The SCARF Model in Coaching

The Framework

This week’s entry is the SCARF Model. I use this framework with clients who want to better understand the events that trigger them and why. This often involves clients who find themselves reacting to situations instead of responding to them in desirable ways.

Introduced in 2008 by neuroscientist Dr. David Rock, the SCARF Model provides a framework for understanding the complex relationship between the biology of the brain and its impact on human social behaviors. 

Two assumptions underpin the SCARF Model. First, our natural tendency to minimize exposure to threats and maximize opportunities for reward governs our social behavior. Second, many of the neural networks used for basic survival needs (i.e., food and water) activate in our pursuit of rewards and avoidance of threats. Together, these principles suggest that many of our social behaviors result from primal reactions. 

The SCARF Model identifies five domains that represent the human social experience. Through these domains, clients may explore their social relationships and develop an increased level of self-awareness.

Status: This is about a person’s perceived relative importance to others and includes their place in the seniority or pecking order within a group. Though an individual’s explicit achievements may enhance their status (i.e., rank and title), their perceptions and inferences may undermine their sense of status. For example, a person receiving advice may perceive the feedback as critical of their performance, thus an indication of diminishing status. In response, they may treat this feedback as a threat and react accordingly. 

Certainty: This pertains to the individual’s need to predict the near-term future. A person’s vulnerability in this domain varies in intensity from person to person. However, most people facing uncertainty experience some measure of anxiety and discomfort. For example, employees who do not know what management expects of them may perceive the anxiety as an unbearable threat and act accordingly.

Autonomy: This is about a person’s sense of control over their self and their environment. For many, this includes the availability of choices. When a person feels they have little or no choice, they may perceive their autonomy as threatened and act accordingly. For example, individuals who highly value autonomy tend to experience the most visceral reaction when micromanaged.

Relatedness: This is a determination of who is “in” and who is “out” of a group. The natural tendency for human beings is to seek out “tribes” or groups we can associate with and belong to. When left unsatisfied, this can lead a person to feel alone. For example, a person left out by a group can feel rejected, thus experiencing intense emotions which subsequently affect that person’s behavior.

Fairness: This is a perception that seeks to classify exchanges between people and organizations as equitable and fair. When a person perceives an organization’s behavior toward them as unfair, they may react to the organization as a threat. For example, a person who believes a boss favors one or two employees over everyone else may develop the mindset that “the boss only listens to them.” This may result in the individual classifying their boss and the favored employees as threats, which in turn will affect how they react to them.

The NeuroLeadership Institute (owned by Dr. David Rock) offers different certifications within the neuroscience coaching field. Professionals seeking additional information on the model may consider Dr. Rock’s 2008 article, “SCARF: A Brain-Based Model for Collaborating with and Influencing Others.”

Sources[i]

How I Use the Framework

The SCARF Model is another framework I use often. It provides clients with an opportunity to bring awareness to why some situations or behaviors may trigger them. This awareness allows the client to recognize, anticipate, and prepare themselves for situations that may trigger them in the future.

Like the other models presented in this series, SCARF can be used in different ways depending on the client’s unique situation. For one client, her fascination with psychology made her receptive to a direct introduction to the framework. I emailed her the above excerpt from my book, The Infourge Compendium of Models and Theories (ICMT) and asked to reflect on her triggering experience through the lens of the five domains. After a week, she came to our next session with some interesting insight on which domain she thought might be the source of her sensitivity.

Not all clients are receptive to or built for the direct approach. A recent client I worked with did not enjoy reading, nor was he inclined towards self-directed reflection. With him, I decided to use a worksheet I created by combining the SCARF Model with John’s Model for Structured Reflection (also featured in the ICMT). This worksheet provided my client with a methodical and structured approach to reflection to help him explore his experiences by allowing him to consider the event, the specific act that triggered him, the underlying domain triggered, his verbal reaction, non-verbal reaction, and emotional experience. The worksheet also allowed him to engage in counterfactual thinking as a conduit to growth.

The SCARF Model is one of over 300 frameworks across 26 different categories included in The Infourge Compendium of Models and Theories. On July 4th, we will celebrate the one-year anniversary of The Infourge Compendium of Models and Theories by exploring Self-Efficacy Theory, a wonderful framework to help clients explore how strongly they believe in their ability to meet what life throws at them.

[i] SCARF Model

David Rock’s SCARF model: Using neuroscience to work effectively with others. (n.d.). Retrieved from Mindtools: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/SCARF.htm

Batista, E. (2010, March 25). Neuroscience, leadership, and David Rock’s SCARF model. Retrieved from Ed Batista: https://www.edbatista.com/2010/03/scarf.html

The SCARF assessment. (n.d.). Retrieved from the NeuroLeadership Institute: https://neuroleadership.com/research/tools/nli-scarf-assessment/

5 ways to spark (or destroy) your employees’ motivation. (2023, October 17). Retrieved from the NeuroLeadership Institute: https://neuroleadership.com/your-brain-at-work/scarf-model-motivate-your-employees

The SCARF model of engagement. (2021, March 8). Retrieved from Growth Engineering: https://www.growthengineering.co.uk/scarf-model/

Luenendonk, M. (2019, September 23). How to collaborate with and influence people using the SCARF model. Retrieved from Cleverism: https://www.cleverism.com/scarf-model-influence-people/