Coaching Groups

The Set Up
Begin the talk with some topical comments about the roads, traffic and the inevitable road works around the city so it gives people something they can relate to that will point to the metaphor. You can use this to take them through the states you want them to experience before you get into process itself.

Introduce the Metaphor
A purposeful activity or life is a journey.

Think of an Issue
Guide them to pick an issue that if they were able to get more clarity, step back from it or have a new perspective that would be really valuable for them. “Just go with the first thing that pops into your mind.”

Destination 
How far away is their destination, or the next step
You must know which direction you are heading – in relation to where you want to get to

Pick Your Signs
They are shown the Where You Are Now, Route, Resources and Obstacles cards and they write down on a record card the signs that relate to their issue.

Describe the Story
Now they use the choices they have written down to help create a fuller description of their issue. Such as -

I am heading for the next town, so it was within reach but it seemed like a long way off, on foot because the pace was very slow, on a footpath. I was aware that I was choosing that because I wanted to enjoy the journey. But I’m going round in circles hence the roundabout and a lot of it due to delays from everyday issues.

Feedback
What is different now about the issue compared to how you were thinking about it? (shift the original issue into the past tense)

Solve the Metaphor
Take the card you have with the story on it – turn it around – and write the solution on the back…

More Feedback
What do you notice now?
…and you all know what that means in terms of your issue.

Work Stations
Layout the Lifeways Coaching Cards to form four work stations. One for each of the groups of cards -
Where You Are Now
Route
Resources
Obstacles

Next get the group to walk around the work stations and pick the cards they originally chose and answer the questions on the back.

Final Feedback and Action Plan
Get them to write down what action they can take straight away that is the first step.

Conclusion
What the coaches reported happened in the session was that the initial metaphor gave them some clarity and the questions provided more focus and further insights with specific actions they could take.

Lifeways Trainers Cards
I used a set of A5 cards to facilitate the group. These were originally designed to facilitate a group problem solving session/team building where the group all has the same objective.  I used these to show the coaches the concepts around the journey metaphor and which selections they could make. If you’d like to know more then drop me an email (tim@kenning.info) and I’ll send you the preview copy of the downloadbale manual that outlines the Team Building session.