Monitoring and evaluating progress are essential steps in conducting a coaching interview, especially with LGBTQ+ individuals. It is about measuring the distance covered since the start of the support, valuing the advancements and adjusting the course if necessary. It is a continuous and collaborative process, which helps to maintain motivation and commitment towards the defined objectives.
For LGBTQ+ individuals who often had to face obstacles and rejections, being aware of their progress is particularly empowering. It helps to strengthen self-confidence and one’s ability to create change in one’s life. By highlighting successes, even minor ones, it comes to counterbalance doubts and internalized criticism. Every step forward becomes tangible proof that one is building a life more aligned with one’s identity.
The coach here plays a role of benevolent witness and facilitator. Through his/her external and encouraging perspective, he/she helps the individual to take a step back from his/her journey and to integrate his/her learnings. He/she points out key moments, courageous decisions, and overcome challenges. He/she invites to celebrate every victory, to draw nourishment from them to keep moving forward.
Practically, several tools can be employed for this progress monitoring:
– The definition of success indicators, from the co-construction phase of the objectives (see sub-module 7.8). For a transgender person wishing to come out to their family, an indicator could be the number of relatives he/she has spoken to and their reaction. This allows to objectify progress and render them visible.
– Keeping a logbook, where the person notes his/her thoughts, emotions, realizations during the coaching process. Re-reading this journal allows measuring the distance covered, observing how his/her relationship with self and others has evolved. The coach may invite to also note successes and moments of pride, to keep a record.
– Regular review times, where we revisit the initial objectives and evaluate the progress together. It is an opportunity to trace the progression, to identify the resources utilized, the learnings achieved. It is also a moment to recalibrate the objectives if needed, based on new realities and aspirations.
– Celebrating achievements, even small ones. For a lesbian who has managed to talk about her partner for the first time to a colleague, the coach will invite her to savor this victory and congratulate herself. He/she could help her identify what made this possible, to anchor the learning and be able to use it again.
Beyond the tools, it is especially the quality of the dialogue that allows fruitful monitoring of progress. The coach ensures to create a space of trust and kindness, where the individual feels safe to explore his/her advancements and difficulties. He/she welcomes the doubts and stagnation periods with compassion, as so many opportunities for learning. His/her role is to help give meaning to the journey traveled, extracting the lessons for better resilience.
This posture is reflected by a questioning open and uplifting, such as “What are the things you are most proud of since the start of our work?“, “What have you learned about yourself through this experience?“, “How has your relationship to your identity evolved?“. The objective is to help the individual to consciousness his/her learnings and to integrate them into his/her life story.
Monitoring progress also allows to mobilize and strengthen the person’s resources (see sub-module 7.7). Each advancement is an opportunity to highlight the strengths and skills mobilized. For a queer person who dared a more androgynous outfit for the first time, the coach will underline his/her courage, creativity, audacity. He/she will help the individual see how these resources could be utilized in other areas of life.
In this process, coach ensures to maintain a balance between support and autonomy. The objective is for the person to become increasingly actor in evaluating their progress, to learn to acknowledge and value his/her advancements by him/herself. The coach invites him/her to develop his/her benevolent inner gaze, to become his/her own ally in his/her journey.
This empowerment also means taking responsibility for difficulties. If progress is not meeting the expectations, the coach aids the individual to understand the reasons, without judgment. Is it linked to an overly ambitious goal? To fears that are inhibiting? A lack of resources? By exploring these obstacles together, it’s possible to adjust the strategy and re-energize the effort.
Monitoring progress does not limit itself to the individual sphere; it also incorporates a collective and societal dimension. For LGBTQ+ individuals whose advancements help to shift lines, every personal success has a political reach. A gay man getting married, a transgender person giving a conference about their journey, contributes to changing representations and opening new possibilities. The coach can help to put progress into perspective within these larger stakes, providing them even more sense.
Of course, this monitoring is not a long quiet river. There will be moments of discouragement, questions, a feeling of stagnation. The coach welcomes these periods with kindness, as so many opportunities to deepen the reflection and draw upon one’s resources. He/she aids the individual to dramatize these moments, seeing them as normal stages in every change process.
One pitfall to avoid is pressure to perform. The monitoring of progress should not become a command to always advance faster, to compare oneself with others. The coach ensures to respect everyone’s pace, to value the progress made in the light of the journey covered and not an ideal norm. He/she invites self-compassion, acknowledging that every journey is unique and precious.
In summary, monitoring and evaluating progress are powerful levers in coaching LGTBQ+ individuals. By measuring the distance covered, valuing the successes, adjusting the course, one strengthens self-confidence and the ability to create change in his/her life. For individuals who were marginalized for a long time, seeing their progress acknowledged and celebrated is a powerful engine of transformation. The coach, with his/her kind and structuring gaze, is a precious ally in this adventure towards a freer and more fulfilling life. Together, within a dialogue made of trust and kind expectations, they chart the path of a progressive metamorphosis, where every step counts. Monitoring progress then becomes the guiding thread of a life story being written under the sign of pride and self-realization.
Key points to remember:
– Monitoring and evaluating progress are essential in coaching LGBTQ+ individuals to measure the distance covered, value the successes, and adjust the course if necessary.
– For LGBTQ+ individuals who faced obstacles and rejections, being aware of their progress strengthens self-confidence and the ability to create change.
– The coach is a benevolent witness who helps to take a step back, integrate the learnings, and celebrate every victory.
– Several tools allow this monitoring: definition of success indicators, keeping a logbook, regular balance checks, celebrations of achievements.
– The quality of the dialogue and a trust space are essential. The coach welcomes doubts with compassion and helps to give meaning to the distance covered.
– The coach mobilizes and strengthens the person’s resources, highlighting the strengths used at each advancement.
– The goal is to make the person increasingly autonomous in evaluating his/her progress, developing his/her inner kind gaze.
– The individual progress of LGBTQ+ individuals also has a collective reach by contributing to evolving representations.
– The coach welcomes moments of discouragement as invitations to deepen the reflection, respecting everyone’s pace without performing pressure.
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