LEVERAGING COACHING WHEN TRANSITIONING THROUGH CHANGE

by Jacqueline Bassett It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change. Charles Darwin

Change Happens
Life happens. Change is constant and unavoidable. In and of itself, change is neither good nor bad. Its simply life. How one handles change is the critical element that often determines ones life. Change can be small, such as the closing of a favorite store; or devastating, such as the death of a loved one, divorce, job loss, or serious health issues; or positive, such as a new job or a new spouse. Change can be self-initiated, such as weight loss, moving to a new city, or pregnancy.

While change comes in many forms and degrees of personal and professional significance, dealing with change and transitioning through to the other side can be difficult; much like crossing an unknown river where the far shore is vaguely visible.

Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

People often seek guidance in matters of law, business, health, investments, real estatethere are experts in every field in this complex and ever-changing world. When it comes to dealing with change, many individuals cross that river alone in the fog of sudden change and uncertainty, reaching out for guidance only when the boat capsizes, they are drowning, or the prospect of reaching the far shore becomes insurmountable.

Professional coaching brings guidance, support, a trained and fresh set of eyes and ears, objectivity, even a map and a new set of paddles to the crossing. While some may deal with change better than others, in all cases the assistance of a professional coach makes the transition more assured, and even helps prepare the individual for future crossings. This paper focuses on the compounding benefits of professional coaching in times of change.

The Process and Phases of Change

Its not so much that we are afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but its that place in between that we fear. Its like being between trapezes. Marilyn Ferguson Psychologist William Bridges studied individuals progressing through change, and developed his Three-Phase Transition Model. Bridges model begins with Endings, followed by the Neutral Zone (the often confusing in-between state where people are no longer who they used to be and have yet to determine where they are going and whom they are becoming), and concluding with New Beginnings after the individual has let go of the past, has successfully traversed all of the phases of change, and looking toward a new beginning.

Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

Change is counterintuitive, beginning with an ending focused on the past and old ways of doing things, and ending with a new beginning that is future-focused. Transition through the phases is not linear but often circular and messy with stops and starts and the potential to get stuck, particularly during the Resistance phasethe most treacherous phase. However, the process of change is relatively predictable through four quadrants as outlined in the model below.

Predictable Phases of Change

Focus: Focus: e S lf Environm nt e Atta chm nt: e Pa Old st/ END Atta chm nt: e Future Ne / w BEGIN

Denial Resistance

Commitment

Exploration

TRANS ITION
Adapted from: Getting Your Organization to Change, by D. T. Jaffe and C. D. Scott

It isnt the changes that do you in, its the transitions. Change is situational, transition is the psychological process people go through to come to terms with the new situation. Change is external, transition is internal. William Bridges Change is often from an external Environment source. The initial phase is Deniallooking outside at what is happening, struggling with the end of something we might be comfortable with, find safety in, or even feel that we control, even if that something is ultimately unhealthy. Denial is often accompanied by the mixed emotions of anxiety and fear coupled with happiness that finally something will change.

Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

As reality sets in, the individual internalizes the change and what it means personally. Resistance is the initiation of the transitional phase, also known as the neutral zonethe uncomfortable stage in between. There likely will be strong feelings of frustration, anger, fear, disillusionment that the task is overwhelming and not worth it, concerns about the impact this may have on others, and self-doubt about being able to make change, leading to possible depression and hostility. Resistance is the toughest phase, and where coaching is needed most. Resistance is not bad, but it must be balanced with progress: Everyone experiences resistance at some pointit only becomes unhealthy when it blocks forward progress. Resistance is a reliable barometer to measure the impacts of change. Resistance serves as a valuable protective device against hasty or dangerous decisions. People dont resist change; they resist the losses that often come with spending time in transition.

Transitioning through resistance, the individual moves into Exploration. Here the individual wants to make change work on their terms but with no clear answers; they start to become hopeful with a sense of making progress; possible solutions ariseperhaps a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Finally, the individual begins to re-externalize the realities of change, moving toward Commitment, focused on and excited about the future and working to accomplish the change vision. Self-confidence increases, accentuated by acceptance, a new vision of the future, and the excitement of moving forward toward a new beginning.

Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

The four phases are sequential with each building on the work of the prior. During each phase, the person does important work that allows them to complete the entire process of change. People work through the phases at different speeds. To obtain full commitment, all four phases must be completed. Without professional guidance, individuals may not recognize the phases and their associative traits and emotions. Also, people may have a tendency to skip or become stuck in a phase. Skipping phases does not allow the person to fully recover and deal with all of the elements of change; getting stuck can doom the individual by stifling forward progress.

How Coaching Helps

Professional coaches provide an ongoing partnership designed to help clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. The International Coach Federation The essence of coaching is creating a safe place for change with an accountability partner. It is a partnership formed to help people get from where they are to where they want to be. Coaching is built upon listening, hearing, empowerment, support, commitment, caring, and action. To help people move through the transition effectively, the coach needs to understand critical elements such the individuals perception of the past, present, and future, their past experience of change and how it impacted them, how they coped, and what they may lose as part of the change and what will they gain.

A coach is there to develop self-awareness and has many tools that can be used to create forward movement. Much of coaching is asking pointed questions (initially and throughout the process). These include self-awareness questions such as: 1. What significant changes are you presently facing? 5

Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

2. How will these changes impact you and the world around you? 3. What will you need to let go of to make these changes happen? 4. What will you potentially lose or gain? 5. What specific emotions are you experiencing as a result of the changes? 6. What thoughts have you been having about the changes? 7. What have you been saying to others about the changes? 8. How has your behavior changed?

