Why do people become coaches, NLP practitioners, therapists, hypnotherapists… communication skills trainers… or even business consultants?

I suspect it’s often because we want to do something “meaningful”, something “worthwhile”, something that “matters”. We want to help people, and to make a difference in the world.

And I’m beginning to suspect that if that’s what we want, some of us may be shooting ourselves in the foot.

I’m currently reading Dan Ariely’s The Upside Of Irrationality, which includes details of experiments which show just how much the “meaning” in our work motivates us. It’s far, far more than you might expect.

Ariely says: “If you take people who love something… and you place them in meaningful working conditions, the joy they derive from the activity is going to be a major driver in dictating their level of effort. However, if you take the same people with the same initial passion and desire and place them in meaningless working conditions, you can very easily kill any internal joy they might derive from the activity.”

He continues: “If companies really want their workers to produce, they should try to impart a sense of meaning – not just through vision statements but by allowing employees to feel a sense of completion and ensuring that a job well done is acknowledged. At the end of the day, such factors can exert a huge influence on satisfaction and productivity.”

When I started working as a coach, I very much bought into the NLP truism that a single breakthrough session with me should be “enough”. Anything else was said to be the “the-rapist” model, where clients might become dependent on me and I would be exploiting their vulnerability.

So it was my job to help the client to make the crucial change in under an hour. I’d see the evidence of the transformation on their face, in their attitude. They’d be delighted… and then I’d probably never hear from them again.

I still do one-off “Sweet Spot Sessions” (book here).

And I also have a small number of longer-term coaching clients, who work with me regularly as they develop their coaching businesses over three to six months. Not only can I hear the delight in their voices in the session – but I can also track changes over time, and see the changes they are making in the real world, in their lives and in their businesses.

Which kind of work provided more meaning, more satisfaction, for me? You’ve guessed it!

So I decided to add a follow-up survey to the Sweet Spot Sessions: I sent out a set of questions which would benefit the clients by giving them a reminder of their insights, while providing me with feedback about real-world results. Instant meaning!

But this is controversial, in the circles I move in. Apparently, at least one hypnotherapists’ organisation actually has a rule banning therapists from contacting their customers after therapy. And there’s still that NLP truism about “the-rapists” to consider.

Do you single-session changework? Do you follow up with your clients?

If not, why not?

And what might that be doing to your job satisfaction, your motivation, and your joy?

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