Power Tool Assessment

Name: Maria Gardner Date: May 22, 2012 Student ID: 265677 Email: maria.gardner@frontier.com

Complete your Power Tool in the space below and then email as an attachment to assessment@icoachacademy.com

The Ultimate Goal vs. the Unexamined Life

An unexamined life is not worth living.Socrates

The foundation of chosen values and balanced priorities is protected by boundaries that provide margin and are maintained by disciplined flexibility. These support the ultimate goals two essential components, which result in achievement of the ultimate goal.

I have constructed this Power Tool pyramid inductively, with the foundation of Chosen Values and Balanced Priorities at the bottom and each successive layer representing the next logical step toward fulfillment of the ultimate goal. In coaching practice, however, I take a top-down deductive approach. This is consistent with coaching and adultlearning theory: both recognize the importance of internal motivation provided by a stimulated imagination. The pull of a client-chosen ultimate goal provides the motivation to engage in the process of creating and adhering to a plan to achieve it. Notice that layer 3 the beginning of a concrete plan is Step 4 as shown. Step 1 Starting at the top provides the client the opportunity to determine her personal choice of an ultimate goal. One example might be a fulfilled life. I use powerful questions to help clients determine the content of the top triangle for themselves. It then provides motivation for them to continue the process of creating structure to support that ultimate goal. Sometimes the process delivers new insights that cause a client to go back and modify his initial choice of ultimate goal particularly if it doesnt align with the values and priorities that emerge in Step 3 clarification. The conversation with a client in Step 1 might include questions like: What do you most want out of life? [Most people think of this in one of three ways, offering some insight into their thinking/motivation pattern]: o What do you want to have? o What do you want to be? o What do you want to do? If you knew you wouldnt fail, what would you do? What would that do for you? If it is a means to an end, what is the end? What do you really want? Why?

I continue a similar line of questioning until the client is satisfied that the ultimate goal is the desired end and not a means to something else.

Step 2 The level below the ultimate goal contains the primary components perceived to comprise the goal. In the example given in Step 1 of a fulfilled life as the ultimate goal, the two components might be healthy relationships and long-term productivity. The client determines the components that comprise his ultimate goal. The conversation with a client might include questions like: What would your ultimate goal look like? What are the most valuable components it would include? If you identified five or six components and had to give them up one by one until only two were left, what would they be?

Step 3 Step 3 has two parts. 1. Part 1 is a quality check on the previous steps. I go to the bottom level and help the client explore his values. This usually either validates or raises questions about whether the ultimate goal has been accurately identified. The conversation with a client might include questions like: What do you value most in life? [Examples could be security, significance, wealth, health, achievement, meaningful relationships, faith, family, etc.] What is the outcome you want? What have you learned in observing others?

2. Part 2 identifies the priorities that must be preserved in creating boundaries to achieve the ultimate goal. Clearly chosen values support this awareness prior to moving to Step 4. The conversation with a client might include questions like: What additional areas of your life must receive attention (be balanced)? [Wheel of Life exercise] How would you rank order them in terms of value? How would you rank order them in terms of required time?

Step 4 Now I go up one level and help the client create the structure that supports his ultimate goal and its components. Boundaries that include accountability and provide margin increase the probability of success. The concept of disciplined flexibility protects against rigidity that can feel like a straitjacket; at the same time, it reinforces the truth that significant gains do not come easily they require discipline. The conversation with a client might include questions like: What-time consuming activities would you be willing to drop to make room for activities that will move you to your ultimate goal? [Discuss the need for margin; time and activity additions require commensurate subtractions to avoid overload.] What do you need to do first? Who needs to be included to achieve success? How will these actions contribute to achieving your goal?

The Ultimate Goal vs. the Unexamined Life Tool, offers a clear strategy to help a client define his ultimate goal and then create the structure to achieve the desired outcome.