Oxford Brookes University10 th Annual Coaching & Mentoring Conference 16.1.14

1. From combat to civvy street:a strengths approach to transition coachingAlison ZareckyTransition Coaching Oxford Brookes University10th Annual Coaching & Mentoring Conference 16.1.14

2. Research problem and context • Transition to ‘civvy street’ difficult and complex (FiMT report 2013) • Skills and strengths not always obviously transferable • Limited resources – need for clarity & robust choices • Can strengths coaching offer a potential solution?

3. Research question and aims How might a strengths coaching intervention be used to help transitioning military find direction? • Usability: easily identify strengths? • Engagement: reactions to tool • Effectiveness: was it useful in finding direction? • Transferability: blueprint for future coaching?

4. Literature review

5. Literature gap • Evidence that strengths identification & use increases both performance and well-being • No direct evidence linking this to direction, although some links to passions/interests • Little research into how strengths interventions work, or how to do them

6. Methodology • Interpretivist-constructivist paradigm • Qualitative research – 6 transitioning military • Purposive heterogeneous sample • Action Research – 2 full cycles • Used 24 strengths cards based on the Values-In-Action Inventory (Peterson & Seligman, 2004)

7. Methodology • Data collection: full transcripts, reflexive diary, observation, semi-structured questionnaires • Data trustworthiness: reflexive diary & critical friends • Thematic analysis to interpret data – amalgamation of inductive & deductive coding.

8. Strengths as Springboard • Effective in eliciting narrative • Coming to terms with leaving the military and taking stock of present position • Effective in exploring identity • Reconciling authentic self and military self • Identifying authentic strengths and weaknesses - and accepting weaknesses

9. “You’re given a job, and expected to perform against these standards. So after a few years – what really is me? You need to find yourself, get grounded. It’s where you start and stop, and where the military bit starts and stops.”

10. Strengths as Compass • Generating a vision • Strengths insufficient on their own – required values and interests/passions discussions. • Exploring job fit • Useful start-point for job criteria. “I want to find out what it is I really enjoy and why, and I want to see if I can find another jobs that satisfies that.”

11. Strengths as Tools • Using strengths with coaching goals • Most chose to work on weaknesses, and tune down strengths. “I find working on weakness more motivating. I find strengths comforting. Strengths make me think that I could get a job, but the weaknesses could be the reasons I may not get one, so knowing them and attacking them is a way to drive yourself forwards.”

12. Strengths as Tools • Useful focus in job search process • Provided a language for communicating via CV, at interview or social media • Helped bridge the military-civilian language barrier “You’ve got to show that you’re commercially aware, and explain military to non-military. If they ask you about leading a team in a high pressure environment, and the answer is about being shot at in Afghanistan, how do you relate that to a commercial environment?”

13. Strengths Transition Coaching Model

14. Implications & future research • Effective approach for a complex transition: prompts narrative about past, present and future • Helpful vehicle for separating military vs individual identity: addressed ‘strengths blindness’ • Coach training in narrative and strengths processes • Future research into using weaknesses vs. strengths, or a combination – client education or trial and error? • Growth vs. fixed mind-set • Future research: the military ‘superstrings’?

15. Your questionsContact: alison@alisonzarecky.comLinkedIn: alisonzarecky