Different Ways to Adapt the Coaching Wheel

The Wheel of Life is a standard coaching tool which can be adapted in many ways. How are you currently using the Wheel of Life (or health or other) with your clients - individuals, teams and groups?

Over the years I have adapted the labels on the wheel to create different wheels for different clients. From speaking with other coaches I know that this is something they continue to evolve for their own client groups. Depending on the types of issues you work around, how might you adapt your own Wheel of:
 - Health or Wellness
- Leadership
- High Performing Teams
- Small Business
- Entrepreneurial Skills
- Career

There are some wonderful resources out there, with Wheels already existing, such as the Co-Active Coaching Book (check out their Appendix of tools).

The Wheel is a great tool to have at the start of a coaching engagement to support clients in taking stock or seeing where they are at. Depending on the length of a program I may have group members revisit mid point or before the end.

It can be a very useful tool in:
- Planning and Goal Setting
- Deepening Awareness around where you are at
- Action and Accountability

In addition to using the Wheel on paper, consider how you can integrate Body-Centered Coching or the skill of Geography in having people physically "walk the wheel". The photo above is from a couples retreat I ran several years ago. I bring the physical wheel into a lot of the work I do with teams, groups and pairs. There are always some great new insights in making it very kinesthetic.


Questions to incorporate into your coaching using a wheel with clients (individuals/teams/groups):
What do you notice about your wheel?
Where are you strongest?
Which is/are your weakest?
Where do you want to place attention?
In which wedge do your strengths lay? How are you using these?
Which wedge are you/ do you want to ignore? What's important about this?
On a scale of 0-10 what would you rate your level of balance/skill/confidence/competence in this area right now?
What would be an optimum rating on a scale of 0-10 in each of the wedges?
What will it take to get there? What do you need to say YES to? NO To?
With teams and groups - Have members observe the synergies - what's similar? What's missing? Where is it overbalanced?



Questions to consider:



As you think about your work, how do you currently incorporate the wheel? How would you like to expand on this with your work?


Have a great week!


Warm regards
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
Join us for an upcoming program - Group Coaching Essentials starts this Thursday Aug 9 at 10:30 am ET by phone (3 spots open) or the Mentor Coaching Group for ACC Renewals, ACC/PCC portfolio route starts Friday Aug 10 from 12 - 1pm ET (2 spots open).