
There are few human endeavors that succeed without investing the time and effort to develop realistic and inspiring plans. In the workplace, planning is the basis for forward progress, change, and transformation. Accordingly, planning and goal setting are among the International Coach Federation’s (2014) core coaching competencies. Realistic and inspiring plans also provide the framework for clients to improve their health and wellness.
Wellcoaches has designed and refined a visioning, planning, and goal setting process for coaches to use with clients: well-suited but not limited to the journey toward mastery of health and well-being. Not only does it assist clients in establishing new life habits and making behavioral changes that last, clients also learn life skills that enable change and build the capacity for future change. Coaches assist clients in developing well-conceived plans through the creation of a compelling vision—one that strongly beckons—three-month goals designed to lead to that vision, and weekly behavioral goals that generate steady and incremental progress.
The Nature of Design Thinking
Design thinking, a concept born of the world of architects and artists, provides some important principles for co-creating plans with coaching clients. Like architects, coaches support clients in creating a clear vision of what they want to build and help make plans to create strong foundations and frameworks on which to build. In the design process, the coach as “architect” takes a solution-focused approach, incorporating both analysis and imagination. According to Nelson and Stolterman (2012), “Design is the action of bringing something new and desired into existence—a proactive stance that resolves or dissolves problematic situations by design.” This collaborative state requires open-ended inquiry, mindful listening, and empathy above all. The coach as “designer” doesn’t come to the design stage with a predetermined idea of what the client’s vision and goals should be. Instead, coaches honor the principles of design that rely on the following strategies (Brown, 2008):
o	Empathy: Seeing the world through the eyes of the client by encouraging the client to tell his or her own story and listening for the perspectives the client has to share. The coach listens for the spoken and unspoken, checking out intuitions and tapping into the creativity of the client.
o	Optimism: The coach assumes that no matter how challenging the constraints of the client’s situation, there is always a solution, and the client is capable of success. Much like the anticipatory principle of appreciative inquiry, a coach who uses design thinking holds a positive image of the future on behalf of the client.
o	Collaboration: The design thinking approach acknowledges the value of the collaborative nature of inspiration and design. Similar to the constructionist principle of appreciative inquiry and lessons learned from social cognitive theory, there is recognition of the power of two or more brains working toward a grand design which, in the case of coaching, is the grand design for one’s life!
o	Experimentalism: “Significant innovations don’t come from incremental tweaks. Design thinkers pose questions and explore constraints in creative ways that proceed in entirely new directions,” states Brown (2008). In the process of creating a great vision and subsequent goals, this means that both coach and client must let go of the idea that the first idea is the best idea. This opens up the opportunity for prototype testing, evaluation, and redesign along the way.
Designing the Coaching Program
The startup of a coaching program sets the tone for the entire coaching relationship both by establishing trust and rapport and by creating an inspiring and engaging vision and goals on which a client will work for weeks and months to come. The design of the relationship—including the principles of empathy, positivity, creative collaboration, and a learning and growth mindset through experimentation—is ideally conveyed to the client at the outset.
Designing the Coaching Agreement
The first session is an opportunity to ask a few “get to know you” questions related to the client’s occupation, family, hobbies, physical activities, or daily routine and to find areas of commonality between coach and client. The coach can briefly share his or her own biography but should avoid talking too long or too much about him or herself so as not to take the focus off of the client and the client’s agenda for coaching.
It is also an opportunity to convey the coach’s heartfelt passion about the work as well as to describe relevant education and experience. Clients can tell when the coach is reciting lines, and it does not sound genuine. Before beginning the coaching session, ask “What more do you want to know about me before we begin?”
Of course, the underlying reason for these “warm up” conversations is to establish a sense of connection between coach and client. Humans have a need to belong, which includes a perception that the other feels a genuine concern and has a long-term interest in being connected (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). For clients to become self-determining beings, they need to feel connected to others and experience a sense of belonging “with” another (Deci & Ryan, 2002). The coaching relationship is above all a collaborative partnership with deep respect for the talents, strengths, and skills that each person brings to it.
Describe the Role of the Coach
The first session is a critical time to explain or remind the client of the difference between education and coaching. Whereas educators have information, expertise, and wisdom that they want to share with their students, coaches enable clients to discover a lot of that for themselves. On occasion and when appropriate, coaches may provide expert advice or knowledge during a coaching session (Wolever et al., 2013). Most of the time, however, coaches will listen, ask questions, and reflect on what they are hearing in ways that promote client learning, growth, and movement. That is the coach approach—it’s a personalized learning system which enables clients to find their own answers and achieve exceptional results even in the face of challenges. The coach can share his or her confidence that this approach often assists clients in reaching higher than they would otherwise. It is even better when this confidence is based on a coach’s track record of client success.
