How do you elicit and clarify your client's values in a coaching session?

Thank you for highlighting the NLP logical levels and their significance in coaching. By addressing these levels, particularly values and beliefs, we can help clients align their internal motivations with their actions. This not only fosters clarity but also catalyzes personal growth and goal achievement. Creating congruence across all levels ensures a holistic transformation, empowering clients to realize their full potential and navigate challenges more effectively. Great insights!

Begin by establishing rapport and trust. Ask open-ended questions to explore their goals and desires. Utilize techniques like the Values Elicitation Process to uncover core values. Listen actively, reflect their language patterns, and clarify meanings to ensure understanding. Use NLP techniques such as Meta-Modeling to delve deeper into their values and align coaching strategies accordingly.

Values elicitation is a breakthrough, liberating pocess! We see 'values' displayed and what's interesting to ask, is it fully understood how values (feelings, attitudes and beliefs) form? Values questionaires are insightful, and to understand your deepest core values is powerful. Values form through experiencing 'significant emotional events.' S.E.E., Prof. Morris Massey. Let's agree not all S.E.Es are positive! A powerful processes, is to become discerning about: *When the value formed *What value resulted and, * Why some are unhelpful, because the positive, can become your Signature Strengths! Motivational drivers, away from remaining in effect of any negative experience, towards wellbeing and achievement.

Logical Levels: In the intricate dance of leadership, understanding NLP logical levels is your compass to navigate the complexity. Leadership mastery begins by aligning internal beliefs with external actions. Use the logical levels for that. 1 Identity: Who are you as a leader? Define your core identity. 2 Beliefs & Values: Unearth the driving forces behind your decisions. 3 Capabilities: Assess your skills and competencies. 4 Behaviors: Examine your actions in various leadership scenarios. 5 Environment: How does your leadership impact your surroundings? Reflect on each level to identify misalignments. True leadership transformation starts from within. Get in touch for coaching. #LeadershipMastery #NLPforLeaders #LeadWithPurpose #NLP

NLP Logical levels is one of my favourite models. Each level influences the other and brings in alignment to explore the hidden potential.

The primary question to ask in values elicitation is "What's important to you in X". To shortcut the pricess, most will use a pre-set checklist. The cons are that this only helps with people who have high awareness. There are many instances where clients say one thing but behave another. So while you can use a list of values, after doing this checklist exercise, I would provide scenario, then ask for a series of examples of how they behave. Through observing behaviors and motivations, I would ask for the thinking behind their actions. These are more likely to yield patterns of values more accurately.

1. Ask Purposeful Questions: Use open-ended questions like “What’s important to you about achieving this goal?” to prompt deeper thinking and reveal underlying values. 2. Listen for Patterns: Pay attention to repeated themes or emotional responses that highlight the client’s true priorities. 3. Rank and Prioritize: Once values are identified, ask the client to rank them in order of importance to clarify which ones are most influential in their life.

Having an understanding that values drive behaviour and are a deep source of motivation is important. So, why you'd elicit values - it's a very high value conversation for leaders to have with their teams to be able to tap into their intrinsic motivation and to understand the behaviours that affirm (and offend) their values so you can support them. It also helps you, for example, to sell a new project or task when you can highlight how this opportunity aligns with and feeds their values

Ask for specific stories and examples of where they have felt most (desired outcome), such as fulfilled, respected, belonged, significant, loved etc Observe primary rep systems and submodalities but then a calibrated question such as: "What was it about that example that made you share it with me just now?" or "Out of all the other similar experiences you could've shared, how does this one stand out to you?" This effectively is our 'Why?' question - but we know better than to ask that

Many coaches aren’t very good at doing this, but you elicit conscious values by asking ‘what’s important to you about X’ X, is the specific thing, in a specific context that is to be explored. But this is how you elicit Conscious values only. To elicit values that are outside of the persons awareness is a different process entirely.

