When clients decide they want to be coached, they have several decisions to make: who to work with (I have already written about how to choose a coach here); the focus of the coaching (what to work on); the style of coaching that will work best for them (there are many, with a wide range of tools, frameworks, and underlying principles); and the frequency and duration of the coaching. This last question comes up often, especially in exploratory conversations with potential clients, so I am taking it on as the subject of my latest Substack.
I have a default recommendation to the question of coaching cadence: meet twice each month for six months. This is what is in the standard language of my client coaching agreements and there is logic to this recommendation, based on my experience working with many clients on a range of issues. I prefer to set the expectation of a six-month span of coaching because I believe it usually takes that long to create a sustainable change in a client’s belief systems and behaviors and to see tangible progress on the coaching area of focus. I am less focused on a specific outcome here (for example, completing a successful job search, or quitting smoking) than I am on identifying underlying causes of any roadblocks that are getting in the way of a client’s progress toward their goals and helping them design and execute strategies to move toward a more fulfilling experience. To use a sports analogy, it wouldn’t be very effective to go to a physical trainer to get into better shape, go for a few sessions, and expect to see big progress. There just wouldn’t be enough time to let you reach your fitness and health goals.
While I do not use a rigid cookie-cutter approach to my coaching, I do have an underlying set of beliefs and a flexible methodology that I have adapted from my coaching certification program at the Co-Active Training Institute. Broadly speaking, this involves:
helping a client define the purpose of their coaching
codeveloping a clear articulation of their desired outcomes
helping them explore their purpose, value systems, and behavioral and emotional patterns
working with them on defining a series of actions that will move them toward their goals, and
creating a system of accountability so that they take the actions they commit to.
Acknowledging progress and celebrating their learning and development.
While I don’t move through these elements in lockstep every time I coach, I believe it is helpful and effective to have the time to explore each component of this coaching system, which is designed to help the client gain more self-awareness, strengthen confidence, tap into inner resources more effectively, and demonstrate positive movement toward a defined set of goals. For me, six months seems to be the median required time to cover this ground.
The second, related question is how often to meet during the six months. I default to twice each month, with 60-minute sessions. This cadence is negotiable, and also changeable during the coaching relationship, but I prefer to start here. I find that the two-week period between sessions is long enough to allow a client to take actions that we have agreed on and begin to see the results of those actions (or at a minimum to experience how it felt to take those actions, which may be a result unto itself), but not so long that we lose the thread of our discussions between sessions. This can vary depending on the nature of the coaching, of course, and I frequently work with clients to customize our meeting cadence to best meet their unique needs.
For example, clients who come to me for assistance in an urgent job search often opt to meet weekly, at least for the first 8 weeks or so. This allows more time for specific activities like preparation for key interviews, debriefing from company interactions, and refining the client’s search process. It recognizes the reality that potential employers have their own recruiting cadence which is often out of the control of the client. Often, as the process gains momentum, the client’s confidence grows and they opt to move to a twice-monthly schedule. Other clients who want to address long-term goals (for example, an executive recently promoted into a broader role who wants to accelerate his or her growth in that new role) might meet with me monthly rather than twice per month.
My key takeaways from the last few years of active coaching in the CTI method are:
Six months, twice per month, fits many, but not all client situations
No two people are the same. It’s important to be flexible to adapt to the needs, personal styles, and expectations of different clients, while still working in their interest to move them toward their desired goals from the coaching. This needs to be discussed at the beginning of the coaching relationship and revisited as needed throughout the coaching cycle.
At the end of six months, it’s good practice to have a completion session. Before we have that meeting, I ask the client to reflect on a few broad questions about their growth. This is designed to allow for a deeper reflection about the progress the client has made since the start of their coaching, to encourage them to appreciate their personal growth, and to set an intention for the future. It also provides me with great feedback and learning opportunities for my coaching, which I deeply appreciate. If the client wants to continue to be coached, I work with them to define a new set of coaching objectives for our next cycle.
This is all admittedly more art than science, but hey, I believe in the power of art! Just check out my Instagram to see proof of that.