There Is No One “Right” Way
It is crucial that clients realize they are not getting a cookie-cutter approach. With regard to supporting a client’s autonomy and competence, the kind of connection that grows out of a coaching relationship is the kind that is organically shaped based on the present needs of the client. A masterful coach does not apply a “one-size-fits-all” template to the client moving through the change process. This is why masterful coaches rely on a variety of theories and processes, such as self-determination (Deci & Ryan, 1985); positive psychology (Peterson, 2006); appreciative inquiry (Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005); nonviolent communication (Rosenberg, 2005); motivational interviewing (Miller & Rollnick, 2012); emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1996); design thinking (Brown, 2008); and flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). No single model can provide all of the tools needed to support the complexity of the dynamics of change in human beings impacted by a multitude of factors within their psyches and in their environments. Coaches spend a lifetime adding to their toolboxes in order to continually improve their client outcomes.
Highlight the Promise to Build and Maintain Trust
One of the most crucial ways to build trust is through responsible and respectful record keeping. Being clear about policies of confidentiality and record keeping assures that coaches respect the client’s right to privacy and are fundamentally prudent in the protection of those rights (within the limits of institutional regulations and/or laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). This extends to those records created, stored, accessed, transferred, and disposed of by coaches during the course of working with clients. Clients base their trust in a coach on the assessment of the coach’s benevolence, honesty, openness, reliability, and competence (Tschannen-Moran, 2004). The coach’s commitment to maintaining confidentiality is key to maintaining this trust.
Agree on Coaching Principles
It is important for coaches and clients to agree and commit to some key principles for coaching programs before or during the first coaching session (Whitworth, Kimsey-House, Kimsey-House, & Sandhal, 2007).
For example, the coach and client may consider agreeing on the following principles at the onset of the coaching relationship:
Coach:
o	I will help my client identify and fully engage his or her strengths on the path to a better future.
o	I will ask provocative questions and encourage my client to arrive at his or her own answers whenever possible and co-create answers otherwise.
o	I will encourage realistic expectations and goals.
o	I will be direct and firm with constructive reflections when needed.
o	I will support my client in brainstorming creative possibilities for moving forward and navigating roadblocks.
o	When appropriate, with permission, and within my scope of practice, I will offer advice, instruction, and resources for improving health, well-being, and performance.
o	I will be punctual and responsive.
o	I will recognize early whether the chemistry with a client is good or not optimal. If not optimal, I will refer the client to another coach.
o	I will acknowledge when my client has an issue that is outside my scope of knowledge and skills and recommend other resources.
o	I will send a summary of each coaching session, including vision and plan for client editing (or ask the client to do so).
Client:
o	I want to improve my level of health, well-being, or performance in life or work.
o	I am ready to take responsibility to make and sustain changes in at least one area.
o	I am ready to invest at least three months to make improvements.
o	I will be open and honest, and I will share personal information that is relevant to my health, well-being, and performance.
o	I am ready to become more self-aware.
o	I am curious and open to suggestions and trying new things.
o	I understand that setbacks are normal on the path of change and necessary in order to establish new mindsets and behaviors.
o	I will be punctual and responsive.
Whatever the language, it is recommended that the agreement established between the coach and client is in written form and revisited periodically to ensure that both parties are honoring the established boundaries and expectations. It is much easier to address concerns about the relationship based on principles which have already been agreed.
Startup Coaching Session
An initial coaching session is typically focused on gaining a good understanding of the client’s history, strengths, and goals as well as to start building a vision and plan. It is important to explain that the objectives for the first coaching session include discussing assessment results (if an assessment was part of the startup phase); learning more about the client’s priorities, strengths, goals, motivators, challenges, and resources; and supporting the client in developing a plan (including a vision, three-month behavioral goals, and several first-week goals). Because the initial coaching session is particularly impactful and can cover a lot of ground, it may require more time than subsequent coaching sessions, either designed as a longer initial session or divided over the course of several sessions. At their best, initial coaching sessions (Table 9.1) can range from 60 to 90 minutes, whereas subsequent sessions can range from 20 to 60 minutes (Moore, Tschannen-Moran, & Jackson, 2002).
Designing Visions
After coaches and clients have a good sense of each other and have developed trust and rapport, the next stage in the coaching relationship is to support the client in articulating and developing a compelling vision of his or her desired future self. Having clear goals is correlated with happiness and life satisfaction (Headey, 2008), whereas having a vision of one’s best self enhances well-being and increases hope (King, 2001). A magnetic and beckoning vision contributes to the motivational energy that moves clients forward in the stages of change.
By connecting clients with a vision that considers their best experiences, core values, and generative conditions, it becomes easier for clients to imagine the way forward to a target, hence confidence grows too.
