Life Coach LIVE: Case Studies - Life Coaching Service

Case Studies

Life Coach Live Case Studies:

Case Study #1

Paul came to us with a definite mission in mind. He wanted to improve his focus and control. He was in the process of expanding his business and was beginning to feel fragmented and out of control.

Our initial discussions resulted in Paul deciding that he needed the things that the Success Coaching Package offered.

One on One Coaching
Flexible Scheduling
Ability to purchase blocks of time

He began to work with his life coach to accomplish the things that were important to him. As they progressed, Paul realized that he was able to gain more control by giving up control. He gave responsibility and authority to key people in his organization. Those people developed plans for their areas based on the goals of the organization. Paul would then have regularly scheduled meetings and conferences with those key people only. This allowed Paul to focus on growth and expansion of his business. The ability to access his coach at different times and not being bound by a predetermined meeting proved to well worth the cost. Paul felt that he got the maximum value for his dollar.

Case Study #2

We were approached by a senior partner, Brian, in a real estate firm. The firm had started 20 years ago when the two founders grew tired of working for someone else. They started the company using their savings and home equity loans. The company had grown to include 10 partners, 50 employees and 7 locations. They were a multi-million dollar company and all within 10 years.

The rapid growth the company had experienced did not come without a cost. The direction of the company had become fragmented. Each partner was working to accomplish their own agenda instead of looking at the overall picture. After our initial discussion, Brian felt the Success Coaching Package was his best choice.

Our discussions centered on first determining what Brian’s long term desires were. After our next session he was able to come to the realization that he wanted to be in a position to leave the business and travel within the next 5 years. We then looked at how that would fit into the long term stability of the company as a whole. This could not be accomplished without a succession plan and development of junior partners.

We then began to work with several junior partners with the understanding that we were going to first determine what they wanted for their lives. After that we would look at how that could best work for the company as a whole. Everyone at the firm was pleasantly pleased and surprised with the results. There is a succession plan in place. The people who want to grow within the framework of the firm are doing so. Those that are ultimately want to pursue other opportunities are phasing out with no hard feelings.

As a result of our discussions, the firm has been able to realize an increase of 200% over the prior year. This came from expansion into property management and purchase of properties that were picked up at a deep discount. The partners are converts to the benefits of Life Coaching. All involved agree that these results would not have been possible without the use of a combination of the Success and Power packages.

Power Package Clients

Case Study #1

Kirt called us after he had become completely frustrated trying to negotiate the age barriers at his firm. He’d struggled to get career-advancing work assignments only to be labeled as too aggressive. As a junior litigation associate, he’d logged in 100s of hours beyond his firms billable requirements but his questions about his prospects for advancement were consistently avoided by the partners with whom he worked. He’d tried to address blatantly age biased comments in as calm, mindful and respectful a way as he could only to be told he was overly sensitive and needed to earn his way.

Kirt’s goals for individual coaching were to find a way to become a senior litigation associate and then a litigation partner at a top firm. He also had recently proposed to his girlfriend of 5 years. This meant that starting a family was going to come into the picture.

We scheduled time for Kirt to complete the initial assessment. After completing that portion, we scheduled and completed the initial consultation session. We worked together to determine what Kirt’s life would look like assuming everything went exactly as he wanted. What type of firm would match his strengths? What would his family life look like after he got married? What about after he and his wife had children? We invested the time necessary to develop a strong mental picture of what that life would look and feel like.

We compared his current firm to his ideal firm. His current firm did not provide the opportunity that he felt necessary to achieve his goal of partner in a large firm. We then compared the options of moving to another firm and still staying with his current firm. He created an inventory of his current network of contacts. From that basic list, we developed a plan to increase his connections in number and broaden them in scope. This was designed to help Kirt gather information, find models and learn about new job opportunities. Kirt worked with a recruiter, to find the kinds of positions which might interest him. Our coaching focused on assessing to what extend each firm would provide a genuine opportunity for him to achieve both his professional and personal goals. We jointly developed interview strategies which enabled him to effectively market himself as well as evaluate the possibilities for advancement for a 30 something litigator determined to integrate career and family. Once Kirt received the offer he wanted, our coaching focused on preparing him to negotiate for himself. The coaching kept him from falling back on his tendency to attack these situations in a manner that came across as confrontational. He was able to arrange the terms of his employment so that his most important goals were addressed.

Kirt approached the partnership as just that, a “true partnership”. Kirt was very coachable and motivated to ideas and strategies. Once we determined the “life he wanted to end up with”, we devised a strategy for getting the right kinds of work opportunities, developing a relationship with a mentor, broadening his base of support and demonstrating business development potential. Coaching helped him to maintain his focus on these goals while taking on increasing responsibility for litigation management and billing 1950+ hours/year. Kirt was voted into the partnership while he was on parental leave for the birth of their first child. He returned to work using a combination of telecommuting and traditional model in order to have time with his family, having earned significant trust and political capital from his senior colleagues. He enjoys his practice as well as her family life and is confident in his abilities and optimistic about his future.

He credits the ACE System and the Life Coaching process with making that happen. Kirt believes that left to his own devices he would have continued to come across as too young and inexperienced. This would have delayed or completely stifled his promotion. The Power Package fit perfectly into the goals that Kirt wanted to accomplish.

