The Real Job of a Transformational Coach

Every industry has its rebels, and master coach Rich Litvin is most certainly a man who refuses to play by the conventional rules.

In this conversation he shares what the real job of a coach is, what this requires of you, and how to navigate some of the most common bumps on the road to coaching mastery.

The Real Job of a Transformational Coach

One of the primary coaching perspectives that opens up possibilities for our clients is coming from the place of seeing the client’s power and letting them know that you know they are far more powerful than they think. The next step is creating opportunities for them to realise that profoundly themselves.

The key, as always, is not to be attached to the client’s understanding and embodying of their power. Being able to identify where someone’s power lies, in what domain it lies and when and why it arises is an important capacity to build.

Coaching should not only be problem-solving (what Rich calls “remedial coaching”). Coaching becomes powerful when we go beyond what the client says they want and find out what they really need, not what they think they want.

Messing with Your Client’s Thinking

You can do this by being curious about who they are – who thy really are, not how they present themselves or what they want you to think. Finding the honest version, the authentic version of them.

Who someone is, is a function of how they see the world and how they speak the world into existence. This is based on mindset and habitual ways of thinking. Everyone has these lenses through which they see the world. A coach’s job is to help them become aware of the lenses.

So to be an effective transformational coach is to mess with your client’s thinking, rather than going straight to the action steps in order to give them the results they think they want. It means opening up the universe of the client, rather than playing in the client’s realm of what’s possible.

It also means suspending your certainty that you know who they (really) are and what they (really) need and how to get them there. That might hold a lot of truth but it leaves no space for the client to get there in the way that’s best for them.

The Road to Coaching Mastery

Rich’s approach is less about formulas and more about frameworks, less about problem-solving and more about living with paradox. This is the foundation for his approach to deep coaching.

His approach, outlined in the book he co-authored with Steve Chandler, “The Prosperous Coach”, is simple but not easy – and every time you master something a new challenge arises. In this way you’re constantly growing, constantly living at the edge of your competence.

Rich believes, “If you’re the most interesting person in the room, you’re in the wrong room” – there should always be the potential for growth and learning.

One of the common challenges that accompany many people on their journey to increased mastery is what Rich calls the “fraud paradox” (things are working for me now but it might change). This is something that remains if you keep challenging yourself.

Final thoughts:

• Your biggest challenge may well be the thing that is your gift.
• Confidence is a result not a requirement.
• The biggest key to success is self-awareness.

Show notes:
The only 5 elements you need to become an exponential coach