Strengths coaching preparation
To make the best use of your coaching time, please outline what matters to you before our first session. Set aside about 20 quiet minutes – your answers go directly and confidentially to your coach.
A first coaching session should not be spent collecting information that you could provide beforehand. Your preparation allows your coach to understand your priorities, identify possible connections between your goals and talent patterns, and select suitable questions or exercises.
PurposeCoach® has supported more than 750 individuals, leaders and teams in Switzerland and across Europe since 2014.
This figure is based on PurposeCoach® client records and represents first-party practice data – not an independently audited research result.
The process is intentionally simple – four clear steps take you from preparation to your first coaching session:
1. Define your goals
Record 1–3 SMART goals below and describe your current situation. About 20 quiet minutes are enough.
2. Submit the form
Your information is transmitted to PurposeCoach® and used solely to prepare and conduct your coaching; access is limited to authorised coaching personnel. Please do not include medical records, passwords or information about third parties that is not necessary for your coaching.
3. Coach review
Your coach reviews your goals before the session and tailors the process, exercises and focus areas accordingly.
4. First coaching session
We begin directly with your priorities and agree on the next steps together.
Preparation is not a formality; it decides how much your first session delivers. Four evidence-based statements explain why we ask for SMART goals before we meet.
Specific, challenging goals produce higher performance than vague intentions such as “do your best”.
Locke and Latham summarise 35 years of goal research: the performance gain comes from specificity and commitment, not from the effort of writing the goal down. That is why “By 30 June I will hold strengths conversations with all seven team members” replaces “I want to lead better”.
People who decide in advance when and where they will act follow through far more often – across 94 studies with a medium-to-large effect size (d ≈ 0.65).
Gollwitzer and Sheeran show the advantage comes from if-then plans. For your preparation: note not only the goal but the first concrete occasion on which you will apply it – for example next Monday's team meeting.
Gollwitzer & Sheeran (2006), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 38, 69–119
Teams that receive strengths-based development show up to 29% higher profit and up to 72% lower attrition, according to Gallup.
Gallup compares business units with and without strengths-based development. The effect requires talents to be named and tied to specific tasks – which rarely fits into one session without prepared goals.
Gallup: “Employees Who Use Their Strengths Outperform Those Who Don't”
Engaged teams show 23% higher profitability and 18% higher productivity in Gallup's meta-analysis of more than 100,000 business units.
The Q12 meta-analysis (10th edition, 2020) links engagement to hard business metrics. For leaders this is the reason to attach a coaching goal to a team result rather than to a feeling – otherwise nothing becomes measurable.
All figures come from the publicly available studies named above. They describe relationships within the samples studied and are not a promise of individual results.
The following examples are anonymised and condensed – situation, approach and outcome, with names removed and details altered.
Case 1 · New to leadership
A newly appointed team lead in a Swiss services company wanted to “be taken seriously” by her team – a wish that cannot be worked on directly in coaching.
Preparation turned it into: “By the end of the quarter I will hold a strengths conversation with all seven team members and record one task per person that fits their Top 5 talents.” Her CliftonStrengths® report was already highlighted, so session one started with talent combinations instead of explaining the instrument.
The full first session went into preparing those conversations. Her feedback after session three: the conversations were the turning point in how the team accepted her.
Case 2 · Career change
A specialist in his mid-forties wanted “something more meaningful” while simultaneously considering three qualifications, two industries and a relocation.
Preparation forced a decision about the time horizon: “By 31 October I will choose between two options and hold four conversations with people in those roles.” His profilingvalues profile was available before the session.
Instead of collecting options he tested them. The four conversations ruled one option out within two weeks – a decision that, in our experience, stays open for months without a dated goal.
Case 3 · Strain and exhaustion
A project manager stated “better self-organisation” as her goal. Asked to describe a situation in which her talents were active, she described only situations from a previous role.
That contrast was visible before the first session and became the entry point. We worked on the fit between role and talents, not on methods – alongside a sober reading of her strain signals.
The coaching changed focus after session one. Her feedback: without the written preparation, “we would have spent two months on calendar techniques”.
Observations from coaching practice (not a study, not a representative survey, not a guarantee of results).
What we see repeatedly in submitted preparations – useful before you fill in the form.
The goal named first is usually the socially acceptable one (“become more efficient”). The load-bearing goal often appears in the field “What else is important to you?”. Treat that field as substance, not small talk – it frequently sets the direction of the coaching.
Naming your five themes reproduces a report. Describing how you think, feel and act produces behavioural data. That is where patterns appear which the report does not show: the order of your decisions, your energy sources, recurring points of friction.
Three goals without a deadline behave like no goals: there is no checkpoint. A single goal with a date and a success criterion creates a real interim review in session two – the mechanism behind Locke and Latham's goal research.
Marking the statements that resonate and the ones that irritate you brings a self-interpretation into the room. The session then starts at “where do you notice this in daily work?” instead of an introduction to the 34 themes.