At their best, health, wellness, and life visions are as follows:
o	Grounded (building on current success)
o	Bold (stretching the status quo)
o	Desired (what people truly want)
o	Palpable (as if they were already true)
o	Participatory (involving many stakeholders) (Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005)
A compelling vision identifies what people want rather than what they don’t want. It’s hard to see and feel the absence of something; in contrast, it’s hard to ignore and resist the presence of something. This holds true for wellness and every other area of life. Wellness is not the absence of disease or the opposite of illness (World Health Organization, 2014); wellness is rather the presence of well-being and the culmination of life and health-giving practices that include mindfulness, self-compassion, energy, and all that contributes to thriving. Thriving results from tapping into one’s special talents, strengths, and purpose (Benson & Scales, 2009), having a growth mindset oriented toward learning (Dweck, 2006) and the ability to set and achieve the goals needed to grow.
Looking at wellness holistically, considering the breadth of possibility for human thriving is exciting, especially when clients have a personalized description of what they want, and believe they can do and be in the longer term (six months, one year, two years, five years, etc.). Successful coaching programs begin at this place, discovering through appreciative inquiries and reflections the values, outcomes, behaviors, motivators, strengths, and structures that clients want to realize through coaching.
Coaches avoid analyzing the causes of obstacles, barriers, setbacks, and challenges as though they were deficits to be fixed or problems to be solved. It is not helpful to ruminate for long or try to solve “why” the client has not achieved his or her dreams yet. This can generate a downward spiral of increasing discouragement and resistance. It is better to assist clients in generating new possibilities for meeting and overcoming challenges by staying positive, appreciating strengths, brainstorming alternatives, and mobilizing resources. It is empowering for clients when coaches use verbal persuasion to communicate confidence in the client’s ability to move forward (Bandura, 1977).
In the early stages of change, where challenges loom large and may appear overwhelming, it’s especially important to express empathy for client emotions and needs as well as express confidence that they have what it takes to succeed. This will both validate clients and reconnect them with their capacity for change and growth; it will shift the conversation in a positive direction. In the later stages of change, after clients already have a measure of self-efficacy, clients will need to brainstorm and plan action strategies, including approaches to tackle emerging challenges that will be easier to handle given the higher level of self-efficacy.
The Importance of Motivation
As clients explore the most inspirational and feasible goals, it’s important to tie those goals back to a client’s reasons for change, which underlie their visions. Understanding the reasons behind the goals helps clients stay on track. For example, if a client wants to lose 10 pounds, it is important to uncover how this is connected to the vision of his or her best self (e.g., “You want to lose 10 pounds because . . . ?”). Once the reasons are pinned down, explore whether the motivator is strong enough to keep a client on track (“Is this enough to get you to the finish line? Will this reason keep you on track to make the necessary changes?”). It is important to help a client identify reasons that are strong positive motivators. Different prompts and motivators work for each client. For some, the motivator might be wanting to play with their grandchildren. In this case, posting a photo of the grandchildren on the refrigerator may help. For many, an eating log may motivate them to make conscious choices instead of eating mindlessly or in reaction to emotions. Some may want to add an avoidance motivator, such as avoiding loss of eyesight caused by diabetes. Keeping a picture of full health in mind can be a powerful motivator. Clients can breathe life into the motivator by creating a picture that they can summon later when they are making decisions between health-giving behaviors and less healthy ones.
Listen attentively for the use of words such as obstacles, barriers, setbacks, risks, or challenges. Explore what they mean by those words and what will enable them to move forward in order to achieve their goals, not just immediately but also in the long term. Staying focused on solutions and possibilities, a coach can assist clients in meeting their goals by asking questions such as:
o	Tell me more about what is driving you to accomplish this goal. What is important to you about this goal? What results are you looking for?
o	What have been your best experiences in accomplishing goals like this in the past?
o	What values would be represented by your accomplishing this goal?
o	For whom do you want to make this change?
o	What structures and supports could assist you in being successful at reaching this goal?
o	To what extent is this scaled appropriately with just the right amount of challenge? (Moore et al., 2002)
Although each of these topics will support the creation of a compelling vision, the importance of the client’s connection to their autonomous motivation cannot be overstated (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Too often we’ve seen a client’s first “design” of a vision being driven by external forces and validation, based on what others want of them or what they feel they “should” want for themselves. These visions aren’t deeply rooted enough to plan and nourish goals that lead to sustainable action.
