2.4: Clarifying Client Aspirations, Goals, and Challenges

Thus far, in our work, we’ve talked about the present situation, and we’ve also talked about the past. The next step is to consider the future. At this point, it’s helpful to gain insight into how much future orientation the client has.

• Do they have a vision for a preferred future?
• Have they considered what their career might be?
• Have they thought about where they might go next?
• What options, alternatives, or possibilities are they considering?

This is an appropriate time to ask questions that elicit insights into the vision or long-term goal. My favourite question is: “In the best of all worlds, what do you want to get out of your life?” This could also be phrased as “In the best of all worlds, what do you want to get out of your career?” Any version of this question can be helpful in identifying client aspirations and goals.

By encouraging clients to envision a future tense, you can help to clarify their true aspirations, goals, and challenges. What is it that they want? Take time to query the future to discern what potential avenues they’ve been considering. This also helps to determine if clients know how to envision their own future.

Understanding whether or not they have a vision and the degree to which they have a vision helps to discern what kind of work you will need to do with a client. Some individuals lack vision, and we must work on assisting them in developing an image of a preferred future. Others know exactly what they want but are unsure how to get there. Hence, in those cases, we work on researching and clarifying the goal and then developing a series of action steps to move forward. The key here is that we must first fully explore their thoughts to clarify their aspirations and goals.

This approach generates insights into what the client wants. It also helps to identify the potential barriers the client is facing. It’s normal for clients to generate a lot of “buts” or reality statements, which express the beliefs or obstacles that prevent clients from achieving their aspirations. It is best not to confront or challenge them immediately when engaging in career conversations. Instead, keep clients focused on their future vision.

For example, if a client says: “Oh well, I would love to if only I had the money,” you can say, “Thanks for sharing; I’m going to make a note of that. But for now, let’s keep going and assume you do have the money.”

We must record perceived challenges the client shares and address them as part of the process. It’s important not to be distracted by talking about those issues. Acknowledge whatever they are and then, go back to eliciting a future state. What are their hopes? What are their aspirations? Do they have long-term goals?

When reality checks come up, an important consideration is not to confront those issues. The role of the career coach is to help the client figure out a process to discern if their vision is possible. It is not our job to say, “Oh, that’s not realistic,” or “That is very practical.” The client should develop a career resourcefulness skill set that allows them to test ideas for viability. To be clear, it is not our role to inform them of the viability of an idea; instead, it is our role to help them to discern if something is viable and how to get there if it is.

In the next section, we will discuss how the career coach can help the client figure out a process to discern if their vision is possible.