Additional exploratory questions can be found in Appendix A. Few individuals have the ability to go it alone to conceive these questions, push themselves for true and deep answers, recognize the phases, develop a plan, and work that plan to a positive conclusion. By employing selfawareness and exploratory questions, the coach can help the individual: Recognize what phase they are in; Realize unseen obstacles; Identify responses to transition, both positive and negative; Clarify whats transpiring; Let go of what isnt working and create a plan; Step outside of a comfort zone; Create a vision board or wheel of life; Set realistic expectations and establish ongoing goals to meet those expectations; Set boundaries and avoid giving control to other people or situations;

Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

Create personal empowerment by helping the individual recognize and understand their circle of control and how to take action within that circle and let go of the uncontrollable outside that circle;

Reframe limiting or dependent beliefs; Map their responses to each of the phases; Define where they want to go, what goals they want to achieve; Set long- and short-term goals; Facilitate commitment to act on the goals; Set action plans and monitor the progress to attain the goals; Develop strategies to use the individuals strengths most effectively; Create focus and momentum when needed; and Celebrate personal and professional achievements.

Further, coaching helps the individual avoid stagnation by balancing the need to spend time in transition with the temptation to skip or rush through any of the phases. Coaching particularly helps the individual avoid potential pitfalls: The first pitfall is the belief that one can skip any of the four phases; a common tendency is to want to move directly from denial to commitment without spending time in transition. The second pitfall is to revert backward even after forward progress has been made into exploration or commitment; some movement backward is expected but massive, frequent swings can be unhealthy.

Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

The third pitfall is to become stuck in any of the first three phases, stifling the entire process.

Coaching builds capacity within the individual. It facilitates learning, skills, and competency development while not seeking to provide answers to the individual. Coaching uses the individuals strengths, knowledge, skills, and abilities to take action and become self-sufficient and self-correctinghelping the individual cross not only the immediate river, but future rivers. This is where coaching differs from consulting.

In addition to self-awareness and exploratory questions, coaching employs additional techniques the lay person may be unaware of, unable to fully understand, or unable to effectively employ. For example, one technique of coaching is to understand whether the individual is a Feeler or a Thinker. In crossing the river, Feelers jump right in because they love the internalization and emotional side of change. Their challenge is that they love it so much they want to swim laps and must be directed to make progress to get to the other side. Thinkers hesitate to jump in, seeking information before they commit (i.e., How cold is the pool? How far across is it?). Once Thinkers jump, they can be efficient swimmers; however, they may forget to breathe while crossing since they are so determined to get out and may drown. To cross efficiently, Feelers must not jump too soon without guidance, information, and a plan to cross without excessive activity or time. Thinkers must take risks without having all the information and be willing to internalize the impact at some level.

Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

Another coaching technique comes from Miller and Rollnick (1990) who developed the OARS (fits perfectly with the river theme) technique to keep the patient moving forward by facilitating discussions about change: Open-ended questions Affirmation of the persons strengths Reflective listening

While most research has focused on coaching within large organizations, the findings reinforce the substantive and compounding benefits of individual coaching, including during change. According to the 2009 ICF Global Coaching Client Study, companies that use or have used professional coaching realized a median return of seven times their initial investment; individual clients reported a median return on investment of 3.44. The 2010 ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study showed that 42.6 percent of respondents who received coaching chose optimize individual and/or team performance as their motivation for being coached, followed by expand professional career opportunities at 38.8 percent and improve business management strategies at 36.1 percent, followed immediately by more personal motivations like increase self-esteem/self-confidence and manage work/life balance.

Conclusion
People are looking to coaches as sounding boards and motivators who can offer a fresh perspective on career and life problems, but without the conflicting agendas of a spouse, family member, or even a mentor. Fortune, 9/28/98

Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

Change is a certainty in life, increasingly so in todays fast-paced world. Getting to the other side truly is paramount to crossing a river. Attempting such a crossing without a plan or the right tools can prove more debilitating than the initiating change. Again, change has no value; how one deals with change and rides the transition to the other side often determines ones survival and safe passage. Coaches, and the tools they provide, can help facilitate safe and beneficial passage while preparing the individual to be better prepared for future crossings. There will always be rivers to cross, as sure as the winds of change will always blow into ones sails. The coach can be the wind on ones sails, and the paddles guiding ones boat.

Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change. Jim Rohn

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Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

Resources
Bridges, William. Transitions: Making Sense of Lifes Changes. Da Capo Press, 1980. Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change. Da Capo Press, 1981. Burtch, Bill. Why Coaching Works. Library of Professional Coaching, 2012. International Coach Federation. Benefits of Coaching. ICF, Association Resource Centre Inc., 2011. International Coach Federation. ICF Global Coaching Client Study. ICF, Association Resource Centre Inc., 2009. International Coach Federation. ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study. ICF, Association Resource Centre Inc., 2010. Jaffe, Dennis T. and Scott, Cynthia D. Getting Your Organization to Change. Crisp Learning, 1999.

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Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

Appendix A
Additional questions that broaden an individuals perspective: How could this situation be fun? Assume the worst thing that could possibly happen has happened, now what? If you look back in a year, is this problem so significant that you will remember it? What is the one positive thing about the current situation? What disempowering perspectives are you bringing to this situation? What will it take for you to accept the change and move forward? How can you make this something youre aiming toward, rather than something youre trying to move away from? What are you looking forward to? What opportunities can you see in this situation? What surprised you about this situation? Who and what are your support systems? What supports do you need to be committed? Whats holding you back? What concerns you most about this situation? Where are you sabotaging yourself? How are you benefiting from the changes? How you can you focus your energy so that youre more productive? If you changed your belief/perspective, what would be possible? 12

Jacqueline Bassett

Leveraging Coaching When Transitioning Through Change

If you dont take action, what impact will this have on you? Others? If you werent scared, what would you do? What is it costing you by not taking action? What are the possibilities as a result of this change?

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