How can you help your clients advocate for themselves?

Evaluate clients' present self-advocacy abilities through candid discussion and introspection in order to assist them in standing up for themselves. Determine any hesitation or confidence gaps, then work together to develop specialized techniques to improve these abilities. This could entail honing assertiveness techniques and improving communication objectives. To reinforce positive changes, evaluate progress on a regular basis and offer constructive criticism. Clients are given the confidence and effectiveness to navigate a variety of professional and personal situations by being given the tools to evaluate and assert their self-advocacy skills.

Improving self-advocacy can be hindered by a lack of confidence. If you've ever felt the fear of exposing your ignorance when asking questions or making statements, you're not alone. Here are my 2 cents. 1. Understanding that asking questions is a pathway to enlightenment. There's no question too basic or too advanced – each inquiry propels you forward on your quest for knowledge. 2. Your questions may spark a collective journey of discovery. Recognize that your inquiry has the power to assist others contending with the same uncertainties. 3. When others provide feedback on your assertions, consider it a valuable asset that propels you forward. Constructive criticism is a stepping stone toward refining your self-advocacy approach.

I assist clients in developing effective communication skills, refining their value propositions, and understanding their strengths. By providing guidance on assertiveness and helping them build a compelling narrative, I empower clients to confidently articulate their needs, accomplishments, and aspirations. Additionally, I support them in navigating challenging conversations and negotiating situations, fostering their ability to advocate for themselves in various professional?contexts.

As an executive coach focused on developing leaders, I understand the importance of not just being, but also being perceived as an effective leader. In the coaching process, I help my clients identify and fill their leadership gaps, and equally important, communicate these changes to others. Self-advocacy is crucial to articulate their achievements and progress clearly and confidently. This includes enhancing communication skills, highlighting significant successes and contributions, and crafting a personal narrative that reflects their development. Thus, they not only become better leaders but also gain visibility and recognition for their growth.

Helping clients explore the thin line between self advocacy and bragging is important, having awareness about what is too much what is too less advocacy is a good starting point. I have found using metaphors and analogies useful to get this conversation going

As a coach, I'm not here to teach the client, and imposing my version of what those benefits are goes against the purpose and goals of coaching. What I CAN do is help the client uncover and clarify the benefits that THEY want or hope for from self-advocacy. Then we can work together to identify what old stories are no longer helpful to their journey and replace them with new beliefs and habits that are. This will be far better motivation for them since it will address whatever need has brought them to coaching in the first place.

I think it is important to first understand the clients Whys. Why is it important to them to self-advocate? What has been holding them back? What would they gain from further advocating for themselves? When there is a clear purpose and understanding of why to possibly create this change and what is in the way, you can then design an action plan. The coach can role play with the coachee, help them identify limiting beliefs and be their accountability partner. Depending on where the client is, the action plan can include small steps that would challenge existing beliefs and assumptions, or bigger, bolder moves to stand up for themselves.

As an Executive and Mental Fitness (PQ) coach, I've seen how internal saboteurs, as identified in the Positive Intelligence framework, can impact attitudes towards self-advocacy. For example, the Judge Saboteur may lead clients to view self-advocacy as selfish, while the Pleaser Saboteur can make them prioritise others’ needs over their own. The Avoider leads to shying away from self-advocacy due to fear of conflict. These saboteurs reinforce negative beliefs, undermining confidence and creating a misconception that self-advocacy is confrontational or boastful. By recognising these saboteurs and enhancing mental fitness, clients can shift to a more positive view, seeing self-advocacy as an act of self-respect and effective communication.

They say practice makes perfect. However some will say that perfect practices make perfect. Therefore supporting & guiding them throughout the process will certainly & eventually bear fruit. I believe this would be the most practical and sustainable way to help them to learn or relearn the skills & practise it in the organisation

It can be hard, maybe even intimidating, to advocate for yourself. I always ask clients the following: 1) list the opportunity costs of speaking up; 2) list the opportunity costs of not speaking up; and 3) compare the costs. They often realize while it can appear costly to speak up, not speaking up has a far greater cost which inspires action.

Another aspect of self advocacy that is important to uncover is the client's intent and purpose of the self advocacy. If the self advocacy is coming from a place of strong humility and the client truly believes they can make a positive difference (and can unpack that in a way that demonstrates their rationale & "why"), then we will co create a plan for moving the needle forward. If the self advocacy is ego based and really doesn't serve others (or the client) in a meaningful way, then we would unpack that together as well and go down the road of "help me understand how you think this is a great idea that will contribute to _____". And even in this instance, we're moving the needle forward by realizing & refocusing.