Are you serious about getting outcomes for your Kids Life Coaching clients?
Last week I had an unplanned coaching call with a teen coachee. She wasn't scheduled to have a maintenance coaching session with me, but she was feeling overwhelmed and reached out spontaneously via WhatsApp expressing her challenges. She sounded like she was in trouble...so I called her.
Now, as a Kids Life Coach for over two decades, this isn't something I usually do. There are boundaries that need to be kept intact as a coach and one of them is preserving your time and charging for your time. However, there are sometimes cases like this one where these boundaries need to be shifted temporarily.
If you are serious about getting outcomes for your coaching clients, it isn't just about what you can do in your 45 minute coaching session once a week. It is way way more than that. In fact, your coaching sessions is only partway there!
What young people need is the safety and security that you are available if and when they need you. This doesn't imply an unhealthy co-dependency, but instead it is about a gentle unspoken reassurance that you have their back if they are ever in trouble.
With soaring suicide rates due to declining mental health, young people can benefit from having a "secret parent" who has their back. This leans into the 4 U's that I teach as part of my Kids Life Coach Certification programme.
Unconditional
Unconventional
Upbeat
Upliftment
Getting outcomes relies on creating trust and safety first and foremost. A young person who feels supported will naturally flourish. This is why setting the tone for your coaching sessions from the outset is so incredibly important. Which is why our global network of Kids Life Studio® Coaches, do a structured pre consultation that involves the whole family.
Getting results with your clients is reliant on how you start...because how you start is how you will finish. So many coaches who are not well trained, don't realise the many important steps they need to implement to ensure they get outcomes for their Kids Life Coaching clients.
Which leads me to clarify...who is the client?
The parent
Or
The child?
The answer is both...the parent pays and will bring their own personal agenda to the table but the child should always determine the direction of their own coaching sessions. This is the fundamental difference between what we do and what a parent coach does.
Circling back to my teen client that I called. She knew from the first time I met her that I would have her back. That I would be the adult she could call on when in distress and that I would show up without judgement. In this case, things turned out okay, and a simple quick fifteen minute call saved her day. She just needed reassurance and to be reminded that she has a toolbox of skills from our coaching sessions. That being said, it is about more than reassurance though. It was also about me doing a safeguarding check. I was able to assess her needs and determine if she was a risk to herself or others. in the event that she was, my structure of reporting was already in place for parental counsel and feedback.
Can you say the same?
Be on the lookout for my masterclass scheduled for release on Tuesday, 28 May that will unpack this topic further.
Remember that as a Kids Life Coach, you are in the most amazing position of privilege. Not only do you get to influence a child's life by planting the seeds for making better choices, but you have the opportunity to also hold space if and when needed. No judgement, no expectations. Just an added layer of support.
So as you go out there and coach, remember this one thing...if you are serious about getting outcomes for your coaching clients...you need to be willing to go the extra mile!
Regards with zeal,
Zelna
Kids Life Studio® Founder
