Last week’s article explored the concept of a convincer strategy—what convinces you that you have achieved your outcome? Typically, we humans use what we can see (Visual), hear (Auditory), feel (Kinesthetic), or value terms or standards (Ad, Auditory Digital) as our convincers.
Reflect on your own convincers. “What convinces you when you buy a new car?” “What convinces you that a training program is right for you?” “What convinces you to take a certain job?” “What convinces you about the friends you choose?”
Convincer Meta-Programs
Two meta-programs address convincer strategies (#19 Convincer Representation and #34 Convincer Demonstration: number of times; length of time passing). They focus on what convinces—facts, authority, research, repetition, social confirmation, etc.—and how often one needs to experience it: once, three times, seven times, or never. They also address the representational code of the convincer: VAK, words.
Being convinced involves validation and/or measurement. It emerges when measurement questions arise. How will we know for sure? Will we measure in terms of quantity (numbers) or quality (the nature of the experience)?
When coaching clients, they typically fall into three categories:
- Easily Convinced: These clients are naive, optimistic, and ready to believe. They can be vulnerable to deception and can easily fall prey to cult-like leaders or groups.
- Difficult to Convince: These clients may never be convinced and are often argumentative about the value, benefit, or effectiveness of any intervention. They are skeptical, sometimes cynical, and can be mis-matchers or strong-willed.
- Moderately Convinced: These clients fall somewhere between the two extremes.
Question: Does a client really need to be convinced?
Does a client really need to be convinced of their outcome, your interventions, or the effectiveness of coaching? The answer varies: some clients do, some don’t, and some don’t care. For most clients, being convinced is beneficial. It’s not just an extra value; it can facilitate and accelerate the coaching process. For those hard to convince or never convinced, consider if they need to be convinced. Are they willing to experiment and let results do the convincing? This approach can save time and achieve goals more efficiently.
This is why we sometimes skip #18. It can consume a lot of time with mis-matchers or strong-willed, self-referent clients. In these cases, coaches may ask #18 and accept whatever they say, even if it’s as vague as, “I’ll just know it.”
Conversely, with clients who are unsure, doubting, or naive, coaches may spend time helping them establish their evidence procedure. This empowers them to become more self-determining and self-referencing, living from the inside out. When they meet their convincer criteria, they gain solid inner convictions.
Curated by Danielle Tan.
Reference:
- [Meta-Coaches] 2024 Morpheus #28 GETTING A CONVINCING KPI by L. Michael Hall, Ph.D. Executive Director, ISNS.
