Help people gain clarity, progress and mastery in their lives through the identification of challenges, self-development potential and difficult decisions.
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Check out these development programs: Coaching
Coaching is a supportive relationship that helps people resolve challenges that they are experiencing in their lives.
"Coaching isn't therapy. It's product development, with you as the product." - Pete Carroll
A coach is a dedicated partner who assists you in clarifying your desired destinations, uncovering the hurdles that stand in your path, and collaboratively develop a strategic approach to accelerate your progress, extend your horizons, and cultivate a more enriching and satisfying existence.
At a high level, a coach is focused on:
When people hire a coach, they are looking to improve their own ability to solve their own problems and make progress.
This is a very different mindset from just wanting to have an expert solution applied on their behalf (in which case they would hire a consultant) or I to increase effort and improve operationalization of solving a problem (in which case they would hire an employee or an assistant).
When people are considering hiring a coach, they are usually motivated by one or more of the following intentions:
When done right, coaching should have the following impact on the coachee:
Learn concepts and skills relevant for your situation relevant to better master your domain.
Reflect on and identify your own blind spots and development potential. Be held accountable to your personal development.
Gain clarity into your situation and confidence in what are the approriate approaches, processes and tools for adddressing specific issues.
Systematically break down and address the obstacles that are keeping you from reaching your goals.
The term "coach" is not a protected title. As a result, the title is used in a multitude of contexts:
Coaches who coach a sports team or individual athletes.
Coaches who consider coaching a profession, and typically hold different types of coaching accreditations or certifications.
Coaches who identify aspirations, challenges, and areas for growth, and then provide guidance, support, and accountability to help make positive life changes.
Coaches who coach people through a certain/difficult transition in their lives.
Coaches who coach people in mastering or improving within a certain role.
Coaches who help people improve quality and mastery of life.
A leader with a coaching approach to their team.
Subject matter experts who use the coaching approach to help people in solving problems within a certain domain, i.e. agile coaches.
Coaches aimed at helping you realize and unleash your full potential.
Coaches who listen to the questions, doubts, and ideas you have about your current role or your future career path.
How coachable someone is has direct correlation with flexibility, level of openness and perception.
Here are some of the dimensions which makes a person more and less coachable:
Dimension | More coachable | Less coachable |
Emotional | Emotionally secure and robust | Emotionally volatile and lack of self regulation |
Learning perception | Growth mindset | Fixed mindset |
Problem-solving perception | Warrior mindset | Victim mindset |
Mental conditioning | Willingness and ability to explore their blindspots | Cognitive and emotional exhaustion when getting into unchartered mental territory |
Belief-holding | Open to changing their mind (intellectually held beliefs) | Belive what they want to belive (emotionally held beliefs) |
People-perception | Humble (everyone has something to offer me) | Arrogant (most people are idiots) |
Self-perception | Work in progress | Identity tied to intellect or performance |
Self-reliance | Open to receiving support | Wanting and valuing to solve their own problems |
Ask: What's on your mind?
If you suspect people are holding back, ask "What else?"
Instead of saying "Do this", say "What if".
Telling people what to do is raising your status, and lowering theirs, by saying "Hey, I have all the answers, and you don't".
When you lower people's status, you strip them of the confidence they need to make their own decisions.
Ask: "If you're saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?"
In other words: If you're deciding to focus on this challenge, how are you going to make space to focus on that challenge?
"The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do."
Being able to analyze the gaps in people's lives means being able to identify and break down in which ways people are not where they want or need to be.
Life gaps can be broken down into: