Staying on Track: Navigating the Pitfalls of Losing Focus in Coaching

One of the most critical elements of effective coaching is maintaining a clear focus on the desired outcomes. 

Without a sense of direction, coaching sessions can easily become unanchored, drifting into meandering conversations that feel productive in the moment but ultimately lead nowhere. 

This lack of focus can be frustrating for both coach and client, resulting in confusion, wasted time, and, most concerningly, poor outcomes.

Whether it’s through a lengthy exploration of side issues or becoming too comfortable in the flow of the conversation, losing sight of the coaching objectives can derail the entire process. 

Coaches can find themselves caught up in the moment, missing the bigger picture of where they and the client are supposed to be heading. 

Meanwhile, clients may leave sessions feeling supported but unclear on what actions to take next or how their progress aligns with their initial goals.

Supervision plays a crucial role in helping coaches refocus on the outcomes and direction of their work. 

By reflecting on the broader goals of the coaching engagement, supervision helps coaches ensure they are guiding their clients towards meaningful and aligned results.

The Risk of Directionless Coaching

Coaching sessions are designed to be fluid and adaptive, allowing space for exploration and reflection. 

However, without a clear sense of direction, these sessions can lose their focus, becoming aimless and unfocused. This often happens subtly, with the coach and client drifting off track without even realising it.

Several factors can contribute to losing sight of the coaching outcomes:

• Getting caught in the moment: The natural flow of a coaching conversation can sometimes lead to tangents. A particularly engaging or emotional topic can draw attention away from the main goals, and before long, the session has shifted into uncharted territory.
• Avoiding the tough topics: Both coach and client may steer away from addressing difficult or uncomfortable issues that are key to the desired outcomes. This avoidance can lead to conversations that feel easier but don’t actually drive progress.
• Lack of clarity on goals: Sometimes, the initial goals of the coaching relationship are not clearly defined or revisited often enough. Without a strong anchor, it’s easy for the coaching sessions to lose direction, with neither coach nor client having a clear sense of purpose.
• Overemphasis on process over results: Coaches can sometimes become too focused on the coaching techniques or the process itself, losing sight of the fact that the ultimate aim is to achieve specific outcomes for the client.

When coaching becomes directionless, it not only frustrates both parties but also diminishes the impact of the coaching engagement. 

The client may feel like they are working hard without making progress, while the coach may question their effectiveness and purpose.

Eye 2: Recontracting and Course-Correcting in Coaching

Eye 2 of the 7-Eyed Model focuses on the tools and interventions used in coaching. 

When a coaching session starts to lose direction, a key intervention is recontracting—taking the time to revisit the goals and ensure that the coaching is aligned with the intended outcomes.

Recontracting isn’t just something that happens at the start of the coaching relationship; it’s an ongoing process that can help bring the focus back when the conversation starts to drift. 

In supervision, coaches can explore how they use (or fail to use) these tools to maintain direction:

• How often are you revisiting the coaching contract and outcomes with your client?
• Do you check in regularly to ensure the client’s goals still resonate and are aligned with their actions?
• Are there specific moments when recontracting could have helped refocus a session that lost its way?

Supervision helps coaches reflect on these interventions, encouraging them to use recontracting not just as a formal checkpoint but as a dynamic tool that keeps the coaching grounded and purposeful.

Eye 4: The Coach’s Experience of Losing Direction

Eye 4 focuses on the coach’s internal experience, providing a valuable lens for exploring how coaches may contribute to losing sight of outcomes. In supervision, coaches are encouraged to reflect on their own tendencies that might cause the coaching to drift off course.

For example, the supervisor might explore:

• Do you find yourself enjoying the flow of conversation, even when it strays from the main goals?
• Are you hesitant to redirect the client towards the outcomes for fear of interrupting or seeming too controlling?
• How do you feel when the session seems to lose its focus? What might that tell you about your own approach to direction?

By examining these questions, coaches can gain insight into how their behaviours and decisions might be impacting the focus of their coaching sessions. 

This reflection helps coaches develop greater awareness of when they are losing sight of the outcomes and equips them with strategies to regain focus.

Eye 1: The Client’s Experience of Losing Focus

From the client’s perspective, directionless coaching can be equally disorienting. Eye 1 focuses on the client’s experience and can help the coach understand how a lack of clear direction impacts the client’s engagement and progress. 

Clients might feel supported during sessions but leave without a clear sense of what to do next, leading to stalled progress and growing frustration.

Clients might experience:

• Confusion about next steps: When the outcomes are not clear, clients may struggle to take concrete action after the session, unsure of how the discussion connects to their broader goals.
• Frustration with the process: Clients may feel like they are putting in effort without seeing results, leading to doubts about the effectiveness of the coaching.
• Loss of motivation: Without clear milestones or progress markers, clients can lose motivation, feeling disconnected from the purpose of the coaching engagement.

Supervision helps the coach explore these client experiences, encouraging reflection on whether the client’s needs for clarity and direction are being met. This awareness allows the coach to adjust their approach, ensuring that sessions remain goal-focused and impactful.

Eye 3: The Coach-Client Relationship and Maintaining Focus

The dynamic between coach and client plays a significant role in how well the outcomes are maintained throughout the coaching engagement. 

Eye 3 of the 7-Eyed Model explores this relationship, examining how the interaction between coach and client might contribute to a loss of direction.

Sometimes, a strong rapport between coach and client can create a comfortable space where conversations flow easily—but this ease can also lead to a drift away from the core objectives. 

Conversely, a more formal relationship might stifle open exploration, causing the coach to miss opportunities to redirect towards the desired outcomes.

In supervision, coaches can reflect on questions like:

• How is the nature of your relationship with the client affecting the direction of your sessions?
• Are you maintaining a balance between being present in the moment and keeping an eye on the bigger picture?
• How do you bring the client back on track when the conversation starts to drift?

By exploring these dynamics, coaches can better manage the balance between allowing natural conversation flow and ensuring that the sessions remain purposeful and aligned with the client’s goals.

Eye 6: The Supervisor’s Sense of the Supervisee’s Focus

Eye 6 addresses the supervisor’s internal experience of the supervisee, offering insights into how the coach might be handling focus and outcomes. 

A supervisor’s own responses, intuitions, and feelings during supervision can provide valuable clues about the coach’s engagement with the coaching process.

For example:

• If the supervisor feels a sense of drifting or lack of direction during supervision, it may mirror the coach’s experience with their client.
• The supervisor might notice themselves wanting to “rescue” the coach by offering suggestions or solutions, which could indicate that the coach is struggling to maintain a clear direction in their coaching.
• By reflecting on their own responses, the supervisor can gently highlight these dynamics and help the coach explore how they might be manifesting in their sessions with clients.

Conclusion: Refocusing on Outcomes in Coaching

Losing sight of outcomes is a common pitfall in coaching, but it’s one that can be addressed with awareness, reflection, and a commitment to staying on track. 

When the focus drifts, both coach and client can end up feeling frustrated and disconnected from the purpose of their work together. Supervision provides an essential space to refocus, helping coaches revisit the desired outcomes and realign the coaching process to stay on course.

By reflecting on how direction is maintained—or lost—coaches can develop a more intentional approach, ensuring that each session is not just a conversation but a step towards meaningful change. 

With the support of supervision, coaches can sharpen their focus, keep the bigger picture in sight, and support their clients in achieving their true goals.