Coach as Instrument: What's the Purpose of This Story?

This Week's Attunement 

"Everything starts with a story."   
— Joseph Campbell

Our clients tell us lots of stories.

In the past, I've had clients who talked in almost nothing but stories. At the time, I was flummoxed by it. I was unable to discern what they were wanting from any given session because even they weren't able to articulate it.

Since then, I've learned that the stories my clients tell have wisdom of their own. I've learned two critical things about the stories our clients (and we, for that matter) tell:

1) Every story has a purpose (even if the teller doesn't know what the purpose is) and
2) Every story contains the seeds of something that's wanting to emerge.

With this knowledge, I coach differently.

Now, as my client tells a story, I'm asking myself, "What is the purpose of this story? What is the work the story is doing? What is wanting to emerge for the client?".

And I ask these questions of myself, not my client, because though the client may have the answers, they likely don't know them consciously. And the deep transformative work we do with clients is often at the non-conscious level.

Next time your client tells you a story, consider asking yourself the questions above and see what emerges.

Coach well!