Evan and Megan Gilmore doing the day-to-day work at Lark’s Song.

Create Courageously

Assessment is so important! As coaches, we need to have our finger on the pulse of where our client is and where they want to go, and THAT is what assessment is all about. It can expand our curiosity, ground us in this present moment, and give us clarity on how to best champion our clients forward.
We love assessment wheels around here! And we have a new one for you - the Couples Coaching Wheel!

Choose Aliveness

In this skill refresh, Megan explains how to set up each session and your documentation to create a regular rhythm of assessment in each and every session.

Amanda Granger (E14) at Experience-Assisted training onsite 2020.

Discover Purpose

Remember taking the IMAGE (Intrinsic Motivation Assessment Guide & Evaluation) in the training program? For the rest of 2021, we can offer IMAGE assessments for FREE to Co-Lab members, just email megan@larkssong.com when your clients are ready to take it and she’ll send you the instructions. These assessments are $30 a piece to non Co-Lab members.

Develop Potential

One of our very favorite assessments is the VIA Character Profile. The profile is free for your clients with a fully customized landing page for you! You can create your own customized professional link (ex. http://larkssonginc.pro.viasurvey.org) and the assessment has been translated into 109 different languages and standardized across cultures globally. You’ll also find many additional supportive resources with a quick Google search or YouTube query to deepen you and your client’s understanding with the tool.

Megan - still in a pandemic - still doing most of her work from home. Getting ready to record a Skill Refresh for y’all here.

Lead to Serve

Whenever I get to a new place, I do two things: 1) arrange my space and my things so that everything has a home - this could be in a bag, shelf, drawers, wherever and 2) find a map and figure out what’s around me - this might look like a paper map, Google maps, those little binders in hotels or driving around to see where I am in relationship to where everything else is.

If I’m rushed into the next thing before finding my bearings, I become preoccupied with just getting through whatever is happening until I can. I become easily distracted and unfocused, and it’s difficult for me to enjoy my time or show up fully. It seems like this might be a good metaphor for the purpose and impact of assessment in coaching. It’s a way of looking at your map and realizing with clarity where you are, where you want to go/what you want to do, the resources you have at your disposal, and even what some optional routes might be to get there.

While assessment is an essential coaching competency to attend to and practice for your clients, it also serves to assess yourself as a coach. Where are you? And where do you want to be? What resources do you have available to you? How will you get there?

Reflection Questions
If you created your own coaching development and performance wheel, what would be on it? How do you continue to expand your range and not fall into a default coaching style that only relies on a few coaching skills to get by? Where do you want to be as a coach and what supports and disciplines or practices will get you there?

Take a look at the core coaching competencies put forth by the International Coach Federation and be really honest with yourself about where you excel and where you need to challenge yourself toward growth.

Affirmation: I see myself clearly. I am growing and changing daily, and I take responsibility for my development, performance, and impact.