Case Study #2

Todd had been promoted to a manager’s position. He wanted to make sure that he was able to perform to the best of his abilities. He felt that this could be a stepping stone to another position if he handled it in the right way.

After taking the initial assessment, Todd and his Life Coach began to look at what it was that Todd wanted to accomplish. What were the things that he really brought him passion and energy? Why did he want to move to a higher management level? Todd had been promoted at another company, but had not been successful.

Todd and his Life Coach looked at what had occurred and realized that in Todd’s prior experience he had not focused on the position at hand. Todd was always looking at the promotion and not on being the best he could be in his current job. He had not learned to appreciate the great things about being a manager he was just looking at how it could get him to the district manager level.

Todd listed all the advantages of staying at the manager’s level for the rest of his career. What would it take for him to become the best manager in his district and not the best district manager candidate in his district? This brought the position into a whole new light for Todd.

Through use of the Power Package, Todd was able to benefit from having access to another set of eyes. Having his Life Coach to teach him acceptance of what he had in front of him and not just what was always over the next hill was satisfying. Todd was later offered a promotion to the district manager position but for the time being declined. He credits working with his Life Coach with him not again taking a promotion that he was not prepared to take.

Case Study # 2

Tom had been a single father for over 10 years. His wife had been killed in an auto accident. Raising two children and being in management had taken its toll on him. He felt that he was constantly pressed for time, exhausted and had more on his to do list than he could possibly ever hope to accomplish. He felt like he was constantly attempting to fulfill the expectations that others had set for him. He had at that point totally lost track of who was and what was important to him.

After completing the assessment and initial consultation, it was determined that the standard package was the path for Tom to take. Initial discussions focused around what Tom’s life look would like in an ideal world. He wasn’t interested in remarriage. He realized that he didn’t need as much to live and raise his family as he was currently making. This opened him up to making a career change.

At that point, Tom and his Life Coach began to look at what are the things that give Tom passion. He began to take the steps to start his career as a personal trainer. This is the thing that he had been passionate about all of his life. This was something that he lived and breathed. He researched becoming certified as a personal trainer. He was able to become certified by taking exams online and then a live final certification.

He was then able to continue working is full time job while developing a clientele for his personal training business. He had to maintain focus on what was important and where he knew he ultimately had a passion to be. This was something that he had given up on early in life as he pursued a “real job”. His decision to pursue his life’s dream became a perfect mental picture that he was able to keep in the front of his mind.

Tom has since gone to personal training full time. In the beginning, he took a cut in pay to actually live his dream of being able to raise his family on his terms. He learned to set small attainable goals that helped him gain confidence. Celebrating small achievements and being satisfied with where he was at any given time while moving forward towards his dreams. Tom learned to comfortable with not knowing when, where or how his dream was going to happen. Tom kept the ultimate goal in sight at all times and continued to have faith that he would get there. He had to learn that what others see is not his reality unless he allows it to be. He has been able to learn techniques to avoid the old habits that would have him spinning out of control in his mind and paralyze him within his own fears.

Tom is now making more as a full time personal trainer than he did working in his old management career. He works with clients who appreciate what he offers. His career is so much more fulfilling than anything he had done in the past. He has more time to spend with his family and it is not just quantity but also quality time. He attributes this success in reaching his goals to working with his life coach. Having someone that is available to him on a regular basis was instrumental in his growth. He now is able to work towards the things that make him happy and not be stifled by the expectations and limitations of others beliefs about his abilities. Tom’s life is the life that he always wanted and more. He is currently towards goals and dreams that he never thought would be possible.

Standard Package:

Case Study #1

Susan had always had a difficult relationship with her parents. Her father had been deceased for the past 10 years. Her mother who was 85,had lived alone since her father’s death. Susan’s granddaughter is pregnant with her first great-grand daughter. This has made Susan aware of the desire to improve her relationship with her mother. Her mother’s health was failing so she felt a sense of urgency. Susan had intended to mend the relationship for the past several years, but had not been able to do so. Living is world like most people, hectic and full of chaos, she didn’t feel she had the time or energy to make things right. She was desperate to change the situation no matter the cost before it is too late.

We setup for Susan to complete the initial assessment and exploratory session. During our initial session, we discussed what Susan’s world would look like under ideal conditions. We worked together to create a mental image of what her new life with her mother, daughter, grand daughter and great grand daughter would look like. Susan was able to create a clear picture of that life, but felt “stuck” in her current life and unable to think how to move forward. She had blinders on that prevented her from seeing all the possible options that were available to her..

I then asked Susan the question “How would you build a relationship with a 85 year old woman that you had never met and didn’t know. This helped Susan see things in a whole new light. She was able to let go of all the “bricks” that she had been carrying around for all of those years of bitterness and resentment towards her parents. She now began to look at the potentials from a “helicopter view”. It was as if she were painting her life on a fresh canvas with no limitations.

Things did not end there, on the other hand they were just beginning. Susan made a great start, but it was a start that she would never have made without coaching. Susan realized that giving love before you receive love is actually the way to get love. As time went by she was able to turn their relationship around. The road was not an easy one, but the 3 sessions per month with her coach were a huge asset for her. Since then, she has been able to stay focused and positive. For Susan, this investment in coaching has begun to pay huge returns.

Case Study # 2