There are many ways to encourage people. One approach is to focus on a person’s story and strengths. It is then to help them to achieve their picture of success.
Imagine that you are following elements of this approach in your work as an educator, mentor or in another role. You will start by creating an encouraging environment in which the person feels at ease.
When appropriate, you will invite the person to describe any themes they would like to explore. They may want to focus on how to tackle a particular challenge, shape their future or achieve a specific goal.
There are many ways to take this approach. One way can be to say something along the following lines.
“As you know, we can explore any topics you wish. Bearing this in mind, it would be good to know a bit more about what is happening in your world and any topics you would like to explore.
“We can then look at the strategies and practical tools that can work in these kind of situations. If you wish, you can use some of these ideas in your own way to achieve your aims.”
One approach is to simply focus on the first topic the person wants to explore. It is to understand the context and the results they want to achieve. It can then be to pass on knowledge that they can use to achieve their picture of success.
Another approach is to get to know more about the person. If appropriate, you can ask if it is okay to explore a bit more about their background and strengths.
Imagine that the person says this is okay. If appropriate, you may then find it useful to focus on the following themes.
The Person’s Story
Every person has their own story. Bearing this in mind, it can be useful to discover more about their journey in life. It is important to respect the person, however, and recognise that there may be a limit to what they want to share.
If appropriate, here some themes and questions that can be asked in a caring and encouraging way. It is then possible to invite the person to elaborate on these themes if they wish.
Imagine that you have got to know more about the person and their background. If appropriate, you can then move on to the next theme.
The Person’s Strengths
Every person has strengths and may do superb when focusing on certain activities. They may also have a successful style of working when working to achieve specific goals.
There are many ways to find out about a person’s strengths. If appropriate you may want to explore some of the following themes with the person.
Imagine that you have got to know more about the person’s strengths. If appropriate, you can then move on to the next theme.
The Person’s
Picture Of Success
People like to have a sense of purpose. They like set specific goals, follow strategies that work and achieve their picture of success. Taking these steps can give them a sense of satisfaction in their personal or professional lives.
Imagine that a person has already described the kind of topics they want to explore in the session. Bearing this in mind, one approach is to say something along the following lines.
“Looking at the topic you want to explore, we can focus on the strategies that are most likely to work. We can then look at how you want to follow these in your own way to achieve success.
“Before then, it would be good to look at how taking these steps may fit into achieving your long-term aims. Would you be willing to share some of the things that you want to do or achieve in your personal or professional life?
Some people are happy to explore their long-term aims. This can help to put their present situation in perspective. There is no need to push this, however, and the person may prefer to focus on the challenge or theme they want to explore.
Whatever route is taken, you can then return to the person’s main agenda and focus on the first topic they want to explore. You may then want to focus on some of the themes with the person.
Imagine that you have followed elements of this approach. When doing so, it can be important to look for the ideas that resonate with the person.
If you are working with an introvert, however, you may need to create a time out where they have chance to reflect. They can then focus on the ideas they may want to use in their own way.
At some point it can be useful for the person to clarify their potential next steps. Each person will do this in their own way. One approach is for them to use something like the following framework.
The Picture Of Success
The real results I want to achieve are:
To …
To …
To …
The benefits of achieving these results will be:
To …
To …
To …
The specific things I can do to do
my best to achieve these results are:
To …
To …
To …
There are many ways to encourage people. One approach is to focus on a person’s story and strengths. It is then to help them to achieve their picture of success.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where may want to follow elements of this approach? How can you do this in your own way?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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