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Systemic Coach Training 2: Goalwork & Planning

Advanced Coach Training © Martyn Carruthers

Coaching clients may be individuals - or relationship systems such as a partnerships, families or teams. Systemic coaching usually begins with defining goals, the current situation and defining steps from here to success. Sounds simple? Not at all. Goal definition (Goalwork) is crucial to all forms of coaching, counseling and therapy, yet it is often ignored by helping professionals.

Systemic 2: Goalwork & Planning

This experiential training is a stand-alone course in goal definition and success planning. It is primarily for coaches, counselors, therapists and other helping professionals. Systems 2 is also the second segment of our coach training, following the systemic relationship diagnosis taught on Systems 1. Together with systems 2, this provides a practical basis for the more advanced coach training to follow.

Forward progress only works as a strategy if you are sure which way is forward!

This course provides you with practical information, demonstrations and exercises to help you coach people to define what they want and to make effective plans to their goals. On this experiential training you learn to find goals and plan a sequence of systemic coaching sessions:

1. Build basic trust
2. Use mini-metaphors
3. Ask useful goal questions
4. Respond to answers from goal questions
5. Make goal diagnosis: "How does this person respond / feel / think?"
6. Differentiate between internal & external goals
7. Dissolve simple conflicts to coach decisions
8. Dissolve non-verbal objections to increase congruence
9. Dissolve verbal objections to promote harmony
10. Continue goalwork following spontaneous trance

1. Build Basic Trust

Effective telephone coaching requires credibility and trust. Until you can show that you are trustworthy, people may avoid discussing meaningful goals and emotional blocks. Trust provides a basis for quality coaching. Don't just show people your certificates or use psychological tricks ... earn their trust.

2. Ask Goal Questions

Learn how to ask effective goal questions in many ways. The question "What do you want?" is simple and to the point, yet rarely elicits single, specific, congruent goals. During Goalwork coaching you learn how to ask people for goals in many ways and use whatever answers are offered.

3. Respond to Answers to Goal Questions

A basic goal question, "What do you want?" is simple and can be answered in many ways. Most answers, however, indicate how people think and do not provide specific, congruent goals. Most people use combinations of responses to provide answers that may sound like goals, but may lack the basic conditions of useful goals: single, positive, specific, timed statements of intent. Learn how to respond 12 types of responses as you coach people how to define what they want.

4. Goal Diagnosis: How does this person think?

Although goal questions are to help people define goals, most of the time you get information about how people perceive and evaluate their world. People will show and tell you their thinking and emotional habits, their beliefs, values and sense of life. This diagnostic information allows you to fine-tune your questions, while preparing you for about the number and complexity of their steps to their goals.

5. Differentiate between Internal States & External Goals

External goals exist in the physical world, and internal goals refer to attitudes, feelings or conditions. "I want a new BMW" is a very different type of goal to "I want to feel confident about my driving" and requires a different sequence of models.

6. Dissolve simple conflicts to make decisions

Although goal statements are primarily verbal, they are almost always accompanied by non-verbal signals. Some exceptions are people who are highly dissociated (see lost identity) or professional actors, who may appear to give no signals.

7. Dissolve non-verbal objections

Nonverbal objections are unconscious communications - often accompanying goal statements. They range from sweeping gestures to tiny body movements. Most verbal objections are also accompanied by non-verbal signals. These signals indicate congruence and provide valuable information about a person's objections to their own goals. Exceptions include people who are trained avoid showing non-verbal signals and people who are highly dissociated (see lost identity). Nonverbal objections often concern missing resources or unpleasant consequences.

8. Dissolve verbal objections

People's answers often include common verbal objections - to you, to your questions or to their own answers. Some forms of of these objections are

1. "Yes - No" (Verbal "Yes" and a non-verbal objection)
2. "Yes, but ..." (Verbal "Yes" and a verbal objection)
3. Drowsiness - avoids communication by going to sleep
4. Criticism (Verbal attack - perhaps offered as advice or help)
5. Flattery (undue praise - perhaps offered as bait for some desired favor)

Result of Goalwork

Our systemic goalwork typically leads to either:

1. Well-defined plans of intermediary goals leading to important goals, or
2. States similar to trance in which people search for resources internally.

1. Plan a sequence of goal steps (or coaching sessions)

Learn how to plan multi-session coaching for people with situations that cannot be fully resolved or goals that cannot be achieved in a single session.

Learn how to coach people to use both conscious and unconscious resources to make effective plans for achieving congruent goals. You can learn:

2. Continue Goalwork in Trance

Although the goal of our goalwork is a well-specified goal and a workable plan, if asked for details, many people will spontaneously show a physiology associated with spontaneous trance as they seek appropriate answers. Systems 3 coach training offers many tools for continuing goalwork in trance.

Do you want to coach people to dissolve success and relationship issues, and understand what makes sense in life? Do you want to help people build success and quality relationships?
Or do you want telephone coaching?

Copyright © Martyn Carruthers 1996-2010 All rights reserved. Soulwork Systemic Coaching was primarily developed by Martyn Carruthers. We coach and train people to define and achieve goals, to resolve emotional blocks and to improve relationships. This information is for your general knowledge only. Please consult a physician about medical conditions and before changing any medical treatment. You must get Martyn's written permission to post or publish his work.