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The Crux of the Matter
9 Plays1 year ago
The session agreement is the anchor of the coaching conversation. How can we best support our clients arrive at this agreement in an organic, natural, and relevant way?
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Transcript
Introduction to Prime Space Podcast
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Welcome to Prime Space, a Prime Coaching Academy podcast with your host, Elias Couttori.
Importance of Session Agreements
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And hello, coaches.
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Thank you again for listening.
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Today, we are going to talk about a hot topic in coach training.
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The session agreement.
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The ICF has this core competency, establishes and maintains agreements, our core competency number three.
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And that competency really encompasses all agreements, right?
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All sorts of agreements.
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The importance of having an agreement.
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with a client.
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We're going to enter this partnership.
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It's important that we have an agreement of what this partnership is going to be about.
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But one thing that is so unique, perhaps, or beautiful about the coaching process and the structure of the coaching conversation is this idea of a session agreement, which means every coaching conversation that we're going to have with the client
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We need to know what we are working towards.
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What is this about?
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we are going to spend this time together, half an hour, 45 minutes, 60 minutes a day, I don't know.
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Towards what?
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Today specifically.
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I know that we have established an overarching agreement for the whole engagement, but today, out of this journey that we are going to, what is important for you, the client, to address?
Client-Centered Coaching
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It's such an imperative process of coaching, right?
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If we think of coaching as a process that is client-centered, a process that is about the development and the growth of the client,
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Of course, we want to ask the client, what is that you are working on?
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We are here to partner with you, right, in your process, in what is happening with you.
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So session agreement is crucial.
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And I'm giving you this because if you listen to episode number six, right, the previous episode for this, I advocate for the whole aspect of the why.
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We don't want to go in and establish a session agreement just because we were told so or just because, you know, there are these rules of coaching that tells us to...
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to establish a secession agreement.
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We want to establish a secession agreement because there is a reason for that.
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And we understand the reason behind it.
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And I think it's important for us to revisit that, the why.
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Why do...
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We coaches say that it's important for every session for us to spend, to put some concerted effort to support the client into this process of what is it that we are going to work on.
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And it's something that it's not to be taken lightly.
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A session agreement is not simply, oh, what is the topic of the conversation or what is the outcome and here we go.
Reflecting on Life Areas for Coaching
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We want depth in this process, including the process of establishing a session agreement.
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So we want to support the individual, we want to support our clients to really being able to access, to reach that place where they say, oh, I'm not.
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Out of everything that is happening in my life right now, out of everything that is happening at work, out of everything that is happening with my family, with myself, with my co-workers, with my team, with whatever it is, right?
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This is the place that I really need to reflect on.
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And I really need to broaden my perspective here so that I know I am a little bit more clear on how to proceed, right?
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So as you can see, the session agreement is a substantial and crucial part of the coaching process.
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Without a session agreement, without a clear and well-deserved, well-created session agreement, we are not going to be able to support the client substantially.
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And that's why it's such a hot topic in coach training, because for us to understand this process and for us to perfect, I don't know if that's the word, to really master this process or be skillful enough in this process, it takes time and it takes a thorough understanding of that.
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And the ICF has given us the gift of the core competency and the gift of the PCC markers, bars, and all of that to guide us through that.
Crafting Effective Session Agreements
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And if we go into these resources, we can see that there are a few areas that are important for us to understand.
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be mindful of when we are supporting our clients through this process.
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And you know those areas, right?
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What is the outcome?
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How are we going to know that we are there?
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The measures of success?
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What do we need to address here and resolve in order to reach this particular outcome for the session?
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And, you know, the PCC markers have given us, you know, what is the importance, the meaning of this for you?
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And I love that particular marker because this idea of supporting the client in investigating what is truly important here, what is the meaning?
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is usually an open door to a deeper conversation.
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It connects them to their values.
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It connects them to who they truly want to be and to who they are.
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So it's a beautiful point for us to cover there.
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And I say points to cover because I want to emphasize this.
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These four points that we have, especially in the PCC markers and in the competencies, of course,
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They are not simple questions to ask.
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If we simply ask the client, what is the outcome of the coaching conversation?
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What are the measures of success?
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What are the points that we need to resolve and cover here?
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What is the importance?
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If we ask these questions prescriptively, most likely they are going to fall flat or the client is going to answer them superficially.
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So don't consider these points as simple questions, but consider them as points to cover.
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And there may be several questions that we need to ask in order to support the client into getting to that place.
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The bottom line of the session agreement is to support the client in accessing and verbalizing the crux of the matter.
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What is at the center here today that I want to investigate?
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That I want to pay attention to.