As clients work on their visions, the following questions can assist clients with discovering not only their long-term wishes but also with beginning to formulate their three-month goals. All of these questions will never be used with any one client on any one occasion (or the clients would feel interrogated); each of these questions add value, however, and may be useful, as clients seek to distill their vision into a provocative proposition (Tables 9.2 and 9.3).
o	What would you like your health, well-being, or performance in life or work to look like in three months, one year, two years, five years, etc.?
o	What do you believe is possible?
o	What are the top three values in your life? How is your well-being linked to these values?
o	What are the top three goals in your life? How is your well-being linked to these goals?
o	What part of your life is most important to you? How does well-being fit into that?
o	What would you like more of in your life? How is that linked to your well-being?
o	What would you like less of in your life? How is that linked to your well-being?
o	What excites you? How can we link that to your well-being?
o	What motivators might enable you to overcome your inertia and start moving forward?
o	What would your life be like if you achieved your vision? How would that feel?
o	What would your life be like if you do not achieve your vision? How would that feel?
o	What is the best-case scenario?
o	What have you tried and accomplished in your life that is similar to this goal?
o	What are some new possibilities that you haven’t considered before?
Table 9.2 Protocol for Designing a Wellness Vision
Value: Explain the value of creating a wellness vision: A vision is a compelling statement of who you are and what health-promoting, life-giving behaviors you want to do consistently.
What’s working now: Ask about strengths and current successes: What are you currently doing to support your health and well-being? About what elements of your life do you feel best about? In what way did you contribute to making those true and/or possible?
Strengths: Collaborate to identify the client strengths: What are your success stories? What gives you pride? What qualities do you most appreciate about yourself?
Thrive: Identify ways a client can thrive: What makes you thrive? When are you most alive?
Important: Ask what is most important to the client right now: Given all that is going well, what are you wishing? What elements of your health and well-being do you want to improve?
Motivation: Discover the client’s motivators: What are the benefits of making changes now? What is the driving force behind the desire to change now? What do you treasure most about potential change?
Visualize: Support the client in visualizing his or her vision, and describe it in detail: What are the most important elements in your vision? Tell me what your vision looks like. Paint me a picture. What would you look and feel like at your ideal level of wellness? What kind of person do you want to be when it comes to your health and well-being?
Past successes: Discover previous positive experiences with elements of the vision: What have been your best experiences to date with the key elements of your vision—times when you felt alive and fully engaged? Tell one or two stories in detail.
Strengths to realize vision: Identify the strengths and values that could be used to reach the vision: Without being modest, what do you value most about your life? What values does your wellness vision support? What strengths can you draw on to help you close that gap and realize your vision? How can the lessons from your successes in life carry over to your current situation?
Major challenges hurting confidence: Identify obstacles to boosting confidence: What challenges do you anticipate having to deal with on the way to reaching your vision? (Talk through multiple possibilities and express empathy.) What concerns you most?
Strategies: Explore the strategies and structures (people, resources, systems, and environments) needed to navigate challenges and ensure success: What people, resources, systems, and environments can you draw to help you realize your vision and meet your challenges? What strategies may be effective in helping you realize your vision and meet your challenges? (Brainstorm and clarify multiple possibilities before focusing.)
Recap: Reflect and summarize what you have heard the client saying about his or her vision. Collaborate on a first draft statement that captures the vision in a way that is meaningful and compelling for them.
Commit: Ask the client to state and commit to the vision.
Table 9.3 Visualization Tool for Developing a Vision
This visualization exercise takes only five–10 minutes, and it can make a significant contribution, as clients seek to develop their visions.
o	Close your eyes, take a deep breath from the lower stomach, and slowly breathe out. (Use this as a transition throughout the exercise.)
o	In your mind, go to a quiet place where you feel comfortable, peaceful, strong, and confident. You feel relaxed. What does your quiet place look like? How do you feel being there? Notice what’s around you.
o	Picture yourself (one year, five years, etc.) from now. What does your health, fitness, or wellness look like? How do you look physically? What are you wearing? How does your body move? Notice any other changes in your life. Describe what you are doing, feeling, and thinking regarding your wellness.
o	Imagine that it is five years from now, and you have accomplished your goals. What does it feel like? What are you doing differently? What is the same? What did you do to get there? Who’s around you? What activities are you doing? Describe your health now. Who has helped you along the way?
o	Think of one key word to summarize this experience and/or your commitment to health, fitness, and wellness.
Open your eyes, and let’s discuss what you learned from the exercise. Debrief with a measure of confidence and an exploration of the strengths and resources clients can call on to make it so.
o	What do you think is the best possible outcome of our coaching together?
o	What do you think is the likely outcome of our coaching together?
o	What would you like the outcome of our coaching to be? (Moore et al., 2002)
Examples of Visions
Visions are best written in the present tense, as if they are already happening and in the client’s voice. A complete vision statement might sound something like this:
“I am strong, lean, and 20 pounds lighter, shopping for cute, attractive new clothes for my attractive body. I am happy with lots of energy to do whatever I feel like doing. My health is better, and I am open, more patient, and social. My motivators are feeling and looking great with bountiful energy. I also want to be around a long time for my parents, nieces, and nephews. When I face challenges, such as getting too busy, discouraged, overwhelmed, or stressed out, I pause, collect myself, and take doable steps to get back on track. Healthy eating, exercise, and handling stress well are important to me and within my grasp. Through ongoing, intentional, and realistic planning, I achieve my goals and realize my wellness vision.”
