Coaching Tools 101: The Coaching Exercises and Templates I ...

I am often asked which Coaching Tools and Exercises I like best, use most, would recommend or would not be without ? so I thought this would be a useful article to write. Below, I share the tools that I think are?most universally useful?for coaches and our clients but, as I created them all, if I?m honest I really wouldn?t be without any of them! Please note that this is the second longer than usual article ? and again, I have tried to jam-pack it with useful tips for you! Enjoy.

I?d also love to hear from you which tools and exercises you use most ? or find most useful ? in your practices! Anyhow, here are mine:

1. ?The Wheel of Life? Coaching Exercise. The ultimate coaching tool, it?s endlessly usable for different applications. Also see our article with 12 different ways you can use the Wheel of Life here.
2. ?What Makes My Heart Sing???This coaching exercise draws out experiences where people are very present with themselves. You coach them to see how the experiences they?ve chosen are both easy to create and ? usually ? free! Great for helping people begin to understand what creates joy and happiness. Great for: life-coaching, spiritual workshops, one-on-one sessions and also for homework as part of values exploration.?Ultimately this exercise helps our clients connect with what makes them truly happy and to see how easy it can be to create that.
3. The ?Big Rocks? Coaching Exercise?uses a powerful metaphor of trying to fit rocks, pebbles and sand in a jar and how we tend to?fill our lives with sand and pebbles first and leave no room for our ?Big Rocks? . The story and concept comes first and then a jar with ?Big Rocks? is used as a visual to help them prioritise their activities and cement the learning. You coach them around identifying, learning to prioritise and action the ?Big Rocks? first, and then to put their metaphorical pebbles and sand in AFTERwards. Great for:?Anyone who struggles with many priorities and tasks ? especially moms! Also great for business, executive, career coaches and corporate workshops to help with procrastination, improving productivity and being more focused.
4. ?The Urgent Important Matrix?. This coaching tool helps people become very AWARE of how they could waste less time ? and be more productive. So like ?Big Rocks? it?s a great tool for business and corporate use. Great for: This coaching exercise is very versatile and helps absolutely everyone better understand how they currently spend their time ? and to identify and eliminate their unique time-wasters. With the amount of television, internet and social media usage these days this tool couldn?t be more relevant!
5. ?Spheres of Influence?. This coaching tool reminds me of the serenity prayer ? to focus on what we have control over and let go of the rest. There are 3 concentric circles representing what we have 1) control, 2) influence and 3) everything else. The client focuses on a current issue and fills out the circles . This coaching exercise helps with identifying where and where NOT to spend their time and energy ? and decide which actions to focus on. Great for:?Life! OK, so any situation where your client is worrying over things they have no control over. Also, corporate situations where there?s a lot of change in the environment. This concept is a powerful take-home for workshops!
6. The??Personal SWOT? Coaching Tool. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is an age-old business tool that has been adapted for personal use. Who wouldn?t benefit from an inventory and understanding of their talents, skills and so-called ?weaknesses?? Great for: Fantastic coaching opportunities around the client?s ?opportunities? (goals) and ?threats? (self-improvement and actions). AND this tool can also be used for confidence boosting ? to help the client value themselves and spiritually to help them accept their weaknesses as part of the whole. I love this tool ? while it?s great for career, executive and business coaches, it?s also great for life-coaching and self-awareness generally.
7. ?Energy Zappers? or ?Tolerations? Coaching Tool (Free). These are simple, powerful ?list? tools that help clients identify literally what?s zapping their energy or what they are tolerating. The coaching is around eliminating these energy sucks and freeing up more energy for their goals and life. Great for:?Anyone ? because we all have things that are zapping our energy. A fun group exercise in workshops where you?d like your client to free up more energy, this coaching tool is helpful for any type of coach with any type of client!
8. ?Life-Mapping Tool?. This visual coaching tool gives a helicopter overview of significant events in a client?s life. It specifically asks for events of importance to the CLIENT and not what others would think. And because it asks for what is significant for THEM (not just so-called achievements) it gives clues to values, meaningful goals, limiting beliefs and more! Great for: This is an awesome tool to start a coaching relationship with. It?s more fun and powerful than interviewing a client or getting them to write out events ? and the relative ?peaks? and troughs give an instant overview for both client and coach to move forwards from together.
9. ?Detox Relationships?. We ALL have difficult people in our lives ? and when it comes to family and work colleagues we may have little choice about it. This coaching exercise helps our clients assess who energises and who drains them. The coaching helps them find more time for people that energise them and less time or different strategies?for those who drain them. Great for: Fabulous for individual coaching ? whether in a career or broader life situation. Watch out:?While it?s excellent for a teleseminar, use with care in a workshop situation if people know each other ? who knows how they will appear on someone?s list or whether someone will feel they can be honest with a friend sat right next to them.

So, that?s the tools I think are most universal. But as I mentioned, we?d all love to hear from you which tools and exercises you use most ? or find most useful ? in your practices. Please add in your favourite tools and exercises by commenting below!

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Source: http://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/launchpad/coaching-tools-101-the-coaching-exercises-and-templates-i-would-not-be-without/

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