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That is our job.
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Our job is to support the client into getting there, accessing and verbalizing what is the crux of the matter.
Deep Exploration in Coaching
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How we are going to do this, we have these four points that the ICF has given us that's beautiful.
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And these four points is to guide us through that process in supporting the client to get there.
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That's the idea.
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So just because we ask question one, question two, question three, does not necessarily mean that we establish a session agreement.
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Because the client may have answered that question, if the client was able to answer the question, the client may have answered that question superficially.
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So what else can I do here?
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What other questions can I ask?
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What observations can I make here that will support the client to go a little deeper into that process?
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So the one example that I give in coach training all the time is...
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You start the coaching conversation and say, okay, what are we going to talk about here today?
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And the client comes and says, well, I have a meeting tomorrow and I really need an outline for this meeting.
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I'm going to lead this meeting tomorrow and I really need to be very clear of the outline for the meeting.
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Well, at a surface level, okay, so here is the outcome.
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The outcome is an outline.
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But is that what the client really wants?
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Right?
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If we don't bring enough curiosity, we would stop there.
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But if we bring curiosity, we can start asking the client a little bit more about the meeting, a little bit about this outline.
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What will this outline provide you with?
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How do you imagine this outline?
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What is the importance of this outline?
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Let's ask a few more questions, right?
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And in this...
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Example, this analogy that I give to my students, the client starts reflecting a little bit more, explaining a little bit more, describing the situation a little bit more.
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And the client says, well, my boss is going to be present in this meeting.
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We'll attend this meeting.
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And this meeting is very important for my career development.
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And I want to feel a little bit more anchored.
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I want to feel a little bit more solid here, feel inside that I can do this.
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Oh, so what the client is searching here is not necessarily a simple outline.
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Come on, this is an experienced professional.
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They can put together an outline in five minutes, right?
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They don't need my help for that.
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But what the client is really searching or the client believes that that outline is going to give them that groundedness, that feeling of security when they go in front of the group and they are able to perform.
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That's what the client is looking for.
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So if I didn't bring curiosity to the process, I wouldn't be able to support the client to get into that place.
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And it may be that that sense of groundedness, that sense of security that the client is looking for, will come from something completely different than a simple outline.
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So that is the artistry of establishing a session agreement.
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We are not simply there to ask question one, two, three.
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And in an environment where perhaps we are simply getting a recording for certification, maybe the other person, the client knows that we are recording, the client knows that we are going for a certification.
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So the client may give simple answers and it will be good enough.
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But in the real world, when we are coaching our clients, we are going to need to be a lot more skillful in providing that depth of discovery for that session agreement.
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And that is what we're aiming for.
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It's that depth of exploration.
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The session agreement is not just a preamble to the coaching conversation.
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The session agreement is part of that discovery.
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It's part of that developmental aspect of the client.
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For the client to reach that point where they can verbalize, this is where I need to go.
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This is my growing edge.
Thoughtful Session Agreements for Development
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That alone is already tremendously valuable to the client in their developmental process.
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So let's support the client with that.
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And let's use these points that the ICF offers us as guiding posts for us to support the client in this process.
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This is the crux of the matter here and the point and the why of establishing a session agreement.
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How long it takes for a session agreement?
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I always ask this question.
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And I always say, as long as it takes, as long as it takes, as soon as possible.
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So we don't want to rush through the process of the session agreement.
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But also we don't want to miss the opportunity to support the client into arriving at the place, right?
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So this is the mastery.
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This is the artistry of establishing a session agreement.
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If at any point in a coaching conversation you feel that you're a little lost, you're not quite sure what questions to ask, most likely it's because the session agreement is not clear enough.
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So it's time for you to go back to these four points of the session agreement.
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Start asking, what are we aiming for here?
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Where are we going to go?
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What are we trying to get out of our conversation here today?
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What would be valuable for you today?
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What do you need right now?
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Support the client into going through all of this process and do this organically.
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And I would encourage you to reflect on this.
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Why?
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Why do we, the ICF, say that it's important for us to establish a session agreement with our clients all the time?
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And how can I support the client into creating this environment where they can really be able to access
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and verbalize what they're truly looking for in the moment.
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So there you have.
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Thank you so much.
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I hope this is valuable to you.
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Thank
Conclusion and Contact Information
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you for listening.
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I will be back here with another episode next week.
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Please subscribe.
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Please let other coaches know about this episode and this podcast.
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It would be wonderful to continue to build our community here.
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If you have any questions or if you want me to address any points, please reach out to me at Elias at PrimeCoachingAcademy.com.
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And I will see you next time.
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Take care, everybody.