Learn how to react to complex situations.

The life coaching profession demands a versatile attitude to the appearance of dissimilar complex circumstances that may threaten the effectiveness of our sessions. That said, the coach is a professional who cannot adjust to a static vision and thinking, but must know how to balance the strategies and actions to be developed, as the situation requires. There are different methods that can be applied to achieve the aforementioned flexibility.

During the development of this guide we will be addressing some of the most important elements in reference to the need to learn to react to the appearance of complex circumstances that threaten our results in order to satisfy the needs of our customers.

Develop backup strategies

A very frequent mistake when proposing strategies to solve the problems presented by clients is to assume that we only need a series of concrete actions and that the result is guaranteed. No matter how clear the problem we are dealing with may seem, we must consider the possibility that new external factors may arise that may threaten the effectiveness of the strategies we have proposed. Considering these factors will help us develop backup strategies that can be used in cases where our main strategies are not working as well as we had hoped.

Backup strategies can be as many as possible external factors we can identify. The more we can cover the possible complex circumstances that may arise, the faster we will be able to react to the appearance of any of them.

You must have a flexible mentality

Having a flexible mentality implies detachment from fixed and immutable solutions. No matter how well elaborated the strategies you have proposed to your clients are, if the situation changes and warrants it, do not hesitate to completely adapt your strategies towards new solutions that adjust to the current facts. The flexibility with which we are able to adapt to new events is one of the most important skills to develop for every coach.

Do not let emotions interfere in your vision of the facts, always use common sense and reason when making accurate decisions, it is normal that you find it hard to discard your proposals after you have worked hard on their elaboration, think that it is worse to continue with something that will not have positive effects for your client and that may have repercussions in the delay of the solutions to the problems presented.

Strictly follow up on your strategies

Once you start applying your strategies and actions to solve your client's problems, try to keep a strict follow-up of each one of them. This will allow you to readily notice when they are not adjusting to the current facts, so that you can react quickly to adapt them to the new needs that have arisen.

Monitoring your strategies involves measuring their effectiveness to see if they are working as expected. If you are able to detect problems in time, it is very likely that you will be able to reformulate your actions and save time in the development of new ideas.

It is important that you maintain good communication with your clients at all times, as all your work is aimed at impacting the personal, professional and spiritual lives of your clients.

Clients are the ones who can most quickly let you know when you should act to correct an action that is not behaving as expected.