Spheres of influence

Spheres of influence helps a person frame a difficult situation by separating direct control, possible influence and outcomes beyond either. This distinction is useful when worry continues because the mind is searching for a solution to something that cannot actually be changed.

When to use it

Use the model when coaching a team member who feels stuck in a problem or demanding situation.

Origins

The framework belongs to a long philosophical and practical tradition of distinguishing action from acceptance. Reinhold Niebuhr expressed the idea in the Serenity Prayer, and Stephen R. Covey translated a related distinction into the Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence. The coaching version here adds a separate inner sphere of direct control, making the difference between acting personally, influencing others and accepting an external reality more explicit.

What it is

Any situation can be examined through three levels:

1. Control: matters over which a person has direct or partial control, especially their own choices and behaviour.

Nothing at all

Influence

2. Influence: matters that cannot be decided directly but may move through persuasion, support, negotiation or another relationship.
3. Nothing at all: aspects of the outcome that the person can neither control nor influence.