Trusting Your Client No Matter How Tough the Challenge Is

When your client is facing challenges in their life and expressing their discomfort or pain, as their coach do you:

• Feel yourself wanting to rescue them out of their pain?
• Find yourselves searching for solutions so that they move quickly out of their challenge?
• Find yourself letting go of your coaching skills, and instead giving advice or leading them towards your solution?

As professionals who support people to move from where they are now to where they want to be, it is incredibly inspiring to watch our clients as they move towards creating their version of success. And it is even more rewarding as we observe them living it and moving forward with their lives. It is easy to trust our clients when they are feeling fabulous about the changes they are bringing into their lives.

And, on the other hand, when our clients are faced with what seem to be enormous challenges, sometimes we may get caught up with the drama of our client’s lives believing we are responsible for getting our clients out of their issues and problems.

At Empower World, we believe when we expand our potential, as well as experiencing the joy that can come with this, we know the stretch to move beyond the comfort zone of the pain or pleasure we have been so used to may sometimes be incredibly fearful.

It’s at this time it’s critical to keep at the forefront of our mind one of Empower World’s coach teachings: each and every client is ‘whole, resourceful, wise, creative, imaginative and have the answers inside within themselves.’

When we focus on this principle, and see our clients this way, it supports the client to trust in themselves and learn powerful lessons from whatever it is they are experiencing: whether it be separation, loss, failure, health issues, mindset challenges such as sadness, apathy, anger and so on.

This approach to our clients supports them to take responsibility, stand in their own power and face the challenges head on. If we ignore this principle, and instead rush to rescue the client or pull them out of whatever they are experiencing, we no longer become coaches who can empower. Instead we disempower our clients.

Here are some ways to support you to be powerful as a coach – to manage yourself and to trust your client as leader of their own lives:

1. Breathe.
2. Be present, listening whole heartedly to your client’s verbal and non verbal clues.
3. Trust that the client can deal with whatever they are facing right now.
4. Get curious with your client and ask deeper questions to create new awareness for themselves.
5. Practice empathy and compassion.
6. Reflect on your beliefs about the client or the client’s situation - notice if they are empowering or disempowering.
7. Allow silence to be in the coaching conversation and provide space to allow your clients to just be wherever they are right now.

Listen to this week’s podcast where Jeanine and Marie share how important it is to truly trust your client; believing we all have everything we need within us and we are one hundred percent responsible for our lives – our choices and experiences.

That means, our clients have the keys to manage whatever situations they are facing so they can be in the driver’s seat of their lives. Marie and Jeanine share essential tips and tools to manage yourself as a coach and support your clients to tap into their own creativity.

Episode-86 can be found on ‪iTunes or ‪on Stitcher.

Be Empowered.