What's your strategy for clients who resist change or feedback?

Understanding the reasons behind client resistance is crucial for effective coaching. It allows you to empathize and address their concerns. By using open-ended questions and active listening, you create a safe space for clients to express themselves. Validating their feelings helps build trust. Reframing negative beliefs, challenging assumptions, and exploring new perspectives empower clients to overcome resistance. It's about guiding them towards a growth mindset and helping them see change as an opportunity for personal and professional development.

Building rapport and trust is essential in coaching clients who resist change or feedback. Establishing a foundation of trust requires respect, support, and honesty. Demonstrating your expertise, credibility, and experience reassures clients of your capabilities as a coach. Providing positive feedback, recognition, and encouragement boosts their self-esteem and motivation. By creating a safe and comfortable environment, clients feel empowered to open up and embrace change or feedback. Trust is the key that unlocks the door to transformation and growth.

The third step is to tailor your approach to deliver change or feedback effectively. Understanding your client's personality, learning style, and readiness is crucial in adjusting your communication style, tone, and pace. Some clients may prefer direct and constructive feedback, while others benefit from gentle and supportive guidance. Utilizing examples, stories, or metaphors can resonate with certain clients, while others require facts, data, or logical reasoning. Some clients are ready to take immediate action, while others need time for reflection and processing. Leveraging coaching tools like the GROW model, feedback sandwich, or SBI model enables you to deliver change or feedback in a manner that respects their individuality.

The fourth step is to foster action and accountability in your client. Change or feedback becomes valuable when it translates into tangible actions and results. Supporting your client in developing a realistic and specific action plan, complete with clear goals, steps, and deadlines, is essential. Additionally, assisting them in identifying potential obstacles, resources, and support systems can enhance their progress. Regular follow-ups allow you to monitor their journey, provide guidance, and celebrate their achievements. By promoting action and accountability, you empower your client to transition from resistance to commitment and from awareness to transformation.

The fifth step involves reviewing and reflecting with your client. Change and feedback are ongoing processes that demand continuous evaluation and improvement. Together with your client, you can review their actions, outcomes, and learnings, allowing them to gain valuable insights. By identifying what worked well, what didn't, and what they can do differently in the future, you promote a growth mindset. Through this review and reflection process, your client consolidates their learning, strengthens their confidence, and facilitates their personal and professional growth.

Leave them alone. Remembering that feedback is subjective and belongs to the giver and not the receiver is one strategy I find helpful. People usually accept feedback that are in alignment with their personal and/or professional goals, values and character traits. So asking yourself how well do you know the person you are trying to give the feedback to can also be very helpful. I found that everytime my feedback was not received was because I had not fully listen to understand or empathize, but rather to share my opinion or how I would do something. I was focused on me ?? So often when people solicit our feedback, we begin by projecting our own thoughts, emotions and traits onto them without even asking background questions ??.

I find it useful to recall a time when I was inflexible, or perhaps an issue that I wasn't ready to receive feedback about. Recalling when other clients have experienced this can help too. The point is, we all experience moments like this and in them we are typically protecting something we believe to be valuable. Holding on to something we think is good that has served us well in the past. And we are right not to give up such things easily. Only doing so when we feel safe and trust the person we are talking to. Remembering this as career development professionals means we can provide our clients with what they need to question the idea of letting something go and replacing it with something new.

Possitive Psychological Suggestion should include a Moral Inventory, similar to a SWOT Analysis. An weakness should be judged by the person, then they need to challege Creative ideas to Improve. Even the Good Strengths can be improved on if the whole change are acted against.