From Goals to Reality? What a Whole Person Coaching Approach Would Look Like

If you tell your executive coach you're having trouble making your goals a reality, an ICF (International Coaching Federation)-aligned coach will respond by engaging you through a client-centered, process-oriented approach that emphasizes partnership, exploration, and accountability.

Here’s what you can expect, based on ICF Core Competencies and ethical coaching standards:

🔍 1. Clarify the Real Challenge (Competency: Evokes Awareness)

• Your coach won’t jump into solution mode. Instead, they’ll ask reflective questions to explore why your goals aren’t becoming reality.

• They’ll help uncover internal or external blockers—e.g., limiting beliefs, unclear motivations, or environmental constraints.

🔹 Example prompt:

“What might be getting in the way of you committing to this goal fully?”

🧭 2. Revisit & Realign the Goal (Competency: Establishes and Maintains Agreements)

• The coach may guide you to refine your goals to ensure they’re still meaningful, motivating, and realistic.

• They may use SMART or CLEAR goal frameworks or even co-create new metrics of success that feel more energizing to you.

🔹 Example prompt:

“Is this goal still meaningful to you, or has something shifted?”

🧠 3. Tap into Your Resourcefulness (Competency: Cultivates Trust and Safety)

• ICF coaches are trained to hold the belief that you are naturally creative, resourceful, and whole.

• Instead of prescribing solutions, they help you reconnect with your internal strengths or draw from past successes.

🔹 Example prompt:

“When have you followed through on something important before? What worked for you then?”

🛠 4. Design Actions & Accountability (Competency: Facilitates Client Growth)

• Together, you’ll design specific next steps, not generic to-dos. Your coach may challenge you to make your actions smaller, bolder, or more aligned with what drives you.

• You’ll co-create an accountability structure that keeps progress visible and self-driven.

🔹 Example prompt:

“What will you commit to doing, by when, and how will you know it worked?”

🧭 5. Explore Mindset & Energy (ICF Approach: Whole-Person Coaching)

• You’ll explore how your emotions, thoughts, values, and identity might be supporting or sabotaging progress.

• Expect questions that shift your perspective or reframe your relationship to the goal.

🔹 Example prompt:

“What would be different for you if you fully believed this goal was inevitable?”

In short, you won’t be told what to do—you’ll be guided to discover, decide, and act from a place of clarity and ownership.