COACHING
COACHING
ARE YOU COACHABLE ?
By Thrity Engineer-Mbuthia
Over the last couple of weeks , I have been reflecting a lot on how impactful the process of coaching can be in one ’ s life . From the feedback received , it seems to be that clients value being listened to and being assisted to get clarity with key decisions or choices in their lives . One particular question I have grappled with is how coachable is the client ?
According to Laura Probert in an article for the Huffington Post ( 2016 ), being coachable means “ being ready to do what it takes to
‘‘ According to Laura Probert in an article for the Huffington Post ( 2016 ), being coachable means “ being ready to do what it takes to change , transform , improve or excel , whatever that means for you and your situation .’’ change , transform , improve or excel , whatever that means for you and your situation .”
A number of times , clients come to the coach looking for solutions from the coach , wanting someone to make decisions for them , and wanting to be told what to do . Inevitably things don ’ t work simply because , most people do not like being told what to do , and in any case , it would not be an ideal interaction with a coach , as coaching has a different aspect to dealing with these questions .
By its nature , coaching starts from the point where it assumes the client to have all the answers within themselves and the role of the coach is to help the client make sense of the thoughts , emotions and help with self awareness . Being coachable simply touches on if you are you open minded , ready and willing to work on the transformation in your life .
The holiday season is with us and this is also the end of a long and some would say challenging year . It is usually a time for reflection , to look back to the year that was , the achievements and even a fleeting glance at the goals set at the beginning of the year . Those well intentioned new year resolutions that somehow might have been forgotten by the time it was mid year .
The asking of hard questions like this was my year to get a new job , and I am still in this rut . This was the year to spend more time with the family and ooops , that doesn ’ t score very highly . This was the year I was to start a business but I was scared to leave my job , fearful of the unknown . Sounds familiar ? Fear not , coaching focuses on the way forward .
So now that you have reflected on what you hoped to achieve , are you ready to take the first step on the journey of self discovery ? Here are some ideas for you .
- List down what you had set out as your goals at the beginning of the year . You didn ’ t have any ? Write down what it is you now want to achieve . It could be 2 things or 20 . As a client I met recently said , “ if you don ’ t have many dreams then how can you achieve even one thing .”
- Look at your list critically and ask yourself ; If you had to choose just one thing to achieve , what would it be ?
42 MAL 15 / 16 ISSUE