Responsible Risk Taking

by Margi Bush,

We all have experienced the voice of our inner gremlins at one time or another. Good news is, our inner gremlins and our self-limiting behaviors as a result can be overcome through self-awareness and confidence building exercises. The Responsible Risk Taking chapter in Coaching Perspectives V offers you two effective techniques to use with clients when something is holding them back from achieving what they want. The 5-Step Risk Taking Model and the Wheel of Responsible Risk Taking Exercise in this chapter provide a structured way for the client to think through their thoughts and reframe them to produce positive thoughts.

As coaches, we often have clients come to us because they want to create change in their lives.  Working from their agenda and helping them see results moves the client forward and supports them as they come out of their comfort zones.  Competent coaching is accepting the client where they are when they come, responding to the client’s wants in the present, and guiding them toward the future according to their agenda. 

The five-step model includes the following steps: Awareness, Visualization, Identification, Action and Evaluation. Each step of the model suggests opened-ended questions, which guide the client in discovering a life that they want. A Circle of Responsible Risk exercise follows.  It is a useful tool for clarifying the client’s priorities for action, assessing progress, and holding clients accountable for stated goals. 

The Circle of Responsible Risk helps the client’s keep their goals in mind as they choose what they want to achieve and as they create action steps.  The Circle of Responsible Risk tool also supports the client as they identify their level of success in different areas of their life and deciding what want to change.

As a coach you will find the five-step responsible risk process and the Circle of Responsible Risk exercise useful guides in maintaining structure during discussions around setting and achieving a client’s goals.

Read the Responsible Risk Taking chapter in Coaching Perspectives V for more.