Here are a few tips that came out of a recent conversation with a client on how to get the most out of your coaching sessions.

1) Prep questions.
These are designed to help you tease out anything that’s getting in your way from hitting your sprint goals? Start with FACTs: anything you are Frustrated about, Avoiding, Complaining about, or Tolerating. Another way of thinking about this is – what are you talking about at dinner? What’s happening in your world that you’re trying to figure out or that you care about changing? What’s keeping you up at night?

2) Dream and explore.
Sometimes things are just going as they should. Maybe you don’t have anything major to get unstuck around and you’re wondering – what can I use my coaching time for this week? Use it to dream and vision. What will you do once you hit your goals? What comes next? What else are you excited about in your world? What’s worth visioning out?

3) Ask your coach to ask you a question.
Use your coach to…coach you! Be willing to ask for help and share what’s happening for you internally (e.g. I’m having trouble thinking of what to get coaching around today – will you ask me some questions?).

4) Explore a broken commitment.
Do you have any broken commitments? These are fertile ground for discovering and digging into new insight into the way you work.

5) Gift your time.
If you’re in a group, you may choose to gift your time to the rest of the group. You may find you have more to gain that week from watching others be coached than from being coached yourself. Be intentional about doing this rather than using it as a cop-out. You’ll know the difference.

Rooting for you,
Jen