Client coaching & mentoring

Client session May 2012 © Roisin Markham

Last Saturday morning before all hell broke loose I had a 1:1 session with a client who is battling with change. They are most definitely in transition. Some of you may know that when I work with people I have taken too doodling as it seems to offer more clarity to the elements of the discussions. Kind of like visual recording but on a one to one basis. The drawings seem to offer different ways of looking at things and in that vain I am sharing the process. Also you may be stuck right now and need a bit of extra support this process works well over skype or on the phone I scan the images in and email/SMS text them so that while the conversation is continuing there is feedback visually and after the session there is a touch stone for connecting back to information and process.
Saturdays client needs to move they are stuck HERE and need to MOVE to THERE - the transition of HOW is where they are right now. As you can tell from the image above this client was really having a difficult time.

Building bridges from fear to action with doodles © Roisin Markham

I listened, asked questions - we unpacked all that was going on for this person. It became clear that they were feeling overwhelmed by the next steps they needed to make the change seemed too great for them.
I redrew the image with a foot bridge it almost looks like it is built with individual bricks which was a good metaphor for what needed to happen next. It also enclosed the aggressive attacking shark and tamed that element down.
I pointed out that the difference between HERE and THERE is a T. 
What might that T represent? 

We came up with a list part of which can be seen above in the doodle, a new list was created which was more complete

• think
• transport
• time
• transit
• transition
• theory
• trial
• try

I asked "in what way might the T and the list be linked to the HOW?"

We slowed the process right down and looked at HERE, how? and THERE. We discovered that the theory and pressure to be 'there' was that it represented a better quality of life for my clients family. But then there was the fear of the unknown, the caution around risk and disruption.

HOW is the disruption we need to make to get to THERE © 2012 Roisin Markham

The session ended in exploring options to TRY and trial the THERE before committing fully. Kind of like the start up community ship early in beta and then tweak, fix as you go along before you 'release' your first version.
So once again we are managing change, creating easy to do steps with which to size the huge transition by starting at the first one. Breaking down big challenges practically removes the overwhelm. Because you can see where action needs to be taken the panic and anxiety gets attended to without being fed.
What challenges are you dealing with at the moment? and how are you supporting yourself through them? do you need some extra support? Would you like to book a 1:1 session?