This post is short and to the point. It's intended to provide some basic information on what I consider to be the building blocks of coaching.
Human Needs
We all have basic needs that we try to meet in our lives, and they are essential elements of a healthy life. When needs are not met, conflict is likely to occur. They range from basic physiological or lower-order needs such as food, water, and safety (e.g., shelter) to higher-order needs such as self-actualization (e.g., living a meaningful life). People tend to spend most of their resources (time, energy, and finances) attempting to satisfy basic needs before the higher-order needs of belonging, esteem, and self-actualization become meaningful. This is not to say that a person cannot pursue higher-order needs without addressing lower-order needs first, but it does make the pursuit more difficult. Nor is it to say that a need operates independently of other needs. For example, there is a psychological aspect to security, and belongingness may play a part in how secure a person feels.
Needs can also be described as either deficiency needs (D-needs) and growth or being needs (B-needs). D-needs such as physiological, security, social, and esteem needs arise due to deprivation. Satisfying these lower-level needs is essential to avoid unpleasant feelings or consequences. Generally, people are motivated by D-needs until the needs are met. The motivation to fulfill D-Needs needs becomes stronger the longer they are denied; when a deficit need has been more or less satisfied, it will go away, and activities become directed towards meeting other unsatisfied needs.
B-needs, however, do not stem from a lack of something but rather from a desire to grow as a person. Thus, motivation to meet B-needs continues to be felt and may even become stronger once engaged.
Human Needs and Coaching
Often dysfunctional behaviors arise from the inability to meet these core needs consistently. Sometimes, coaches find that some clients are not aware of their needs during the coaching process, nor are their needs met. Several theories, such as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory (Maslow, 1970) and the Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2017), have proposed that a person's psychological health depends on the satisfaction or fulfillment of personal needs. These theories state that people have various needs (biological, safety, social, independence, self-actualization, competency, knowledge, etc.) they seek to fulfill. The more successful people are in satisfying these needs, the more satisfied they are with their lives (Vansteenkiste, Ryan, & Soenens, 2020).
If I, as a coach, recognize a client is unaware of their needs and unmet needs negatively affect their success, I'll likely bring it up as a point of discussion or an area to work.
Values
Values are internalized beliefs about what is important in life. They define what is good and what is right, and when a person internalizes and acts on a value, they affirm a sense of goodness in themselves. Valued living is when one's values are successfully guiding their life and behavior. People engaging in valued living have high levels of integrity. Values can be considered 'tools' for making life matter. Values help individuals reflect on how their actions align with what is deemed important and make decisions based on this analysis.
The individual must ask himself: Why am I doing this? Do I consider these actions valuable? If so, what values underlie my current behavior? What values are at the heart of my choice? Values urge the individual to do what she will likely perceive as meaningful in hindsight. Not living in alignment with one's values can result in a crisis of meaning; one's actions do not express the person he wants to be, what she is oriented towards, and what matters to him in life.
Values and Coaching
Like Needs, many coaching clients go through life without really thinking about their core values consciously. Perhaps they know them at a gut level and become uneasy when misalignment occurs, and at some point, the uneasiness turns to dissatisfaction and with one's performance. That is why I am keen on helping my clients identify and align with their core values.
Character Strengths
Strengths are factors that facilitate valued living and goal achievement and increase well-being. These factors are positive traits reflected in your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Strengths include ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving that are authentic and energizing. Using strengths enables optimal functioning, development, and performance. Examples of strengths are effective coping styles, like optimism or acceptance, and activities that provide energy and enthusiasm, like writing or painting.
Character strengths are positive traits and personally fulfilling capacities. They do not diminish others, are ubiquitous and valued across cultures, and are aligned with numerous positive outcomes for oneself and others. Character strengths are different than your other personal strengths, such as your unique skills, talents, interests, and resources, because they reflect the "real" you—who you are at your core.
Character Strengths and Coaching
As a positive psychology coach, I use a strengths-based approach. My coaching targets, "you, the professional." The focus is on leveraging character strengths to help you best serve your clients, students, or employees.
Working Together
It is often the simultaneous combination of need satisfaction, value alignment, and leveraging one's strengths that leads to not just goal achievement but also living a fulfilling life. As a result, I tend to spend a fair amount of time, at least in the early stages of a coaching relationship, helping my client become familiar with their needs, values, and character strengths. This usually involves some assessment and plenty of exploratory discussions.
My experience (and there's plenty of supporting research) is that clients experience extremely positive outcomes by using this approach and are more likely to be successful and reach their goals.
References:
Maslow, A. H. (1970). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-96.
Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper and Row.
Maslow, A. H. (1962). Toward a psychology of being. Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Company.
Maslow, A. H. (1970a). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row.
Maslow, A. H. (1970b). Religions, values, and peak experiences. New York: Penguin. (Original work published 1966)
Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Publishing.
Vansteenkiste, M., Ryan, R. M., & Soenens, B. (2020). Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions. Motivation and Emotion, 44, 1-31.
Feather, N. T. (1988). Values, valences, and course enrollment: Testing the role of personal values within an expectancy-valence framework. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(3), 381.
Feather, N. T. (1992). Values, valences, expectations, and actions. Journal of Social Issues, 48, 109–124.
Grouzet, F. M., Kasser, T., Ahuvia, A., Dols, J. M. F., Kim, Y., Lau, S., Ryan, R. M., Saunders, S., Schmuck, P., &Sheldon, K. M. (2005). The structure of goals across 15 cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 800-816.
Buckingham, M., & Clifton,D. O. (2001).Now, discover your strengths. New York: The Free Press.
Park, N., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. (2004). Strengths of character and well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 603-619.
Linley, A. (2008). Average to A+: Realising Strengths in Yourself and Others. Coventry: CAPP Press.
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York: Oxford University Press and Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Rath, T. (2007). StrengthsFinder 2.0. New York: Gallup Press.
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