I Don't Have a Topic. Should We Meet Anyway?

If you’ve coached with me at all, you know that my first question is usually, “What would you like to work on today?”

Most of the time, there is something going on in your life that can benefit greatly from a coaching conversation.

But what happens when I ask that question and you draw a blank? Is that just the end of the call?

I certainly hope not! For almost 10 years, I have been coached at least twice a month, and more recently, I meet with a coach every week as the “PBC” (Person Being Coached). Since I’m used to this, I rarely tell my coach that I’m drawing a blank (although this has happened).

Sometimes, I’ve got a few vague ideas, and I start tossing them around with my coach. Before long, he will have me running down a path of discovery or awareness that I wasn’t even expecting! How cool is that?

Sometimes, the coach asks about significant things that have been going on during the past week. He might ask, “What is a win from last week?” I think a bit and tell a short “winning” story from my life. The coach takes that and asks about my learning from the win. What might I do to win again in the future?

Of course, the opposite gets to coaching much more quickly: “What’s been a struggle for you lately?” Coaching is a great way to figure out exactly what the struggle is and how I can best overcome it.

Some of my best coaching conversations came as complete surprises when I threw out a topic haphazardly, and the coach showed curiosity and asked some powerful questions about the topic.

So don’t be afraid to come to the call and say, “I don’t know what to coach on.” There’s a little word I love to add to such statements, and that is “yet”. Let’s dig around for a couple minutes and see what turns up.

Another way to get ideas is to complete my coaching prep form. I use it myself. This form will help you reflect a little on your week and on what might be a good topic for coaching. Check it out!

So to answer the question: “YES!” Let’s meet anyway, even if you don’t (think) that you have a topic!