The Wheel of Life is a highly effective tool in NLP coaching. When a client needs help in determining and clarifying their life priorities, they can use the Wheel of Life tool. A client may find it challenging to determine or be unaware of what they should concentrate on in life. If someone is unaware of a problem, they might opt for coaching to find a solution. At the start of the coaching session, a client might express their priority of finding a job and identify an obstacle in their way. However, when using the Wheel of Life tool to prioritise their life, the client may realise that taking care of their sick parents becomes their top focus. Allowing the client to contemplate all aspects of life may reveal this underlying truth.

Values clarification is all about determining (1) the order of the values, (2) the context where the order might change, (3) the nature of the values such as whether they are away-from or toward values at their core. Order of values is contextual. If my father is ill, family becomes important as my emotional state has changed. Explore context if values seem to suddenly shift. Next looking at toward (positive) or away-from (negative) values also matters. If I value "care" because I don't want to be looked down on, that's away-from. If I care so as to be loving, that classifies as toward. Deeper inquiry of toward values could reveal away-from motivations at the core.

Value mapping comes handy here. Looking for contradictions, such as "What would have to happen for you to [give up value, for example: be dishonest to a loved one]?". This helps you rank and stack values and then test consistently until you have values ranked from most important/will never violate to least important/I care but will sacrifice in place of another, more important value

Values precede goals & actions, & are the unconscious conditioning that drives much of what motivates us. Well-being is improved when we have goals that are "self-concordant", & this means pursuing goals & expressing authentic choices that represent passions & central values. To do this, we help clients: (1) Become clear on their values; (2) Check the values they have are what they want; (3) Upgrade values that are no longer aligned with how they see themselves; (4) set goals that are aligned with their values being expressed. The process for doing this is one of the most important conversations we can have with a client, as it will be central to what goals they pursue in their life and contributes to their sense of well-being.

1. Identify the misalignment. Usually, discomfort or distress after a situation or choice has occurred. 2. Determine value that has been violated. See if you can pin down the name of the value. 3. Invite the part of them representing the value to speak its mind. If this value had a voice, what would it say? 4. Identify the highest possible intent for having spoken of this. Note, it is not the overall intent, but rather for having said what it said in #3. 5. Utilize chunking up skills to get to a level of abstraction that resembles a value. 6. Invite client to step into this value. What would s/he do? Future pace the actions. 7. Invite client to review the experience, choices and feelings.

I find noticing when there's high (or low) energy in a coaching conversation is a great time to ask "what's important to you about that?". Also, observing their behaviour at work and again, sharing your observation that they seem 'fired up' (or lethargic) and probe to find out what was going on that gave them/drained their energy. These conversations are always high value for me. Also using the "and what else?" question to dive a little deeper :-)

As always, rapport is key particularly when conducting what I believe to be one of the most useful tools in value coaching - ecology checks. Does the persons values align with that of the ecosystem that they are operating in? Does following their values interfere with their relationships or other needs? What could they lose as a result of implementing their values? The coaches job is to see if they are any unconscious barriers to the client living there values.

Open-Ended Questions and Active Listening: - Elicit and clarify your client's values by using open-ended questions and actively listening during coaching sessions. Encourage clients to express their thoughts and beliefs, and carefully listen to their responses. Through thoughtful questioning and attentive listening, you can uncover the values that drive their behavior and decision-making. Reflective Exercises and Exploration: - Utilize reflective exercises and exploration techniques to delve deeper into your client's values. Engage in discussions or activities that prompt clients to reflect on their priorities, beliefs, and what truly matters to them.

Discussing past experiences can reveal values that have been influential in shaping your client's life. Ask about memorable moments or significant achievements to uncover what mattered most to them in those situations. Encourage your client to compare and prioritize their values. This can help them identify which values are most central to their identity and decision-making process.

The usual principles apply here, as it's easy to forget the basics. Rapport. State breaks. Submodalities, Milton Model and perhaps most importantly (and underpracticed), the art of ACTUALLY listening and being present in the conversation. Be brilliant at the basics. Always.

Reflection Inquiry, attentive listening, observing and deep diving into the unsaid, leads to deeper exploration and elicitation for the client.