Creating a Shift in Awareness

February 08, 2022 by John Andrew Williams

Creating a Shift in Awareness

Coaching’s brilliance lies in helping clients shift awareness. Clients are much more likely to follow through on challenging action steps if those actions come from an aha-moment. Such an insight gives a new dimension to the action step.

The beautiful aspect of coaching is how subtle, yet powerful shifting awareness can be for your client. The primary tool coaches have to do so is asking powerful questions based in curiosity.

Recently I gave a talk at the San Antonio International Coach Federation (ICF) Chapter. My topic was Sparking Insights from the Marketing to the Completion of a Coaching Relationship. The focus was on creating awareness, the eighth core competency identified by the ICF.

We explored it through each aspect of a coaching relationship, from what shift in awareness you want your website visitor to experience to what shift in awareness you want your client to experience as you complete your coaching relationship.

To give you a taste of the power of coaching, let’s shift awareness right now.

Here’s one of my favorite coaching sequences.

Think of it like a ‘coaching move’ if this were an athletic event.

I invite you to write your answers to the questions down on paper. There’s a certain magic when you take that extra little step of putting thoughts on paper, like in a coaching session when you’re speaking out loud.

1. Start with a goal. What’s one important thing you’d like to accomplish within the next week?
2. Let’s bring in the problem. What’s the main sticking point standing in your way?
3. Let’s shift awareness just a little more inward. What happens when you look at the problem?
4. Now let’s take big shift in awareness. What’s the problem trying to teach you about yourself?

From this perspective the problem becomes an asset, here as a challenge to make you stronger, faster, better. The problem is your jungle-gym to hone your skills and gain more stamina.

From such a perspective, what’s your action step?

As someone who’s been steeped in coaching concepts for nearly two decades, the shift from stuck to learning, from frustration to determination still takes time. As any learned skill, the more you shift your awareness, the better you get at it.

I’d love to hear what you shifted in the comments. :)

View the next blog Seeking Feedback