Coaching has become a buzz word these days. Companies are engaging coaches to help their staff strengthen work performances. Managers and HR professionals double up as coaches to help build stronger teams within the corporations. Individuals engage coaches to help them work through their life issues. There are all types of coaches out there – career coach, health coach, executive coach, resilience coach… you name it, you find one on Google.
So what exactly is coaching, you ask.
“Coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
~ International Coach Federation (Definition)
To put it simply, coaching is a partnership between me (the coach) and you. Imagine we are both in a car. You are in the driver’s seat – you decide where your destination is, which route you want to take, how fast or slow you want to go. I am your front-seat passenger, your partner on this car drive. My role is simple – help you reach where you said you want to be. I assist you to explore the different routes, identify any blind spots / obstacles, work out resources / tools that you will need to get to your targeted end point. All this while, you are the one with your hands on the steering wheel directing your life journey.
“But… will coaching work for me?”
Honest answer? It depends. On You.
Unlike mentoring or consulting, a coach does not decide for you the path. This means that you must be ready to take charge of your issues and own your decisions.
Coaching is a transformative experience if you are willing to:
- Trust your coach. A coach can only be as good as how open you are during the coaching sessions. You can always interview the coach to see if you feel a connection before engaging him / her.
- Keep an open mind. Tell yourself that you are on a journey to explore new things about yourself, and the journey will be a fruitful one.
- Take notes. Many thoughts or questions or ideas may pop up during the coaching session, and it can be overwhelming sometimes. Or you may simply not feel ready to work on it at that moment. Jot it down, don’t lose it. Review your notes after the coaching sessions and you may just surprise yourself with the things that came up.
- Give yourself permission to feel vulnerable. One of my roles as a coach is to challenge your thinking and beliefs so that new possibilities can emerge. There may be times when you will be sked a question that is difficult to answer, and that is perfectly fine. No one, and I mean no one, is there to judge you.
- Be patient. It takes 5-21 days for a moth to transform into a butterfly, and they just are small simple (in a general sense, so no offense to any insect lovers!) insects. What more we complicated humans with so many emotions and thoughts that accumulate in us for how many years we have lived! So don’t expect overnight results – that’s not how coaching works. Give yourself time to work on yourself.
Still unsure? Go for a discovery session. Many coaches offer a complimentary 30-minute session during which you get to find out more about coaching and if it is a good fit for you.
Book a complimentary 30-minute discovery session with Siew at https://calendly.com/coachwithsiew/discovery to explore how coaching can help you.