The Wheel of Life can sometimes be a bit tame and one-dimensional, according to Jenny Bergh, who is a certified coach. Learn how she adds depth and dynamics to it.

In a training session Jenny Bergh was going to introduce 12 store managers to coaching leadership. Jenny is the owner and CEO of KHRAFT Human Resource Management and Coaching Academy Sweden.

”They were too many for me to coach them individually. But I would really like for them to experience what coaching is and not just listen to me,” says Jenny.

She asked the store managers to list the eight most important areas of their work in a Wheel of Life and indicate on a scale from 0 to 10 how satisfied they were with each of them. They had to work individually for a while to do that. So afterwards an infusion of new energy was needed.

Jenny’s box of Dialoogle Magnum cards was waiting on the table. Now she took it and spread all the cards on the floor.

”The elegant dark box creates curiosity and expectation in the room. What’s inside? – The square cards and their simple yet fascinating pictures do the same when you lay them out,” she explains.

”This picture tool is so powerful and inspires reflection and afterthought. When members of a group have been working individually for some time, they need a boost. So walking around, looking at the pictures and talking to each other, was a welcome variation.

”I gave the store managers ample time to choose the picture card that best reflected where they were in their managerial job right now. Meanwhile, I laid out a rope on the floor to symbolise a satisfaction scale of 0 to 10.  When everybody had picked a card, they positioned themselves on the rope to reflect where they felt they were.”

Everyone took a place between 2 and 6 on the scale. With their card in their hands they told the group about themselves. The participant who had placed himself lowest on the scale had just started in his job as a store manager. His picture showed a lonesome skier struggling towards a distant, snow covered mountain peak. This was how he felt, struggling alone to overcome the challenges that his new managerial job presented. The cards create confidence and make it easy to talk, even for people who find it really hard to put their feelings and experience into words,” Jenny explains.

In the next phase, Jenny asked the participants to pick one more picture card to visualise how it would be for them to move up two places on the rope scale. Following an exchange of experience, the participants felt motivated to work individually again.

Now the store managers had to identify the working area that needed the most attention in order for them to be able to move up the rope to their new picture card. For some of them, it was staff motivation or conflict management. For others it was employee contracts or development planning. For the store manager with the picture of the lonesome skier it was clear that the most important thing for him to learn would be how to structure his work.

”With their picture cards in front of them, the store managers developed their own action plan for what they would do to obtain the desired changes.  What was going to happen? Who should be involved? When? And why?

”The Wheel of Life can sometimes be a bit tame and one-dimensional. With the magic of the Dialoogle cards, you can add depth and dynamics and stimulate individual reflection. All the store managers went home with a broader outlook, a personal action plan and the feeling of having received individual coaching,” says Jenny Bergh.

“Dialoogle is an incredibly useful tool. It works exceptionally well in a group. And the format and quality of the cards allow me to use them outdoors, which I often do. Even when it’s raining!

As a coaching tool, the wheel of life can be a bit boring and one-dimensional. The magic of picture cards gives it depth and dynamism and stimulates the individual’s reflection.