What would you do?

We know you're coachable and that you wisely bring your own coachable issues to your peers. In the course of coach training you're getting some great coaching!

But if you find yourself running out of things to bring to your triad, check out the following scenarios.

Through the years, the following people have walked into SeattleCoach and done magnificent work (but if you think you recognize one of them, you don't--each one has been run through the SeattleCoach anonymizer).

What would you do if one of them was your coachee? ?And then what? Hmm?

Start with these three scenarios at the top (the photos are of SeattleCoach actors). There are 50 more great coachable issues below.

Instructions to peer teams and triads:

Coachees: Pick a number between 1-50. Then go to the corresponding scenario below. feel free to improvise on the story with your own details. In many cases, there is a Wheel. You get to make up/pick a probable wedge for this conversation.

Coaches, you know what to do. If you get stuck, remember to reset, check-in with your triad partners, make sure you have the agenda, the alliance and the necessary agreements. As always, feel free to take a minute to brainstorm/phone a friend with your peers or triad. Pay attention to your presence and to the places where you want to teach, fix, console, rescue, tell or mentor.

Here are the revised versions of the text, removing the numbers:

1. Kay’s boss wants to promote her to a bigger and more strategic role but Kay is concerned about how her team will operate without her daily tactical work. She’s ready for the challenge but isn’t sure how to begin. You're tempted to just teach her leadership skills, but decide that first you'll try coaching. (What did her boss see?)
2. Georgia just got promoted and will be responsible for weekly team meetings. She knows what she likes in a good meeting, just isn’t sure how to create and lead one. She’s nervous and is unsure what will make things better.
3. John has to do reviews for the first time this quarter. He’s been through the training but wants to get more comfortable in giving feedback “in his own way.”
4. Jeff is great at his job and is well-paid for doing it. But he just turned forty-five and is restless.
5. Juan wants to get better at managing his immediate responses to stressful situations. His stomach hurts.
6. Frank wants to quit smoking and believes that new doors will open for him if he succeeds.
7. Tracy is getting promoted and has hired you to help her walk through the transition and the first 100 days. There’s not a lot of time for assimilation—she needs to hit the ground running.
8. Andre is as good an executive leader as he is surgeon. But he feels things so deeply and gets so "emphatic" that he keeps scaring the young doctors he wants to mentor.
9. Lola is a new manager and two of her reports think they’d have been better candidates. She hires you to help her with her leadership presence.
10. Wallace knows he needs to step up and do a better job of “influencing up” with his boss and his boss’s boss. He knows he possesses wisdom and expertise that the company can benefit from, but worries about his personal “presence.”
11. Laurie and Jack are moving to Europe for work. They are looking for a coach to help them stage the move for maximum family benefit. They have two small sons.
12. Jan’s boss, the CEO, just got fired and the board wonders if she’s interested in the job. She loved her boss, doesn’t completely trust the board. But she is thinking. Maybe.
13. Ben is the leader of a group of energetic millennials. He’s tempted to call them to order and just tell them what to do. But he wants to grow as a director, and he’s hired you to help him find ways to lead them “differently.”
14. Maggie has a good track record, and had a good rhythm (job, spouse, two children), but her responsibilities at work have grown this year and she’s struggling to keep her balance and boundaries.
15. Joe and his wife agree he’s traveling too much. There are some new behavior problems with their children. But, of course there are bills to pay.
16. Jamal is a perfectionist—he just cares about excellence! But his team seems worried about letting him down (and sometimes they don’t give him difficult news and feedback).
17. Katie gets referred to you by her MD who wants her to find ways to reduce her stress.
18. Ron landed a new job six months ago. Thought he’d love it, turns out he hates it. He feels embarrassed and ashamed, hates going to work. And he’s nervous about leaving a job after only six months. He’s never done that, and worries about his resume.
19. Louise explains that she likes it that she’s “blunt.” But she’s getting regular feedback that her forceful approach is getting in the way. She tells you, “I’m open to new tactics if they work. I guess.”
20. Johanna is a novice teacher and it’s the end of September. Already she’s struggling with managing her classroom, organizing her lessons, some grumpy parents and her own insecurity. After a lot of clearing she looks at you and says, “Just tell me what to do to survive until the weekend!”
21. Dennis just got the call. Everything is about to change. He’s absorbing the shock—but life keeps moving forward. He calls you to help him to triage, make decisions and create a plan.
22. Charles just had a health scare. He’s read books on diet, nutrition, weight-loss. He’s joined a gym. Information is not the problem and he doesn’t need you to be the expert. He just needs to drop forty pounds.
23. Jane’s 40-year-old husband died suddenly two months ago. The dust is settling and in the midst of continuing grief, she’s ready to begin thinking about what to do next for herself and her twin three-year-olds. (He was a thoughtful and organized man and had purchased life insurance.)
24. Andrew talks too much. He’s a high-value employee, but people stop listening and think he’s a know-it-all. He loses influence. His boss calls to see if you can help him.
25. Julie is getting mad. She’s already got a full plate but her VP is piling on more without much help in prioritizing. She’s knows she’s a key player and is far enough along in her career to know and value her gifts and assets well.
26. Russell just got fired. Out of the blue. Didn’t see it coming. Financially, he’s got a cushion and his spouse works. But he feels shattered and is doubting himself. Why didn’t he see this coming? He needs to settle down and figure out his next steps.