Good preparation does not mean that you must already know the solution. It means giving your coach enough context to understand what you want to change, what you have already tried and how you will recognise meaningful progress.
The International Coaching Federation identifies clear agreements, actionable goals and client accountability as central elements of professional coaching. In its Core Competencies it recommends helping clients set clear goals and commit to specific actions.
A meta-analysis by Theeboom, Beersma and van Vianen also found significant positive effects of workplace coaching on goal-directed self-regulation, with an effect size of g = 0.74. This category included goal setting, goal attainment and goal evaluation.
The research does not prove that completing a preparation form automatically produces better results. It does support the principle behind this page: coaching becomes more focused when goals, expectations and indicators of progress are made explicit.
Sources: International Coaching Federation – Core Competencies · Theeboom, Beersma & van Vianen – coaching meta-analysis
The following cases come from completed PurposeCoach® coaching processes. They have been shortened and anonymised to protect confidentiality. The outcomes are based on coaching observations and client feedback; they are not controlled research results or guarantees of individual success.
Starting point
A team leader in an IT service organisation with approximately 40 employees was personally handling almost every escalation. She regularly worked in the evening and believed that delegating would conflict with her strong sense of responsibility.
Preparation focus
Instead of writing only “I want less stress”, she clarified three points before coaching:
Her working goal became: reduce unnecessary personal involvement in escalations while maintaining clear accountability for results.
Coaching work
Her CliftonStrengths® themes included Responsibility, Restorative and Empathy. We explored how Responsibility could mean ensuring that the right person takes ownership — not completing every task personally. She introduced a handover rule and a weekly workload review.
Reported outcome
After eight weeks, she reported having more evenings free from work. Two team members were visibly assuming greater ownership, while she remained responsible for coordination and quality.
What preparation changed
Because the starting situation, desired behaviour and success indicators were already visible, the coaching could move directly from a broad stress problem to a specific leadership pattern.
Starting point
After 12 years in business, an independent consultant offered nine different services. Her profile had become difficult to explain, and unsuitable enquiries and repeated price discussions were draining her energy.
Preparation focus
Before the coaching process, she documented:
Her goal was not simply “find my purpose”. It was to create a focused offer that reflected her strongest contribution and made client decisions easier.
Coaching work
Her dominant talent patterns included Ideation, Strategic and Significance. We evaluated her services against these themes, her values and her intended contribution. Her purpose statement then became a practical filter for future enquiries.
Reported outcome
She reduced her portfolio from nine offers to three. According to her feedback, price negotiations became less frequent because prospective clients understood her specialisation earlier.
What preparation changed
Writing down her energy patterns and desired outcome revealed that the central issue was not a lack of ideas. It was the absence of a decision filter.
Your answers do not need to be perfectly formulated. They become useful when they help distinguish between five elements.
1. Current situation
What is happening now?
2. Desired outcome
What should be different?
3. Sphere of influence
What can you personally change?
4. Evidence of progress
What would you observe if the coaching were helping?
5. First action
What could you test before or after the first session?
A useful starting sentence
This preparation process was developed from the coaching practice of Philipp Fuchs, founder and Lead Coach of PurposeCoach® in Bern/Wabern. He has worked as a coach since 2016, conducted more than 400 individual coaching sessions and trained 25 Purpose Coaches. His qualifications include Gallup CliftonStrengths® certification and profilingvalues® Mastercoach expertise.
The figures for years, sessions and coaches trained are our own practice figures, not verified research data.
PurposeCoach® combines strengths-based coaching, values clarification and measurable transfer into everyday leadership, career and personal-development situations.
Transparency: references to Gallup, profilingvalues and the International Coaching Federation identify relevant methods or professional standards. They do not imply organisational endorsement of this preparation page.
These terms appear in the preparation form and in the first session. The definitions are working definitions for this coaching, not textbook definitions.
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PurposeCoach® is a Swiss coaching organisation operated by WBC Wellbeing Business Community GmbH. The organisation supports professionals, leaders and entrepreneurs with strengths-based personal development, leadership coaching and career clarity.
The content on this page was developed under the responsibility of Philipp Fuchs, founder and Lead Coach of PurposeCoach®. He has worked as a coach since 2016, has conducted more than 400 individual coaching sessions and is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and profilingvalues® Mastercoach.
PurposeCoach® combines practical coaching experience with established approaches from strengths psychology, values clarification, self-efficacy and goal-oriented behaviour change. These exercises are intended for reflection and personal development. They do not replace medical treatment or psychotherapy.
The International Coaching Federation and EMCC Global publish widely recognised ethical and professional standards for coaching. They are listed here as further industry information only – this does not imply membership, accreditation or endorsement.
Transparency note: CliftonStrengths® is a registered trademark of Gallup, Inc. PurposeCoach® uses Gallup materials within its coaching services but is responsible for its own coaching process, interpretations and website content. References to Gallup do not imply that Gallup has authored or independently endorsed this page.