Coaching Journal (4) Power of focus: The elusive difference between model and process

A few days ago, during one of my classes at ICA (International Coach Academy), I had an interesting discussion with my students on one of the most delicate subjects in coaching: the difference between a coaching relationship based on a model and one based on a process.

Process vs. model

The process is always the instrument that you lead your session with and it’s what the client perceives, the states he goes through. It’s what he feels from A to Z, in accordance with the number of steps the process has. For example, the process is formed of contracting (when you ask: what is your goal in working with me?), setting the relationship, your listening style, your way of paraphrasing, of creating space, how comfortable the clients feels in this particular relationship.

On the other hand, the model can describe states, it can be represented graphically and it’s rather inspiring. The coach can build the process on a model. But no matter what, a coaching session follows the process and, optionally, can be based on a model. To quote Michael Bungay Stanier, from Box of Crayons: most models are dysfunctional, but there are a few that work!

If you work on becoming a writer, for example, it is a clear difference between writing a book and becoming a bestselling author. In this case, the process is the technical part of your writing, like the rules that make writing better, and it’s rather embedded in the author’s own style. Meanwhile, the model of the successful writer can be replicated and learned.

Coaching is based on a relationship and the client’s discoveries in his own lever of consciousness. I believe that if you have an adjusted process, based both on what the manuals claim and on your own experience, and also know a few models, you can add more value to your coaching relationships. Simply because the process does not oppose to the model, or vice versa, but complete each other. The virtuosity comes from combining the processes and models you already tested.

The model

The model can be either copied or you can make your own. My model, for example, is TRUE (that’s what TRUECOACH comes from). It stands for Today – Reality – Unleash – Experience.

Today is that phase when my client gets anchored in the present, as he articulates and defines it, as he feels it in that certain moment. It’s based on his self image, his level of trust and respect for his own self.

Reality refers to the reality that you own, that which defines your activity and projects, but also the way you regard them through your values and wishes. How satisfied are you? What do you appreciate, what do you wish to do, what are you afraid of, what do you hate, what is frustrating, what’s annoying you? The next step would be to understand where these feelings come from, and towards what are your answers taking you.

Unleash is the moment when the coach asks: What’s next? What’s burning? What’s growing? What do you feel when you know what can unfold? How much can it go up? What do you need to be able to go up there? How will your project grow in the next 3 years?

And Experience is about how to manage putting all these things in practice. How can you materialize them? What is your deadline? What else do you need to make it work? How will I know that you’ll do it?

My model is based on challenge, manifestation and action. If a client comes in and only wants to work on sorting things up, my model is no longer suitable, not even the classical GROW would do good.

I believe the process is more rational, while the model is more intuitive. But also, the more concentrated you are on the process, the more does the relationship become more mechanical. You will always benefit more from using your intuition.

Your client will never care what model you use. Yet, he will feel a succession of states while traveling through the process. This is the moment when you, as a coach, must take a decision: not between process and model, but between focusing on yourself and focusing on your client. It’s as if you’re driving a car. Keeping your eyes too much on the board and forgetting about the road might take you directly into the next tree.
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Post a comment below, describing your own experience using a model and process. The best personal story will be rewarded with a double CD “The Sound of Coaching”.