27. Following some clear warning signs at home and at work, Jeff quit drinking six weeks ago. He’s going to AA regularly but needs support and a plan. This decision is landing everywhere in his life.
28. Chris is the COO of a small company and has to work with a team of engineers in order to succeed. His background is in sales and marketing and the engineers don’t seem engaged in his meetings.
29. Stephanie just won the lottery. It was an office pool and she participated at the last minute and each member of her team won $5,000,000. She’s smart, has a good financial planner, and a good lawyer. But she loves her work, and is single and dating a good man. She wants to continue to live out her values in both work and life while factoring in this big surprise.
30. Ken is retiring and wants it to go well. Financially, he’s in great shape and he’s “got thirty years to go!”
31. Jake is going through a divorce. His heart is broken and he’s now a single father with custody of two young children. He wants to line up new support and routines for himself and his children. Seems like everything has changed.
32. Kelly is an entrepreneur. He needs help in deciding how to personally talk about and give visibility to his unique service.
33. Like many Seattle execs, Jordan is well-paid, great at what he does--and bored. He turns fifty next year and is ready to think about what it would take to do the best and most meaningful work of his life. He’s thought about starting a non-profit, but wonders, is that the only way a person can do truly meaningful work?
34. Susan is on a sabbatical from a large and demanding international non-profit. She’s earned this break. She’s a workaholic and they keep piling on both recognition and more and bigger projects. Her health and relationship with her wife have both taken a hit and she wants to go back to work in three months with better boundaries (or something!).
35. Joyce is out of work, doing a job search. She’s great at websites (you’ve seen some) and wonders if you’d be willing to barter coaching for help with your social media and web presence.
36. Jeremy is about to start a new job. It’s a dream job and he’s thrilled. Now he just wants to get off on the right foot with everyone in his first 100 days.
37. Felicity is new to Seattle. Does everyone have such a hard time getting to know people here? The only people she knows are her co-workers (who are great). She wants to put down roots here. And date.
38. Priya is thinking about getting an MBA. There’s a chance it will further her career path, but the costs are great: She’d have to keep working full-time while she did it and would have to borrow around $60,000. She’s married with a child. She wants to book some conversations with you to think it through.
39. Willow has had a great twenty years traveling the world and volunteering for non-profits. She has made enough to pay the bills and to live simply along the way. But she turns forty in a few months. She has no savings for retirement and knows she has to start building a more secure financial base. She secretly worries about becoming homeless.
40. Lucy has signed up for a dating service. You send her a “Wheel” and she fills it out and brings it to your first sessions. She wants to know what it will take to identify and accomplish her goal of meeting The One.
41. Greg is 20 years old and will graduate from the UW next year. Like most students, he’s been focused on grades and dating and sports. Now his older brother has offered to pay for six months of coaching to get ready for life after graduation. Another thing he has in his favor is that, from a young age, his family has taught him about money and hard work. He has no debt.
42. An old client calls. Ann’s been living in Bolivia in a semi-permanent position with a wild life conservation organization. She’s in Seattle for six weeks and wants to meet weekly to review things. Maybe it’s time to think about concluding her present job and moving into a new chapter. Ann is married (they see each other every three months), 56 years old, in great health.
43. A successful mid-level manager calls.Eric is thinking about his next career move and worried he’s not spending enough time with his wife and two sons. Also, he was an athlete in college and worries that he’s not taking time to stay in shape. You’ve done a good informational interview and begun to establish a solid alliance. This is your first session.
44. James (36 years old and married) has taken five years to be a stay-at-home parent to twin girls. No regrets! But the girls are starting first grade and he is ready to do a job search. Following a good informational interview, you’ve met four times and finished The Wheel together. You’ve got a good alliance. He begins by telling you which wedge is ready for focus today (for this exercise you get to pick/name it). He's unsure how to talk about the break in his resume.
45. Crawford is a surgeon who is being asked to take more executive leadership at his medical center. He's world-class and eager to learn something new. His agenda: How to get better a seeing the big picture and thinking strategically about it.
46. Roger has just been honorably discharged from the US Army following a distinguished career. He's a hero who's ready to transition to civilian life--and more leadership. You start by thanking him for his service.
47. Sharon is a firefighter who has been asked to be a station chief. She likes the front line and doing the work and "doesn't want to get stuck behind a desk." But she does like the idea of having greater influence.
48. Tucker is a talented executive in his mid-30s. His parents have just told him and his wife that they want them to take over the family business. He'd be a third generation leader of a business that is a Seattle institution, and he's open to it--if he can choose which of the family members he'd hire or collaborate with.
49. Returning coachee Jean has just learned she has terminal cancer. It's been a year since your last conversation but she knows you, trusts you, and picks you to help her live her final months well. She wants her family to sit in on some of your sessions.
50. Steve leads a Christian non-profit that focuses on homeless street youth. He needs an ally outside of his staff and board to think about how to prepare for the realities that are coming at him. He fills out a Wheel to use in your first several sessions.