Or:
“My wellness vision is that I have healthy eating habits and set a good example for my children. I exercise regularly so that I am delaying aging and preserving my ability to function well in my older years. I look better and feel youthful.”
Or:
“I have plenty of strength and stamina so that I can play energetically with my grandchildren. I am in charge of my health and feel greater well-being and contentment. I am a non-smoker (for good) and enjoy life to the fullest.”
However, there is no one right way to craft a vision. Although many clients tend to choose a standard structure paragraph, some may resonate with acronyms or bullet points. For example:
o	Stable
o	True to self
o	Resilient
o	Optimistic
o	Nurtured by nature
o	Grateful
And some even prefer to craft visions through creative methods such as music, poetry, and art (Moore et al., 2002).
The bottom line is that the more clients connect with their values and motivators and feel that they “own” the vision, the more successful they will be in casting a vision that compels them to take and maintain action.
Making Visions Real: Designing Behavioral Goals
Compelling visions incorporate not only the desired outcomes but also the behaviors needed to achieve that outcome. When clients begin a coaching relationship, they typically know more about what they want (the outcomes) than about how they are going to get there (the behaviors). For example, they may say their goals are to maintain a healthy weight, increase their sense of calm, or exercise with gusto. These are outcome goals and they have their place, especially in the context of the vision statements. They reflect feelings, needs, values, and desires that can motivate and sustain behavior change. In and of themselves, however, outcome goals lead to behavior change when supported by a clear and compelling plan (Locke & Latham, 2002).
Without a clear plan, motivation alone does not propel clients into action, and it often withers in the face of adversity. With a clear plan, however, clients know what to do in order to achieve their desired outcomes and to make their visions a reality. What clients need is both willpower and waypower (Snyder, 2003).
Clear plans include behavioral goals which:
o	Encourage the client to take on a challenge that stretches them while meeting their potential skills and abilities
o	Enable clients to think about and identify the specific actions and behaviors they want to do next in working toward their vision, answering the question, “Now what?” (Miller, 2009)
o	Encourage clients to measure progress against their initial baseline behaviors, adjusting and redesigning along the way. Trial and correction, not trial and error, represents the coaching framework for action planning.
o	Are grounded in the client’s motivation, rooted in his or her values, strengths, and desires
o	Support self-efficacy and self-determination, providing opportunities to build competence and create connection (Deci & Ryan, 2002)
o	Enable coaches to measure success. Having evidence-based data is critical for establishing efficacy as well as credibility, not only in one’s coaching practice but also in the consumer and healthcare communities (Grant, 2005).
Is It SMART?
One formula to ensure that experiments are behavioral goals is the SMART acronym (Doran, 1981):
o	Specific
o	Measurable
o	Action-based
o	Realistic
o	Time-bound
Assisting clients with being specific about the actions and behaviors in which they will engage to reach their visions will increase their levels of success. Being specific about the details of how and when is crucial because it gives clients a time frame in which to accomplish the goal. (It is the difference between putting something on your schedule now versus “getting around to it” when there is time.) Creating measurable goals identifies when success is attained.
Break down the vision into actions or behaviors that clients want to be doing on a consistent basis in three months. Each week with the client, co-construct new incremental experiment steps that will assist him or her with moving closer and closer to the three-month goals. Remind clients early and often that gradual change leads to permanent change.
Realistic goal setting is essential to client success. If the goal is realistic, success will follow. Quick wins and victories are important. Being successful at achieving one goal helps clients move forward with other goals. Success builds self-efficacy and self-esteem. Nothing hinders the change process more than setting unrealistic and unachievable goals.
Why Set Goals?
Writers Locke and Latham (2002) have thoroughly researched the concept of goal setting over the course of many decades. To summarize a small section of their opus, “Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation: A 35-Year Odyssey”: Goals affect performance through four mechanisms. First, goals serve a directive function; they direct attention and effort toward goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities.
Second, goals have an energizing function. High-level goals lead to greater effort than do low-level goals. Third, goals affect persistence. When participants are allowed to control the time they spend on a task, hard goals prolong effort (LaPorte & Nath, 1976). Fourth, goals affect action indirectly by leading to the arousal, discovery, and/or use of task-relevant knowledge and strategies (Locke & Latham, 1990).
“Happiness requires having clear-cut goals in life that give us a sense of purpose and direction” (Miller, 2009). Even better, when a client has success with one goal, it raises self-efficacy and increases the potential for success in other areas.
