Pre-Work and the Kickoff

Part of my process requires the client to do some work before we get started with the coaching. To get things going, I require my clients to fill out a brief questionnaire regarding their expectations of our work together. This allows the client to start defining their definition of success in our relationship as well as their expectations of me. This helps us lay out some ground rules early on about my interaction with Kyle. Some of the questions include, "Where do you see yourself in two years?" and "How would you like to receive feedback from me?"

I also require my clients to complete an assessment called the Attribute Index. This assessment helps us look at patterns of thought. Since we all process information differently, the Attribute Index helps define the client's bias and clarity on their thinking, doing, and feeling traits. This helps us understand how we process information and what changes that causes in our behavior. By doing this assessment early on, I can help Kyle recognize some areas we may want to address in our conversations. The tool also ties in well with the material I use and we can align specific attributes to different life categories.

Prior to the kickoff, the results of both the questionnaire and assessment is reviewed. Kyle learned that he had high levels of understanding in the thought patterns related to systems and people. His strengths in these areas were integrating systems with human resources, organizational and human resource development, applying systemic thinking to humanistic resources or needs, respect for policies, understanding people, and big picture thinking.

Much of this process is about developing strengths within the individual. We want to take what someone is already good at and make them better. The assessment also addressed a number of minimizers that could negatively impact Kyle's performance. I will let Kyle share these with you if he chooses, and you will likely see some of the challenges come out as we work together. What I focus on is how do we take someone's strengths to overcome their weaknesses, and then how as leaders do we surround ourselves with the right people to fill in the gaps we cannot change about ourselves.

The Attribute Index also measures internal patterns, or what we think of ourselves. Kyle is both strong and balanced between the patterns of Self Esteem, Role Awareness, and Self Direction. He craves continuous improvement within himself and believes in lifelong learning. For this reason, he should be a good candidate for coaching.

The next step is the kickoff. At this point I introduced Kyle to my process for learning and development. Because I have materials that Kyle will be working from, and a program that will last 16 weeks, I take the time to cover the process with some detail. In the kickoff, we discuss the importance of change and that it requires us to open our minds to new ways of doing things. I also share the concept of learning through spaced repetition along with some of the subject matter we will be covering. Finally I wrap up with an introduction to the materials we will utilize over the next 4 months as part of the development process and give out the fieldwork for the first week. My clients are required to spend some time reading the materials as well as start work on an action plan which will help us uncover specific goals to work on over our time together and beyond. I ask my clients to invest an additional thirty minutes to an hour a day on the materials. Kyle and I are scheduled to connect again next week to review.