4 Steps to Create More Coaching Breakthroughs

It takes work, inspiration and dedication to become a life or career coach. Initially, your primary focus is to acquire the skills to help others.

But when you’re starting your coaching business, the new objective is supporting your clients and achieving more coaching breakthroughs.

To be a successful coach, you will need to have a plentiful source of positivity for your clients and you too will also need to lead a life that reflects your teachings. Below we’ll walk through the four crucial practices to help guarantee your clients to grow and prosper in their coaching journey with you:

1. A Shift From Transactional to Transformational Thinking

Every single human being is a master in rationalization. How many times have you found a “good” reason to explain a particularly destructive behavior?

As a coach, your first instinct might be to get your client to commit to specific steps to minimize a particular unproductive pattern. You might feel like you're giving them valuable advice, but this commitment rarely lasts.

These self-sabotaging patterns have likely been there for years and can’t be fixed with a transactional or problem-solving strategy. What you need is to provide a transformational approach.

This work involves identifying the holes in the client's logic, confronting fears and needs, and challenging the constructs holding them back. Shining a light on these issues also means being prepared to deal with discomfort and emotional outpourings.

4 Steps to Create More Coaching Breakthroughs

2. Listen – Even to the Silence

What does it mean to be an active listener? As a coach, you must be fully present when your client is talking. If you're focused on formulating the perfect answer in your mind while they are speaking, truth behold, you’re not really listening.

Also, if they’re taking their time to give you an answer, let them. Don’t rush the response by asking more questions. Silence is an underrated tool in coaching.

Let go of your need to fill up space with words. Let them search for the answer in silence and watch for the cues that will tell you they're ready for you to jump in.

3. Ask, Don’t Tell

There's a common life coaching pitfall to avoid at all costs – thinking that it's your job to tell your clients what to do. In some cases, they might even ask you to do so.

Often, it might seem easier and more effective to give them a list of ideas and simply point them in the direction you feel would be best for them. That’s not how it works, though. Your job is to inquire, not instruct.

It’s also to ask questions that will help them identify their problem and purpose. The best way to achieve this outcome? Ask open-ended questions.

4. There’s No Room for Judgement

You must have heard this one before, but it's worth repeating. Put yourself in the shoes of your client for a moment. They've reached out because they're struggling in one or multiple areas in their life.

These issues have likely brought about feelings of shame, guilt and fear. Think about how vulnerable they are feeling and how hard it might be for them to share these things with you – a stranger.

Your task is to offer compassion, understanding, and above all, a complete lack of judgment. You might even say a radical absence of judgment. If your clients feel like you're criticizing or judging them, they’ll be too guarded to make a breakthrough.

Instead, focus on creating a safe space where they can be open and honest about their challenges.

Cultivating Authenticity for Better Coaching Results

This works both ways. Don’t be afraid to use storytelling and share your personal life struggles with your clients. It could help them see that they aren’t alone - and that they too, can overcome their problems.

Moving towards transformational thinking, active listening, asking the right questions, and other practices mentioned will help you immensely in your coaching business. Nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction when you finally see that breakthrough you’ve been working on. If you’ve just started your coaching business and want to walk through how to create more coaching breakthroughs, I’ve worked with 5000+ clients worldwide and would love to chat with you some more. Book a free consultation here!