However, as indicated in the Transtheoretical Model of Change, behavioral goals must be tailored to a person’s stage of change. Moving too quickly into action planning, particularly with clients in the early stages of change, will ultimately prove counterproductive. Until clients are ready, willing, and able to take action, it is important for coaches to stay in listening and inquiry mode and to assist clients with developing “thinking about,” “feeling about,” and/or “learning about” goals that will increase their readiness to change in a particular area.
Examples of such goals drawn from the Transtheoretical Model (Prochaska, Norcross, & DiClemente, 1995), appreciative inquiry (Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005), and motivational interviewing (Miller & Rollnick, 2012) include:
o	Remembering the best experiences one has had with health and wellness
o	Identifying the core values that govern one’s life
o	Noticing one’s energy in different environments
o	Thinking about and writing down the components of a wellness vision
o	Learning about the things that improve health and wellness.
o	Weighing the pros and cons of change versus staying the same
o	Thinking about the importance of making a change
o	Imagining what it would feel like to be in perfect health
Intermediate Behavioral Goals: The First Step in the Vision Quest
After a compelling vision has been articulated by your client or deferred until later, encourage the client to set goals that bring the vision closer to reality. The Wellcoaches training program encourages three-month goals as an intermediate step because it is long enough to make meaningful progress, establish some new habits, and experience the benefits, while short enough to stimulate a sense of urgency.
When working with clients to define their intermediate goals, the coach asks the client what they want to be doing consistently three (or one or two) months from now in each of the physical or mental wellness areas they included in their vision. Specific, manageable behavioral goals should be linked directly to a client’s vision. For example, if clients want to be fit and trim, ask what behaviors they want to be doing consistently that will enable them to achieve that outcome.
It is important to prioritize the goal areas by importance to the client, asking what matters most and why. Then, the coach and client can brainstorm and commit to specific three-month behavioral goals in the priority areas that will help them realize the vision. Before moving on to the action plan and experimental goals, clients should clearly state and summarize their goals as part of the process of verbal persuasion (Bandura, 1977).
Examples of Three-Month Behavioral Goals That Support Desired Outcomes
o	Desired Outcome: Improve cardiovascular health so that I live a long, active life.
o	Three-Month Behavioral Goal: I will do three 30-minute walking sessions each week, at 60%–70% of my maximal heart rate with my friend Jane.
o	Desired Outcome: I will increase bone density so that I am strong enough to hike the Appalachian Trail for my 70th birthday.
o	Three-Month Behavioral Goal: I will do two 20-minute strength-training sessions per week at the gym.
o	Desired Outcome: I will have peace of mind and stop taking blood pressure medicine.
o	Three-Month Behavioral Goal: I will write in my journal each evening three things that happened that day for which I am grateful and share them with my wife.
Designing Weekly Experiments
Start the discussion of the first action plan by focusing on the intermediate goals of highest priority, then work through other areas that are important to the client. For each area, the coach will ask clients what they want to do immediately, during the next week. Weekly goals enable clients to take small manageable steps toward their longer-term goals. Achieving these stepping stones is often a breakthrough in building a client’s confidence.
When it comes to weekly goals, being specific about the details of how and when is crucial because it helps clients pin down the details needed to accomplish the goal. Having a mastery experience with one goal builds a sense of efficacy and helps clients be more ready, willing, and able to move forward with other goals. Nothing hinders the change process more than setting unrealistic, unachievable goals. And “low goals,” as Locke and Latham (2002) call them, goals without enough challenge, produce low productivity and results.
Clients experience flow when their goals are challenging slightly beyond their skills and experience. That’s the zone for clients to enter as often as possible while working on their goals. This zone is that place which is neither too hard nor too easy but rather perfectly suited for client learning, growth, and success. Because client potential is often greater than the client recognizes, don’t be afraid to consider goals to which clients may exclaim, “No way!” Clients appreciate being called to go beyond what they%4  Clients appreciate being called to go beyond what they’re imagining. To assist clients with moving into this zone more frequently, the coach will encourage them to not use the words “try,” “may,” or “maybe.” It’s better to get clients to speak confidently of what they will do, even to the point of framing behavioral goals in the present tense, as if they were already fully true. This can positively shape client self-image and goal accomplishment (Tables 9.5 and 9.6) (Moore et al., 2002).
In addition to ensuring that goals are challenging, specific, measurable, and motivating, goals should:
o	Consider what is needed to support success. Address environmental factors, including the client’s support team and other systems that impact their successful implementation.
