How to Help Clients Succeed Without Setting Goals

Meet the Practitioners:

Dr. David Drake:

A renowned coach, consultant, and threshold guide, David is also the founder and CEO of The Moment Institute.

David Kidd:

A Narrative Coach who finds himself in transition.

Context of the Session:

No goals were set, no agenda scripted, and no predetermined outcomes were pursued.

As you’ll hear, Kidd is approaching a career transition. He has a broad awareness of the change that is underway, but he isn’t clear on what is needed next. So, instead of asking him to set goals for some future destination, Dr. Drake helps him drop into the present moment to explore what’s coming up for him and what he needs most right now. 

Reflective Takeaways from the Demo:

Without goals, how do they decide what to talk about during the session?

With a simple question from Dr. Drake, “What feels important today?” 

Notice how he guides the client deeper into the present moment. After he mentions that he’s been thinking a lot about developing his new career, Dr. Drake asks questions such as, “How would you describe that new career?” “And what is that like?” and “What is this bringing to you?” 

Dr. Drake’s questions pull the client’s focus into the present moment and what seems to be shifting. This opens up a much deeper awareness for the client from which he can now see his new career more clearly. This allows Kidd to gain clarity around what he’s experiencing, how he feels about it, what he needs, and how to get those needs met. This allows the client to walk away from the coaching session with sustainable confidence in himself and his process.

How does Dr. Drake respond when the client says that he feels a sense of urgency around this change?

It would be easy for Dr. Drake to feel pressured to take on that sense of urgency and look for ways to drive the client forward with greater velocity — presumably by creating an action plan, setting dates on a calendar, and revamping goals. 

Instead, Dr. Drake responds with the question, “What have you learned about yourself in terms of what’s helpful for you in times like this?” 

This question opens the door for Kidd to reflect on the fact that what he needs is patience, a little bit of silence, and to remind himself that things tend to move quicker than he expects them to. This is part of a larger commitment in Narrative Coaching: our fundamental objective is to equip the client to know, trust, and coach themselves.

They aren’t working toward a goal, and yet the client leaves standing on firmer ground and is better able to move through this transition. How does that happen?

It’s common for clients to have a sense that something needs to happen or change, but they often can’t predict ahead of time what is going to be involved, what they are going to need, or where they will end up.

So, instead of setting a goal and driving the client down a pre-defined path, Dr. Drake looks for openings in each moment to take the next step. He helps the client to gain a deeper understanding of what he has right now and use it to guide his next steps.

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