At various times in the last month I’ve seen numerous individuals comment on Twitter and in person that now they know that it’s nearly Christmas because “x” has just happened or because they have done “y” they are feeling very festive.

There have been a number of different scenarios described, for some it was seeing the Coca-Cola “holidays are coming” advert for the first time this year (For those who don’t know the advert I mean, or who just want to sing along with the tune, you can watch it here)

For others it was seeing the decorations go up as well as school concerts and plays.

Personally, I found myself commenting that I knew it was nearly Christmas because I was sat listening to Christmas tunes, sung by an entertaining welsh male voice choir. (The male voice choir was an added bonus it was the live performance of the Christmas tunes that was the indication for me.

Shopping and being covered in glitter from writing cards have also been mentioned in the same breath as “Now I know it’s Christmas.”

Maybe you’ve noticed the people in your life make similar remarks. These are all passing comments but are an indication of how each individual has different associations and connections with events that are going on around them and/or that they carry out at this time of year.

So other than it is creeping, or depending upon your point of view, hurtling ever closer towards December 25^th why am I writing about this in a post that’s suppose to be about coaching?

I wanted to mention a specific question that, as with all questions, when used at an appropriate moment can be really powerful at moving someone forward:

“What would need to happen?”

This question can have four main benefits

1)      Next steps of action can be identified

2)      To be able to answer that question the client has to start to shift their focus away from a perceived obstacle and towards finding a solution or a different path.

3)      Clear and easily recognisable markers can be identified so that the individual can see the progress they are making. It can also help make the end point much more specific.

The forth benefit depends upon how you phrase the question. You perhaps have noticed that you can easily include an ending to that question so it becomes “What would need to happen for …? “As a coach, you can choose to end that question with something that totally expands your client’s range of possibility.

For example, as a coach:

What would need to happen for you to be even more effective with your clients?

What would need to happen for you to have even more fun around coaching/ your coaching practice?

What would need to happen for you to make double your current coaching income next year?

Depending upon how your client responds you may need to prompt with follow ups such as: “what else?” or “what’s the very next step?”

Feel free to share what has to happen for it to feel like Christmas. Perhaps as a coach you’d like to answer the questions above or just make a comment about how you use this question.

Just type your message below followed by the submit comment button. I look forward to reading your comments.