Table 9.5 Design First Experiment/Goals
o	Ask the client to choose a goal that is important.
o	Explore the structures (people, resources, systems, and environments) needed to ensure success.
o	Assist the client in designing a SMART behavioral goal.
o	Use a confidence ruler to improve the client’s confidence in reaching the goal.
o	Ask the client to restate the goal.
o	Affirm the client’s ability to achieve the goal.
o	Have client measure confidence. It is valuable to assess a client’s confidence in his or her ability to meet a goal by asking, “What is your confidence level on a scale of 0–10 for achieving this goal?” Explore why the client did not pick a lower number or what it would take to generate a higher number. If confidence is not high enough to support success, reevaluate the goal, and make changes and design strategies so that clients will feel confident in their ability to achieve it.
o	Measure goal importance. To assess if clients are ready, willing, and able to change, it is essential to determine how important a goal is to them. Ask “How would you rate the importance of this goal on a scale of 0–10?” Explore why they did not pick a lower number and what it would take to generate a higher number. If clients are not ready for change, express empathy and acceptance, and explore the conditions that would generate readiness so that they recognize them when they arrive.
The Role of Brainstorming in Goal Setting
Brainstorming, the generation of possibilities without censor, is an essential coaching skill and a fundamental part of generative moments in coaching. It is a time for coaches and clients to co-generate a wide variety of possible goals for consideration. For brainstorming sessions to be most effective, it’s important to:
o	Clarify the topic.
o	Clarify the output (what’s being generated).
o	Defer judgment.
o	Encourage bold, even wild ideas.
o	Build on what others say.
o	Be visual and specific.
o	Go for quantity.
o	Do it fast.
Brainstorming enables clients to develop creative approaches and their best plans before implementation. After multiple possibilities are generated, clients can explore each one in order to determine which are the most inspirational and feasible. Most importantly, the tone of the brainstorming conversation should be positive, demonstrating high regard for the client’s creativity and capabilities, as positivity leads to enhanced problem solving and insight (Subramaniam, Kounios, Parrish, & Jung-Beeman, 2009).
The Client Is in the Driver’s Seat
Be sure clients understand that they may turn away from any challenge or goal. It is always their choice. If they seem intrigued by a behavioral goal but intimidated by the challenge, encourage them to make a counterproposal that is more comfortable. The job of the coach is to find the balance between challenging clients to do more than they think they can do while encouraging a scaling back of goals that are out of reach. Perceptive listening is a great strategy to use in this situation and with goal setting in general. It will often promote pro-change talk, explore ambivalence, and set the groundwork to obtain a commitment.
Another way to unleash the client’s ability is to encourage him or her to have self-compassion through the process of goal setting. And, one pathway to self-compassion is changing perspectives about goals by thinking of them as “experiments.” Using the design thinking premise of experimentation, viewing goals as experiments to be tested and adjusted as needed allows clients to be more likely to be resilient through the challenges of trying new behaviors and skills.
Tracking and Measuring Outcomes Progress
Self-regulation theory (MacKenzie, Mezo, & Francis, 2012) suggests that the ability to monitor oneself is a key factor in goal achievement, whereas the use of tools (such as assessments) support autonomy, a key component in self-determination theory. Therefore, it is important not only to elicit qualitative feedback regarding client progress but also to track outcomes delivered by establishing new behaviors in objective, measurable terms. When setting goals, a variety of baseline measurements and tracking techniques can be used to:
o	Assist clients in tracking progress over time on selected outcomes (e.g., reduced weight or inches lost, improved life balance, better peace of mind, increased fitness, etc.)
o	Help clients stay motivated toward achieving their goals
o	Provide important group outcomes for a coaching practice and for the field of coaching as a whole
A combination of several tracking approaches is best because, in a given period, one measure may change, whereas another may not. Clients will be more motivated if they see positive changes in at least one behavior area through behavioral tracking.
