| Supporting
Clients in Transition
As a coach, you are often called upon to help
clients discern which tasks and responsibilities are
outdated, counter to their values, or redundant.
You help your clients focus their attention on the tasks,
relationships and responsibilities they value most.
If any of your clients are going through a
growth spurt of new beginnings, they may have
a slightly different challenge: too many ideas and projects
that have promise and potential.
Clients in this situation are torn.
They have a number of interesting, fulfilling, potentially
successful ventures underway. They see promise in every
one. That's the good news! The bad news is they are
stretched to the limit and unable to succeed.
- They don't have enough time or energy to adequately
address all of their projects.
- Their actions lack focus. As a result they don't
make enough progress to see any of the projects come
to fruition.
- And finally, their finances and resources are stretched
too thin.
Without much discussion you and your clients are likely
to determine that their lives cannot continue in this
fashion.
A helpful metaphor to turn to in this situation
is that of a gardener thinning a bed of seedlings.
After planting an abundance of seeds (ideas), more seedlings
(projects) sprout than the ground (person) and resources
can support.
To ensure a good harvest later in the growing
season, the gardener carefully thins the seedlings that
are vulnerable for some reason (too close together,
misshapen, too close to the edge of the bed, insect
damaged.) The gardener's ultimate goal is to leave the
strongest seedlings evenly spaced such that they may
thrive.
Your clients' next step is to thin their own
projects and ideas--searching for the strongest,
most promising ones to dedicate their attention to.
Your ideal goal is to support your clients
in choosing their favorite projects or ideas and letting
the others go (at least for now).
Although this may sound easy, it's often hard
for people to let go of ideas and projects
they find fulfilling and promising. To help your clients
find a workable plan,
discuss these strategies with them.
- Explore ways to work on the projects sequentially.
Begin with the most promising project. Focus on it
until it's flourishing and then focus on the next
one.
- Establish a weekly or monthly schedule
that allows your client to trade off (in a purposefully
planned way) between two primary projects. Dedicate
a certain day of the week or week of the month to
each project.
- Encourage your clients to keep an idea jar
or journal. Don't let them get side tracked
by new ideas. Instead suggest they create a place
to record all their ideas. When they have the time
and energy for a new project, have them review their
old and new ideas to determine what's next on the
docket.
- Set up an active file on each project that's
waiting in the wings. Suggest that your clients
work on these project passively--clipping an article
when they see it, jotting down a key resource to follow
up on later, writing down any
brainstorms that occur to them as they work on other
projects.
- If your clients stall on projects, reevaluate
the mix. Due to timing, factors beyond their
control, or a lack of necessary resources, it may
be important to put one project aside for a time and
focus on a different one. With strategic focus intact,
dancing with projects in this way can be quite productive.
In each of these strategies the goal is to
focus on one or two projects to produce results--while
not completely abandoning other projects that have potential.
Enjoy this exciting journey with your clients.
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