How to Do the Circle of Excellence Process for Coaching Clients

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what are the best life coaching processes to get client resultsEffect Process for Coaches to Enhance the Lives of Clients

Circle of Excellence is one way to formally elicit and stabilize states of resourcefulness. When you are able to do this with yourself and create your “coaching” confidence – being a guide for your client will go much smoother. Do this process with yourself in the context of being a coach and presenter. This is a process to use with your clients in creating a state of being and attitude for future success.Once the concept of anchoring is learned through the Circle of Excellence process, the effective CLSC will purposefully use the concept of anchoring in interactions in the future. We are always influencing – CLSC coaches are learning to influence with integrity!

Learning Opportunity: Watch the video demonstration of this process by Marilyn Sargent inside the Life Strategies Coach Certification course.

Purpose: To access and stabilize states of excellence. To have positive states of being automatically available in previously challenging situations that may occur again in the future.

Preparation: Set up the psycho-geography (environment), establish rapport, gather information and do some calibrating of processing style to assess your client before beginning.

Pre-frame: First, have the client elicit a situation that triggers an unwanted or limiting response. If you are in a formal coaching session – your client may have already identified the challenge. Set that situation aside for now. We will refer to this situation in step #2 and in step #6 to test the installation of the state of excellence.

Guide (Coach) says to Explorer (Client):

1. Setting up the Circle of Excellence: “Imagine a circle on the floor in front of you. What does it look like? What color is it, what material is it made of? Are there any sounds in the circle? You get to create this space just for you.” (This circle is called a spatial anchor.) Have some creativity.

2. Have your client think about an excellent state of being that is a resource for them. “What state of excellence would you like to have more of in your life? Think of a state where you have resources available to you that allow you to act in ways that will support you and protect you in situations like you’ve just described.” Note: It is sometimes helpful to provide a menu of ideas for the beginning client to comprehend. Also, be sure it is a state of being, feeling or attitude and not a behavior.

3. Anchor (stabilize) state of excellence to circle: “Think of a time or experience when you were in this state of being in a way that was fully satisfying to you. Pretend you are in the memory now. When you fully experience how that feels, step into the circle.” Guide give gentle guidance with a hand on the shoulder and motion to client to step into imagined circle on the floor.

The State of Excellence Has to be Stronger Than the Negative Challenge State

4. Separator State: “Now, step back out of the circle, leaving that pure state of excellence there.” Distract with any question that will elicit a change of focus such as, “What’s your phone number backwards? How was lunch today?”

5. Testing: “Step back into the circle, and notice how that feels now.” Calibrate for a return of the state of excellence physiology you saw in step 3. “Now step back out of the circle.” Create a separator or distract the state again.

Note: If the response is not as strong as desired, elicit another example that gives a stronger response for that state of being, repeat steps 3, 4, & 5. You may also add other resources at this point by repeating steps 3, 4, and 5, each time adding to the resources already in the circle. This is called Stacking Anchors. The state of excellence has to be stronger than the negative challenge state. Text box?

6. Chaining new anchored states to the previous negative stimulus: “In a moment, I am going to touch your shoulder. When I do, I want you to immediately step forward into your circle, into that excellent state (get agreement). First, I want you to think of that situation we described earlier where you want more resources.” As soon as the client accesses the previously unresourceful event, touch their shoulder as a signal to step forward into the circle. Observe to be sure the client accesses the new state(s).

7. Testing: Ask client to step back out of the circle. “Where in the future might that situation occur again?” or “What happens now when you think of what used to go wrong?” Observe to be sure that client only briefly accesses the unresourceful state and then automatically accesses the state of excellence.

8. Future Pace: Have the client creatively think of a way to bring their circle with them to be automatically available in many other situations as needed in their future. Suggestions: Have it in their heart, behind their ear, under their watch, etc. Create or imagine how having these resources will be in future situations.

Learning Opportunity: Creating a Circle of Excellence for the Coach and the Client

Using the “Circle of Excellence” script as explained above, do the process with yourself in being a coach and list the states that you have established to be a resource for you to carry you through to success. Recommended states are those that will facilitate your being more resourceful and serve you well such as states of: confidence, curiosity, flexibility, patience, humor, courage, and compassion.

Future Pace: Visualize you having this state of being available fully and completely in the future for you as a successful coach.

Learning Opportunity: Find a friend or colleague to practice with and do Circle of Excellence. Practice with at least five other people or until you can do the process without needing to read the scrip.

Want to learn this process and more?  Click below for program details.

Life Strategies Coach Certification and the Results Coach Certification

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