Cathy Liska Elena has a background in psychology and has been coaching individuals on meaning and purpose for seven years. She explores who the client is by understanding their history and then moves to explore who they want to be in the future – a focus on the Being.
Elena starts all her coaching relationships with an assessment on personality so she can understand her clients. She also prefers to give assessments on values and on motivators. After Elena reviews the results of the assessments, she meets with the client to confirm her impression based on assessment results. 
In this scenario, imagine Elena is invited by Mario’s company to schedule an initial meeting and determine if Mario wants her as his coach. Elena meets with Mario and explains the importance of understanding who he is to know how to work together and move forward. Elena recommends the DISC, Hartman, EIQ, and the Motivators assessments. Mario agrees to take all four. Elena reviews the results and schedules their next meeting.
During the debrief of the assessments, Elena explains the reports and invites Mario to reflect on what he notices. She continues to ask exploratory questions about him, his values, and his motivators. Elena then asks Mario where he wants to develop himself. Mario states he wants to further develop his leadership abilities. Elena asks about his motivators and how that influences him. Mario reflects and states he is motivated by supporting and empowering others. Elena then asks him what motivates him personally, and Mario says relationships and his own fitness.
In their next meeting, Elena invites Mario to talk about himself. As he talks, she asks for more information about his life, his family, his experiences, and his priorities. Elena then asks Mario which part of what he shares has the greatest influence in his life. Mario explains that he is focusing on advancing his career first and ultimately wants to have a balanced life. Mario talks about work, relationships, family, and his own well-being as elements to consider in defining his balance. Elena asks Mario about the potential cost of focusing on his career to the exclusion of relationships and balance. Mario states that for the short-term he anticipates having to tip the scales towards his career so that in the long-term he has the balance. Elena again asks Mario about the risk. Mario admits that it might become a new habit to invest more time in his career.
In their next session, Elena asks Mario to share what he had been thinking and feeling. She asks him what he is learning about himself and his circumstances. Mario shares that he is engaging in an opportunity to jump into a project for operations and is excited about what he is learning and the new connections he is forging. Elena congratulates him and then asks about his girlfriend. Mario shares that things in the relationship are maintaining. Elena then asks Mario about his self-care. Mario shares that he is backing off his exercise routine because of the demands of his job. Elena asks Mario how a lack of self-care will impact his focus and energy level at work. Mario admits he is feeling sluggish. Elena asks him how he is going to manage time moving forward to ensure he maintains balance. Mario hesitates about lessening his efforts in operations because of the importance for earning a promotion. With nudging from Elena, Mario agrees to leave work by 7 each weekday and by 5 on Saturdays. He recommits to exercising 30 minutes a day.
When starting in their next coaching session, Elena asks Mario how he is doing with maintaining his balance. Mario states he is keeping to his commitments and then he expresses his worry that it is limiting his contribution on the project. Elena asks Mario how his self-care serves him for the long-term and Mario states that he realizes working all the time is unsustainable for the long-term. He then explains he thinks it will be a worthwhile short-term commitment. Elena asks him about the risks to his health and his relationship with his girlfriend. Mario agrees to stick with his current plan.
