A Coaching Model By Esther Lam, Gen Z Coach, Young Millennials Coach, Cross-Cultural People on the Move Coach, SWITZERLAND
ELAM Stands for Empower, Love, Affirm and Motivate
The ELAM coaching model represents the core values of ELAM Coaching, a brand (as shown in the header) named after my Initial and Surname, Esther LAM, for my coaching practice. ELAM stands for Empower, Love, Affirm, and Motivate, the essence of ELAM Coaching’s services is dedicated to supporting clients to increase self-awareness, affirm their efforts and progress, explore and realize their potentials, as well as empower them to motivate themselves in pursuit of their growth and goals. Adopting a client-centered and client-driven approach, we believe that our clients have the answers to what is best for them and are in charge of their journey. Our role as coaches is to walk alongside our clients and create space as they identify and clarify their underlying beliefs, values, emotions, strengths, barriers, and challenges, and flip limiting perspectives into empowering ones.[1]
Our coaching model and services are informed by love. We are experienced leaders in our professions and have equipped ourselves as certified coaches to support and empower the upcoming generations. We have been walking alongside the younger generations as they grow and face life’s challenges because of our love for them, and we trust that they will in turn support and mentor Generation Alpha in due course. Remembering ourselves as young adults, full of aspirations and yet besieged by self-doubt and anxiety, we did not know if we could realize our dreams and make a difference. At times in our lives then, we wish we had mentors who understood our contexts and could guide and accompany us in our journey out of their altruistic love and care for us as humans, not as objects to be exploited or taken advantage of. It is with this vision of giving back and cross-generational empowerment that we serve as coaches.
ELAM Coaching focuses on serving and supporting the Generation Z population (Gen Zers hereafter) and young Millennials, especially those with cross-cultural backgrounds who tend to be on the move, for studies, professional opportunities, work travels, family relocation, and other reasons.
The ELAMCoaching Model
ELAM stands for Empower, Love, Affirm Motivate, and beyond. The four concepts reinforce one another and are interconnected.
Empower: To enable clients to harness their inner strength, available resources, and support to overcome hurdles, be that in the forms of self-limiting beliefs, negative thought patterns, or external barriers, and to pursue growth, happiness, their goals, and a fulfilling life with a sense of agency
Love: Altruistic love, as expressed in the Greek word “AGAPE” widely used in the New Testament of the Bible in the Christian context, is also depicted in the white cross in the graphic design of the ELAM coaching model. We coach with empathy and presence, actively listening to our clients to understand, acknowledge, encourage, and celebrate them. We value authenticity, and integrity and embrace diversity, as highlighted by the multicolor, multi-shaped design. Clients of all ethnic, cultural, gender, and spiritual backgrounds are welcome. We coach in English, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) and French.
Affirm: Affirmation in our coaching model refers to a state of mind that recognizes, acknowledges, and appreciates efforts, progress, and achievements as well as available resources and support. We work with clients to increase awareness of their efforts and progress and foster a positive and growth mindset, self-confidence, hope, resourcefulness, and resilience. Practicing gratitude intentionally is also conducive to cultivating an affirming perspective, which is beneficial to our happiness, physical and mental health, and personal, relational, professional, and spiritual growth.
Motivate: We work with our clients to cultivate self-motivation and a sense of agency, using positive psychology and neuroscience-based skills to support clients in adopting a positive outlook and a glass-half-full perspective, thus sustaining and empowering them to overcome challenges and setbacks and persevere in reaching their goals and maximizing their potentials. A self-motivating and validating outlook also contributes to positive attitudes and practices such as lightness, curiosity, celebrating incremental gains, and credit-giving and sharing.
Coaching context: Clients and Niche
Gen Zers and young Millennials are the focused clients of ELAM Coaching. Gen Z is the demographic cohort between the Millennials and Generation Alpha.[2]They are individuals born between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s, representing 30 percent of the world’s population, Gen Zers, currently about 2 billion of them, will make up approximately 27 percent of the global workforce by 2025.[3] They are the first generation growing up with digital devices and the Internet, engaging through social media with truly global connection and exposure.[4]We understand their particular contexts and concerns such as social media, mental health, climate anxiety, reduced job opportunities, hassle work culture and quiet quitting, financial burden, and housing insecurity[5]while appreciating the unique aspirations and challenges of every client.
Based in the greater Geneva area of Switzerland and neighboring France, ELAM Coaching offers both online and in-person coaching sessions. An international hub, Geneva and its neighboring areas attract over 190 nationalities as their residents, many of them are cross-cultural youth and young adults and often people on the move.ELAM Coaching is well-placed to work with these individuals with cross-cultural backgrounds and transnational experiences as they journey through life, handle multiple challenges, and embrace opportunities.
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References
International Coaching Academy modules and materials
Chart: How Gen Z employment levels compare in OECD countries, World Economic Forum, 26 March 2021
Gen Z and Gen Alpha Infographic Update, McCrindle
[1]International Coaching Academy modules and materials
[2]Generation Alpha, Britannica, accessed on 26 October 2023
[3] “Chart: How Gen Z employment levels compare in OECD countries”, World Economic Forum, 26 March 2021, accessed on 11 November 2023
[4]Gen Z and Gen Alpha Infographic Update, McCrindle, accessed on 11 November 2023
[5]See Esther Lam’s coaching research paper for more