The step-upp© coaching modelpar Betty Healy
The Step-UPP© coaching model offers coaches an additional strategy for guiding clients on the path of self-discovery and personal transformation. The model is built on the premise that living in a state of unlimited personal power requires two key components, Clarity and Action. Clarity + Action = Unlimited Personal Power
The Clarity/Action Grid (below) provides a graphic representation of what happens when either one or both of the clarity/action equation is missing, and describes the four states of being: Spinning, Stalled, Settling, and Stepping-UPP.
The four phases of the Clarity/Action Grid refer to various states clients will experience and which we, as coaches, will observe and address with them.
Spinning describes the state of action without clarity. You notice that the clients are in action and may even describe him/herself as dancing as fast as they can. The action however is directionless as they are not clear about what they want, they have no concrete goals or objectives nor are they intentional.
Stalled describes the state where clients have completed extensive work on their desires, have recorded goals and objectives, and are very clear in regard to what they want. Here is where the activity stops however, as they have not yet put any of these goals or desires into action.
Clients who settle have an external locus of control. They do not see that they have any control over their life including the circumstances they attract to themselves. They settle for whatever happens around them and frequently see themselves as the ‘victims’ of circumstances.
The final phase is Stepping-UPP. This is where we, as coaches, want our clients to land. Our job is to assist our clients in identifying, with great clarity, the details of what they want, personally and professionally, and to marry this clarity with ‘attractive actions’, actions that are aligned with the clarity they have achieved. Note that action may be doing something specific and it may also be embracing a new way of ’being’ in the world.
The Step-UPP© model is another approach for the coach’s toolkit. When described to clients, they will see themselves in the model and be able describe the circumstances that send them spinning, stalling or settling. This provides powerful insight into their behaviors and allows you, as the coach, to go behind the scene and identify the reasons this might be happening.
You may notice that different phases may be active at the same moment in different aspects of the client’s world. For example, at work a client may be spinning, reeling from the burden of work activities or expectations imposed on him/her by others. At the same time he/she may be stalled in his/her personal life, knowing what he/she wants but choosing not to act on these desires.
Once the clients understand the Clarity/Action Grid© they can also employ this to pull themselves out of spinning, stalled and settling by developing concrete strategies with their coach. In this sense the Step-UPP© model becomes a simple yet powerful tool for both coach and client.
Our responsibility as coaches is to assist our clients in Stepping-UPP, to work with them to achieve clarity, first, and to engage in action, second. There are a number of strategies for helping clients become clear regarding what they want. Key to this is teaching the client the importance of intentionality.
Whereas most clients will be schooled in setting goals and objectives, few understand the nature of intention. Intention requires the clients to be clear about what they want without attachment to a concrete outcome. Unlike goals and objectives, which are focused on outcome, intentions open the field of possibility.
The purpose of Step-UPP© model is to encourage clients to allow the Universe (spirit) to work on their behalf. This requires that they understand that they cannot attract the life they want unless they are clear regarding what they truly want to manifest/shift in their life.
This work is also guided by the principles of the Law of Attraction. With that in mind, the client is encouraged to examine the inner landscape of self, specifically understanding what the voice of their self-critic is whispering, and exploring limiting beliefs/fears that hold them back.
The purpose of this exploration is self-awareness. The coach then assists the client in re-framing these limiting beliefs and creating their ‘new story’.
As coaches too frequently we focus on action as ‘doing’ something, performing specific actions. The Step-UPP© model asks coaches to also consider coaching clients on new ways of ‘being’. This includes, as mentioned above, assisting the client in creating their ‘new story’. The ‘new story’ consists of re-scripting the self-critic’s messages into positive self-talk, as well as re-framing any limiting beliefs into belief systems that truly serve them. In this way the coach assists the client in re-designing the inner landscape of self. In the context of the Law of Attraction, this allows them to attract a different outer landscape. The ‘being’ work of the Step-UPP© coaching model is essential in shifting the client into a position of unlimited personal power.
In summary, the Step-UPP© coaching model offers coaches and clients another opportunity for creating the coaching conversation. This conversation focuses on achieving clarity and taking action, assisting the client to create their ‘new story’ and step into unlimited personal power.
The Step-UPP© coaching model is described in Betty’s most recent book ME FIRST – If I Should Wake Before I Die, (2009).