COACHING CASE
Coach Carl: “You’ve come up with several goal ideas that are entirely possible for you to achieve. Great work! Let’s talk about how these might translate into action. Which of these do you think would be most beneficial to actually experiment with next week?“
Wendy Well: “You know, it may seem so simple, but the idea of taking a shower after work really sounds good.“
Coach Carl: “What about that appeals to you?“
Wendy Well: “There’s something about the water, the way it blocks out the sounds of the house, and it makes you feel so fresh.“
Coach Carl: “Sounds like it calms you too.“
Wendy Well: “Yes, there is almost nothing better than those first few minutes in the shower when the water feels hot, and you have finally gotten some time to yourself.“
Coach Carl: “Let’s take a minute and picture the evening when you come home and go straight to the shower before doing anything else. What else happens to enable you to do that?“
Wendy Well: “Well, the kids would have to be told—well, pretty much threatened—to leave Mommy alone for a few minutes.“
Coach Carl: “OK.“
Wendy Well: “Actually, they are very sweet and helpful. I’m sure if I told them what I was doing, they would try their best not to disturb me.“
Coach Carl: “Sounds like you have raised respectful, loving children.“
Wendy Well: “Thank you. I guess I would also need to tell my husband about my plan. He usually calls on his way home from work. And, I am usually in the middle of making dinner so he would have to wait to connect.“
Coach Carl: “So, to make this happen, you would need to inform your family about what you’re going to be doing and set expectations.“
Wendy Well: “Yes, I think that’s all.“
Coach Carl: “Let’s talk about how this would sound as a specific goal. We’ve been doing this for a few weeks now. How would you phrase the goal to be specific?“
Wendy Well: “OK, I will take a shower when I get home from work.“
Coach Carl: “How many days a week do you imagine yourself doing this?“
Wendy Well: “Let’s start with Monday and Friday right after work.“
Coach Carl: “And would you like to include what you mentioned about your family in phrasing this goal?“
Wendy Well: “Yes, I’ll do that tomorrow.“
Coach Carl: “Wonderful! And on a scale of 1–10, how confident are you that you’ll be successful with this goal?“
Wendy Well: “I’d say an 8.“
Coach Carl: “Awesome. What makes you say an 8?“
Wendy Well: “The image is just so fresh in my mind. I can remember how good it used to feel to have this habit, and I’m hoping it will have the same result now, 15 years later.“
Coach Carl: “It’s such a strong memory that you can almost put yourself there and believe you can do it again; that’s great. I’m sure you can too. Let’s talk about your other goal for next week. What goal would you like to set?“
Wendy Well: “I definitely want to get on the treadmill two days next week.”
Coach Carl: “OK, so which days would you like?“
Wendy Well: “I’d say Monday and Friday.“
Coach Carl: “And for how long?“
Wendy Well: “Let’s stick with 15 minutes.”
Coach Carl: “OK, so you will walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes on Monday and Friday. And what time would you like to do it?”
Wendy Well: “Well, I think my challenge was my tiredness during the evening time, so I want to try the morning.”
Coach Carl: “You want to do morning, especially because you had some success with that last week?”
Wendy Well: “Yes.”
Coach Carl: “And what time would you like?”
Wendy Well: “6:30 a.m.”
Coach Carl: “6:30 a.m. on Monday and Friday morning.”
Wendy Well: “Yes.”
Coach Carl: “And how confident are you in achieving that goal?”
Wendy Well: “I’d say a 6–7.”
Coach Carl: “That’s a great start—more than 50% confident. What stands between you and a confidence level of an 8?”
Wendy Well: “It’s just that 6:30 a.m. is pretty early. I know I’m going to have to really talk myself into getting out of bed.”
Coach Carl: “What would make it easier to talk yourself into getting out of bed?”
Wendy Well: “I need to be sure I’m not so tired to begin with. I think trying to get to bed at a more reasonable hour during the week, at least by 10 p.m., would help.”
Coach Carl: “So, if you got at least eight hours of sleep, you believe you would be able to get up earlier in the morning on Monday and Friday to exercise?”
Wendy Well: “Yes, yes definitely.”
Coach Carl: “And how will you feel after you exercise two days this week?”
Wendy Well: “Amazing. I will be so proud of myself, and I imagine I’ll have more energy.”
Coach Carl: “What is your level of confidence now?”
Wendy Well: “Definitely an 8–9.”
Over time, it is important to monitor which combination of tracking techniques will best assist the client in achieving success. During the initial sessions, ask the client which approaches they would prefer, and discuss which measurements they would like to track. It is best to start out agreeing on a few effective measurements and adjust measurements over time as motivation increases. Especially when clients have created mastery goals, or goals to develop or enhance success, they are more likely to take action to increase the chances of success, especially when supported by clear evidence (Halverson, 2010).
Ask for Feedback on Coaching Sessions
Finally, it is important both for the coach’s learning and the client’s growth for the coach to get feedback on the coaching session before ending an initial coaching session. Asking questions, such as the following, provides valuable insight into what the client wants from the coaching experience:
o	“What was the most valuable part of today’s session?”
o	“How could future coaching sessions best support your path?”
o	“Is there anything you’d like to change about our session?”
o	“What can I do differently to better serve you?”
Unless they are asked directly, clients typically do not tell you that they would like the coaching to be different. Clients may be thrilled by the startup coaching sessions but it’s best to inquire about their satisfaction in each session. The coach should continue getting feedback and fine-tuning the program. Requesting that the client convey feedback following the session, via email, is one way to encourage candor. If there are any doubts about the coaching chemistry, it is important to be courageous and address the concern. If the feeling is mutual, the client should be given full permission to seek another coach and be offered assistance with the process.
Putting It All Together
To summarize, coaches help clients design compelling and engaging visions to inspire motivation and then translate their visions into realistic behavioral action steps to improve self-efficacy, increase potential for success, and learn a key life skill—developing and implementing plans to improve health and well-being.
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